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One in three Canadians plan to watch Grey Cup, numbers highest in Prairies
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
Nov 27, 2009 - 6:23:16 PM

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It looks like Grey Cup viewership will be heavily tilted to the West this year, according to results from a Canadian Press/Harris-Decima survey released Friday.

In a repeat of last year's numbers, 35 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they will likely watch Sunday's CFL championship game between the Montreal Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders, while 62 per cent said they would not.

The numbers were highest in the Prairies, where a whopping 59 per cent of respondents from Manitoba and Saskatchewan said they planned to take in the game.

William Murray, a consultant with Harris-Decima, said the numbers may be higher in those provinces because that's where the CFL is king.

"I think that might speak a lot to the fact that these are teams that the entire province can get around," he said. "There's not necessarily competing allegiances that you see for instance in Ontario."

Also of note, the number of Canadians who plan to watch the Super Bowl (34 per cent) is virtually the same as the Grey Cup percentage. Harris-Decima chairman Allan Gregg said that's impressive when you consider the promotional muscle behind the NFL game.

"It's remarkable that as many Canadians are as interested in watching the CFL as are interested in watching the NFL," Gregg said. "That is clearly grounded and anchored by that enthusiasm and sense of fealty that flows from Western Canada."

A total of 2,036 telephone interviews were conducted between Nov. 19-22 for the survey. The final calls were made on the day of the CFL division finals, when Saskatchewan beat the Calgary Stampeders and Montreal downed the B.C. Lions.

Among the regions, Alberta was behind Manitoba/Saskatchewan at 50 per cent, followed by B.C. (37 and Ontario (29%). Numbers were lowest in Atlantic Canada at just 22 per cent.

The survey also found one in 10 Canadians describe themselves as avid fans of the CFL, while 25 per cent say they are occasional followers of the league.

Numbers are similar for the National Football League, with eight per cent of respondents saying they are avid fans of the American game and 22 per cent describing themselves as occasional followers.

The survey also found that men are twice as likely as women to tune in to the Grey Cup, with the Super Bowl numbers virtually the same.

Football fans will certainly get their fill of Grey Cup television coverage. TSN plans to have 25 hours of football programming this weekend, highlighted by its live coverage of the game at McMahon Stadium in Calgary (6:30 p.m. ET kickoff).

"Certainly the Grey Cup itself has a widespread appeal," said Murray. "It's uniquely Canadian, obviously, and I think Canadians appreciate the game."

The survey has a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.


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