The Canadiens in the playoffs: The cost of a 30-second spot on TVA Sports is exorbitant

Maxime Truman
The Canadiens in the playoffs: The cost of a 30-second spot on TVA Sports is exorbitant
Credit: TVA Sports

The Canadiens making the playoffs isn't exactly earth-shattering news, except that…

If you run into anyone from RNC Media, ask them if they're happy with the price they sold BPM Sports for.

And if you run into Sylvain “Le Plan” Chamberland or anyone from Arsenal Media, ask them what they think of the amount they'll have to shell out to officially acquire BPM Sports.

When the Habs are in the playoffs, sports radio stations like BPM Sports, sports TV stations like TVA Sports, bars, restaurants, airlines… there are a lot of businesses that see their numbers go up significantly.

Of course, Geoff Molson and Bell are rejoicing, but we already knew that.

From what I'm hearing, both BPM Sports and TVA Sports could, for the first time in their history, post profits—rather than losses—at the end of the current fiscal year. Congratulations!

In this regard, Luc Dupont, a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Ottawa and a research associate at the Social Media Observatory in Public Relations, published the results of an interesting study earlier this morning.

According to his calculations, a 30-second ad spot during a Canadiens playoff game (on TVA Sports) currently sells for between $25,000 and $45,000. Keep in mind that these ads reach approximately 1.5 million French-speaking people in Quebec.

We're talking here about an estimate for traditional advertising space during a playoff game that isn't Game 7, where the price would be higher.

We're also talking about traditional advertising space, not special integration within the regular content, such as the ads narrated by Félix Séguin.

Companies like Rona, BMR, Patrick Morin, CANAC, Ford, Dodge, and many others pay to reach an audience composed mostly of men, but also to associate themselves in some way with the premium brand that is the Montreal Canadiens in the Quebec market.

Keep in mind that a commercial during “Bye Bye,” which is watched by two to three times as many people as a Canadiens playoff game, was selling for $77,000 a few months ago (according to Hugo Dumas of La Presse).

When I do the math, I figure that TVA Sports is making a HUGE amount of money right now and that the company will find a way to extend its deal with the NHL. And I even think the network will broadcast quite a few more games than last year…

Stay tuned over the next few weeks.


In a nutshell

– Interesting.

– Worth listening to.

– The Habs don't want to open up their game.

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