CFL bounces back from worst TV ratings week of 2021 season, but Blue Jays capturing Canada’s attention

Photo courtesy: Toronto Blue Jays

Star slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and his Blue Jays are capturing attention while chipping away at CFL television ratings on TSN.

Guerrero Jr. has garnered American League MVP buzz during his hotly contested MLB home run king competition. He has 46 homers on the season as the Jays currently hold one of the coveted AL Wild Card playoff spots. Intrigue in the boys of summer who are trying to secure playing playoff baseball in the fall has hurt three-down football viewership.

During the two days over the weekend where the CFL and Blue Jays were competing, Canada’s only Major League Baseball team totalled 912,000 average viewers on Friday and 865,300 on Saturday. Those numbers gave Sportsnet and the Jays the two highest-rated sports events of the weekend.

The only one that came close was the highly anticipated Sunday Night Football match-up between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens. Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson duelled in an entertaining 36-35 win for the birds. The two quarterbacks with one NFL MVP award each on their resumes drew 852,700 on TSN.

One positive for the CFL, the league bounced back from its lowest-rated week of the 2021 season. Even though the Banjo Bowl was featured along with two other Labour Day Classic rematches, TSN pulled in a Week 6 per game viewership of 466,000. The three-down league was able to move back above 500,000 and do so for the sixth out of seven weeks played to date.

Week 7 TV ratings:

Friday
Calgary at Hamilton: 458,000

Toronto at Saskatchewan: 644,200

Saturday
B.C. at Montreal: 440,000

Winnipeg at Edmonton: 536,400

Total Week 7 average: 519,650