Brad Gushue nailed it a couple of months ago, telling TSN.ca he was concerned about the future of some of Canada’s curling events in the wake of COVID-19.
He was, unfortunately, bang on with his unease, relaying to veteran golf/curling scribe Bob Weeks he was worried curling’s smaller, non-televised events will struggle to land sponsorships in the wake of the pandemic.
His angst came shortly after skipping Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker to Newfoundland and Labrador’s third Tim Hortons Brier championship in four years last spring, and after it was announced the World Men’s Curling Championship in Glasgow, Scotland was cancelled.
Now, three months later, turns out Gushue’s fears were relatively minor compared to what could — and, indeed, what did — happen.
This week, Sportsnet, which owns and televises the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling, announced it will postpone the 2020-21 season to April, reducing the number of events from six down to two because of COVID-19.
Make no mistake, the impact will be felt far and wide.
Canadian curlers are not Canadian hockey players. If they don’t play, and they don’t win, they don’t get paid. And there are a lot of expenses.
Without bums in the seats, and curling fans watching on television, sponsors are less likely to support curling.
There is even some question if the game can survive, though Gushue is confident it can.
“I thought the Slams would be able to make it through,” Gushue said this week, “and figure out a way to get the events in, maybe without fans and maybe in smaller venues.
“There’s no doubt the game will survive, but it’s going to have a fairly big impact. You’re going to see very little, if any, curling on television now in the fall. We’ve eliminated four events which are staples in the fall.”
Among the events postponed are the Tour Challenge, The Masters and The National which will go next fall. Curling Canada’s Canada Cup is set for November and while there’s no word on that event yet, the writing appears to be on the wall.
The Players Championship and Champions Cup are set to be played in the spring in Toronto and Olds, Alta.
“We lost four great events,” Gushue said of the Tour Challenge, Masters, National and probably the Canada Cup.
“With the Olympic Trials a little over a year away, those are four events certainly our team was looking to for preparation to make little tweaks to our game to improve.”
Ah yes, the Roar of the Rings … the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials next year in Saskatoon.
Now this is a whole new ball game, with implications going all the way through to the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.
“For teams which don’t have a Trials spot, these are huge, huge point events,” Gushue said of the Tour Challenge, Masters, National and probably Canada Cup, “so it’s going to have big, big implications on the Olympic Trials process, and who gets there.
“Curling will probably have to look at completely changing the qualification process now. Maybe not a complete change, but certainly there will have to be some changes.”
Team Gushue has qualified for the 2021 Olympic Trials in Saskatoon, with their Brier wins.
Not to be overlooked with the Slam postponement, however, is the financial fallout. For curlers, no play, no pay.
“It’s almost like I got laid off,” Reid Carruthers, vice-skip for Mike McEwen, told his hometown newspaper, the Winnipeg Sun.
“I’m nervous financially.”
The chance not to play in the worlds was disappointing enough for Gushue and Co., but to have four Slams wiped out is further gut-wretching.
“The sponsors of these events are obviously not going to be part of those this year,” Gushue said, “and how will that impact sponsorship of these events next year and the following year?
“I still haven’t gotten my head wrapped around it. I’m pretty disappointed.”
And the team which plays out of the Re/Max Centre (St. John’s Curling Club) and Bally Haly will take a hit to the wallet, too.
Team Gushue has qualified for playoffs in each of the last 22 or 23 Slam events, meaning there’s some money in the pocket each time out.
“It is something you rely on and expect,” he said.
Don’t expect the members of Team Gushue to sit around on their hands for the next six, or eight or 10 months, however. They intend to play in some smaller events in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and even here in St. John’s, including the new Centennial Spiel.
“Certainly, it’s a lot nicer to play in big rinks on good ice against good teams, but we’ll have to scale that down,” he said.
Robin Short is The Telegram’s Sports Editor. He can be reached by email [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @TelyRobinShort
