The Canadian Football League has caught some attention from younger sports fans across the country. League commissioner Randy Ambrosie provided the facts during an interview with 3DownNation at Touchdown Atlantic in Halifax, N.S.
“The number that we’re really excited about is the 25-54 category, which is a really important demographic, that’s up almost 24 percent. That’s really good for us. There’s a lot of bright spots, excited about the success we’re having and we just want to build on it,” Ambrosie said.
The matchup between the Roughriders and Argonauts at Huskies Stadium on campus at Saint Mary’s University led the way in the key age demo with an average audience of 225,400. Hamilton’s win over Ottawa on Friday Night Football had 195,100 in the same category, while 176,000 (105,100 English and 70,900 French) tuned in for the Alouettes’ victory over the Stampeders and 156,900 tuned in for the Elks’ 21st straight home loss.
Most notable from Week 8, the LCF drew its biggest French language audience season to date on RDS. Nearly a quarter-million watched en francais compared to when the Als played in the first six weeks of the year: Week 1, 174,000; Week 3, 210,000; Week 4, 200,600; Week 5, 215,500; and Week 6, 169,900.
During the glory days of the franchise with Anthony Calvillo leading the team at quarterback, the Alouettes consistently averaged between 200,000 and 300,000 viewers on RDS. That was back in the days before streaming was prevalent, so it seems Montreal is performing well in the market given the context of TV ratings from the Calvillo days.
2023 Week 8 TV ratings:
Friday
Hamilton at Ottawa — 481,100
Saturday
Saskatchewan at Toronto — 569,300
B.C. at Edmonton — 508,100
Sunday
Calgary at Montreal — TSN 388,200 and RDS 246,000 (634,200 total)
Total Week 8 average: 486,675 (French included: 548,175)
