(Toronto) Sportsnet today announced it has purchased the Grand Slam of Curling and will be establishing a new events division. This purchase marks a significant milestone for Sportsnet, as the multiplatform media brand expands its diverse portfolio into the sports events category, furthering its commitment to providing fans with premium sports experiences and content across multiple platforms.

Sportsnet will now wholly own and operate the Grand Slam of Curling, which is part of the World Curling Tour.  The elite series of men’s and women’s curling events features the best teams from across Canada and around the world. The Grand Slam of Curling was acquired by Sportsnet from Insight Sports Ltd.

Curling is an essential part of our Canadian sports fabric, and the Grand Slam of Curling is the cream of the crop in international curling events,” said Scott Moore, President, Broadcasting, Rogers Media. “We are proud to own and operate the Grand Slam of Curling, as it furthers Sportsnet’s commitment to producing world-class content, anyplace, anyhow and anywhere and allows us to integrate and engage the sports fan in innovative ways through our new events division. Sportsnet intends to grow the Grand Slam of Curling like never before.”

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On behalf of the Grand Slam players, we are thrilled to welcome Sportsnet as the new owners of the Grand Slam of Curling,” said Pierre Charette, President, World Competitive Curlers Association. “This is great news for the Canadian curling community as a whole. Sportsnet will operate events that are second-to-none, broadcast more games and take the Grand Slam of Curling to another level.”

The 2012-13 Grand Slam of Curling series kicks off with The Masters, taking place in Brantford, ON from November 14 to 18.  The series will air on Sportsnet and CBC, through a sub-licensing agreement.  Additional details regarding the full 2012-13 Grand Slam of Curling schedule and broadcast details will be announced in the coming weeks.

Sportsnet has a long history of producing and televising curling.  The network’s curling coverage began with the inaugural season of the World Curling Tour when the network launched in 1988, and has continued with various curling events including the Grand Slam of Curling between 2001 and 2006.