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Tom Mayenknecht: Goldeneyes debut and Whitecaps sellout offer a different spin on a big local sports weekend.
Published Nov 21, 2025 • 3 minute read
Cup
A.J. Ouellette (45) of the Saskatchewan Roughriders celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown in the 112th Grey Cup game between the Montreal Alouettes and the 'Riders at Princess Auto Stadium on Nov. 16 in Winnipeg. Photo by Brent Just /Getty Images
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Bulls of the week
The 112th Grey Cup last Sunday — a 25-17 win by the Saskatchewan Roughriders over the Montreal Alouettes at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg — lived up to its billing as the biggest annual sports party in Canada.
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That was especially true in The ‘Peg, where the Winnipeg Football Club — a.k.a. the community-owned Blue Bombers — did its typically first-class job in hosting.
As we projected last week, an average viewership of about four million Canadians tuned in to the national telecast on CTV, TSN and RDS, with 10 million Canadians watching at least some of the celebration of three-down football.
That’s not the average audience of six million that watched the identical matchup in 2009 and 2010, but it’s still one of the better TV numbers of the year.
Only the ALCS and World Series runs of the Toronto Blue Jays (climaxing at 10.2 million), the Super Bowl last February (10 million) and a couple of Stanley Cup Final telecasts featuring the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers in June drew more viewers to Canadian TV this year.
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Meanwhile, it was yet another terrific week for women’s pro sports.
Vancouver Rise FC became the first Northern Super League champions after a big 2-1 comeback win last Saturday over AFC Toronto.
The rise of women’s sports — in Canada, across North America and around the world — will continue Friday night when the Vancouver Goldeneyes host the Seattle Torrent in their respective debuts as the two expansion franchises in the now-eight-team Professional Women’s Hockey League.
A sellout of more than 15,000 fans is expected at the Pacific Coliseum at the PNE.
Vancouver is certainly a bull market this week in the business of sport, with another capacity crowd in play Saturday at B.C. Place when more than 53,000 take in the MLS Cup western conference semifinal between Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Los Angeles FC.
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Yet the hottest bull market in the business of sport this week is Oklahoma City, where the reigning Larry O’Brien Trophy-holders — the Thunder — are off to one of the greatest starts in NBA regular-season history.
Led by Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder go into the weekend 15-1. That puts them on pace to win 77 games; a milestone that would easily crush previous high-water marks achieved by the Golden State Warriors (73 in 2015-16) and the Chicago Bulls (72 in 1995-96).
The most remarkable aspect of this torrid start? The fact that OKC is doing all of this without the injured Jalen Williams, one of their true superstars.
It’s early in the season, but the buzz around the Thunder is one reason why the NBA is off to such a great start in overall TV ratings and video views on social media.
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Bears of the week
Less than one week after successfully hosting the Grey Cup and basking in the good news of that iconic event, the Winnipeg Football Club was at the centre of some disappointing news for proponents of soccer in Canada.
The Canadian Premier League has announced today the suspension of operations of Valour FC, the soccer club owned by the Blue Bombers.
Although telegraphed in recent weeks by reports of financial and operating challenges facing the Winnipeg team, the news sent shock waves through the Canadian soccer community, particularly within the Canadian Soccer Association, Canada Soccer Business and the CPL itself.
It’s especially disconcerting that it appears that even the Winnipeg Football Club — the grizzly bear of the city’s sport ecosystem — couldn’t make Valour FC work.
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And, if they can’t, who could in that market?
Moreover, what does it mean for the remaining eight clubs in the CPL, particularly during this countdown to the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by Canada and presenting one of the greatest opportunities for corporate growth for soccer in this country?
Tom Mayenknecht is host of The Sport Market on Sportsnet 650 on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Vancouver-based sport business commentator and principal in Emblematica Brand Builders provides a behind-the-scenes look at the sport business stories that matter most to fans. Follow Mayenknecht at x.com/TheSportMarket.
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