NBC Sports Network snaps up Grey Cup rights

The NBC Sports Network US cable-television channel has acquired live rights for the 2012 Grey Cup, the annual championship game of the Canadian Football League.

The CFL is the highest level of competition of Canadian football, a form of gridiron football and similar to American football.

Under the agreement to show the 100th edition of the Grey Cup on November 25, NBC Sports Network will also broadcast the league’s eastern and western conference semi-finals and finals, as well as nine regular-season games, starting with the Edmonton Eskimos v Toronto Argonauts game on August 27.

“A US telecast agreement with NBC Sports Network will help us market our game in the US, recruit import players and spread our game,” league commissioner Mark Cohon said.

All of the league’s games are also available in the US to subscribers to the ESPN3.com online streaming service.