Let Montreal Canadiens fans decide: The Royal Bank of Canada crest will remain on the Sainte-Flanelle jersey, France Margaret Bélanger confirmed to the Canadian Club of Montreal on Wednesday.

“Different times, different customs,” launched the President, Sport and Entertainment of Groupe CH to end the debate that has sparked many supporters since last Monday’s announcement.

During a conference held in front of an audience of businessmen as well as his colleagues from the CH staff, Mr.^me Bélanger reiterated that the 100-plus-year-old organization was determined to incorporate advertising on its iconic red uniform. “Some of us are too young to remember, but apparently there was a time when arenas didn’t even have announcers on the tapes,” she recalled. “The leagues are evolving and modernizing. »

She didn’t fail to point out that the National Basketball League went down this path in 2016 and Major League Baseball will follow suit next season. It’s a “big trend” in North American professional sports, she says.

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

sources of income

Although we don’t know the financial details of the deal with RBC, the Canadian didn’t take the decision to brand his shirt for lack of economic momentum.

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 playoff run, Ms.^me Belanger. Added to this are 184 million views for the videos produced by the organization and broadcast on various online platforms. The team has 4.6 million subscribers to its online platforms and ranks first in the National Hockey League in terms of the number of articles read.

In addition, the club can benefit from another new revenue stream this season by imposing their own advertisers on the tapes of opposing teams 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 in 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 as digital advertisements can appear in bay windows or on the ice while watching games broadcast on TV or online.

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