The Canadian Football League went over 500,000 average viewers per game in Week 7 for the first time in the 2022 season.
It took six weeks for the three-down league to crest the half-million mark, which is notable after bouncing around in the 400,000 range.
The back-and-forth 73-point game between the Alouettes and Redblacks in the nation’s capital started the week off with an entertaining contest. More than 500,000 people tuned in to watch the Tiger-Cats and Lions claw at each other in a defensive battle before an undermanned Blue Bombers team travelled to Commonwealth Stadium and did away with the Elks.
After a coronavirus outbreak went through the Roughriders, the green and white’s game against the Argonauts was pushed from Saturday to Sunday night. The Riders are usually a ratings booster and that was the case yet again as Saskatchewan and Toronto combined to record the third CFL game with 600,000-plus viewers this season.
The Riders have been involved in all three of those contests as the two previous games came in Week 4 against Montreal (623,000) and Week 2 in Edmonton (679,000). Saskatchewan loves its Roughriders as does the league and its broadcast partner TSN.
The Blue Jays undoubtedly stole eyeballs from the CFL by bashing their way to a three-game sweep of the Red Sox. 980,400 viewers watched on Friday night with 1,056,800 and 1,197,000 tuning in on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, respectively. The Jays scored 28 runs to open the second half of the Major League Baseball season and totalled 40 runs in the series to capture the attention of Canadian sports fans.
The CFL can only dream of regular season games drawing over one million average viewers, though it was still a positive week for the three-down league.
2022 Week 7 TV ratings:
Thursday
Montreal at Ottawa — 428,100
Hamilton at B.C. — 519,600
Friday
Winnipeg at Edmonton — 451,100
Sunday
Toronto at Saskatchewan — 648,000
Total Week 7 average: 511,700
Total Week 6 average: 454,200
Total Week 5 average: 472,100
Total Week 4 average: 479,500
Total Week 3 average: 425,050
Total Week 2 average: 481,025
Total Week 1 average: 441,625
(These numbers do not include viewership from RDS, TSN’s French-language affiliate.)
