(by Al Cameron)
But after a day of stunned reaction to the news that CBC was immediately cancelling its contract with the Slam and its main backer iSport Media and Management over what it considered a refusal by iSport to pay broadcast fees, it’s still not clear if or when that will happen.
iSport chief executive Kevin Albrecht said Thursday that the Slam, a four-event series of cashspiels that play a major role in determining Canada’s Olympic team, is close to a deal with expanded coverage from the old CBC arrangement with a new broadcast partner, and while he declined to name it, it’s been widely speculated that Rogers Sportsnet will take over the broadcast rights, as soon as today.
But late Thursday afternoon in an e-mailed statement, Sportsnet director of communications Jennifer Neziol made it clear that no deal is done: “At this time, Sportsnet does not have any confirmed plans to broadcast the Grand Slam of Curling series.”
While Sportsnet’s future involvement was anything but clear, CBC’s was cut and dry. It won’t be broadcasting curling, ending an uninterrupted streak of coverage dating back to 1962.
The possibility that the Slams will return to Sportsnet, which was the original broadcaster when the series debuted in 2001, helped ease the tension of the initial reports of doom and gloom in the wake of the CBC decision.