Ugo Giguere, The Canadian Press

MONTREAL — Let Montreal Canadiens fans decide, the Royal Bank of Canada crest will remain here on the Sainte-Flanelle, President France Margaret Bélanger confirmed before the Canadian Club of Montreal on Wednesday.

“Different times, different manners,” she launched in an attempt to end the debate that has ignited many supporters since last Monday’s announcement.

During a conference held by CH employees before an audience of businessmen and their colleagues, Ms. Bélanger reiterated that the more than century-old organization was determined to incorporate advertising on its mythical red uniform.

“We’re too young for some to remember, but apparently there was a time when there weren’t even announcers on the tapes in arenas,” she recalled. The leagues evolve and modernize.

The Sports and Entertainment President of Club de Hockey Canadien didn’t fail to point out that the National Basketball League took this path in 2016 and Major League Baseball would follow suit next season.

She called the practice a “severe trend” in North American professional sports.

Given the criticism that hits the organization every time it has to make a controversial decision, she thinks it’s perfectly normal because “the Canadian is part of our Montreal fiber, it’s our identity. It’s part of our culture, our history in Quebec, in Canada.

However, without knowing the financial details of the deal with RBC, the Canadian didn’t make the decision to put advertising on his shirt for lack of economic dynamism. According to data from the shortened 2021 season, 1.1 million viewers watch Swiss games on television. A number that had risen to 4.4 million during the team’s long run in the playoffs, Ms Bélanger revealed.

Added to this are 184 million views for the videos produced by the organization and broadcast on various online platforms. Canadians have 4.6 million subscribers to their online platforms and rank first in the NHL in terms of the number of articles read.

In addition, the hockey club can benefit from another new revenue stream this season by imposing its own advertisers on opposing teams’ tapes in Canada. That is, thanks to the technology of “digitally enhanced tapes”, the team will be able to replace the local announcers of the other Canadian teams with its own partners in the distribution of the games.

“Not only will our advertisers be present at the Bell Centre, but when Canadians travel abroad to Canada, whether we are in Vancouver or Calgary, we can still see our advertisers by watching the game on TV,” she said said.

This technology is already familiar to sports fans when we could see digital advertisements in bay windows or on the ice while watching games broadcast on TV or online.