Canadian Sports Media

After discussing the historical background of radio and looking at the development of sports broadcasting in Canada and the emergence of sports media in Canada we can now discuss how these technological innovations helped recreate and reshape how sports in Canada specifically Hockey and baseball were modernized. “The relationship between the press and the popularity of hockey lead directly to the initial broadcast/sport interaction, radio transmissions of professional hockey” . After sport became more professionalized the commercialization of sport put the cult of athleticism at risk. In the early 1900’s before the NHL was created journalist John Ross Robertson was concerned that with the development of radio and the growth of professional

After the CBC was created hockey as a sport became a lot more commercialized. More attention was given to the athletes and as well to the teams involved. Foster Hewitt was the first Canadian radio broadcaster that used radio to broadcast hockey games. “Hewitt’s broadcasts’ helped hockey become a national sport for Canada because he showed true passion as a broadcaster for the game as a Canadian” . Foster Hewitt shows us that the development of broadcasting not only helped modernize the game of hockey, but also, helped give Canada a Canadian sport. In Richard Gruneau’s book Hockey Night in Canada: Sports, Identities, and Cultural Politics he argues how Hockey Night in Canada as a program not only made the game of hockey become more well-known around the world, but also examines the changes and pressures hockey has within a growing marketplace for commercial spectacle. The CBC had gratefully succeeded in giving Canada a national identity, and as well make hockey as a sport more popular in society. To add, in Andrew Holman’s book Canada’s Game: Hockey and Identity he discusses how thanks to the CBC not only had hockey grown as a professionalized sport but as well, seen as hockey was commercialized so well under the Canadian national broadcaster CBC, hockey became a staple in identifying as being

The Black Sox scandal showed a shift in the sport from amateur to professional because pre-modern games were played for fun and not for material reward, whereas in professional sports the whole idea of the sport is to win a trophy or medal. It is argued that between 1900 and 1920 Baseball was looked at as Canada’s most popular sport and as well took over Lacrosse as the summer game to play. As Metcalfe says “It was the only sport played by all social classes” . Baseball in Canada in the 1920’s was so popular that many Japanese baseball players immigrated to Canada to play the game. Baseball was a unisex sport in Canada, both females and males loved to play the game. The creation of the Major League Baseball league was known was majority American teams and do this day is still the case. Furthermore, throughout the history of the professional league known as the MLB there have only been two professional Canadian teams: the Montreal Expos and the Toronto Blue Jays. The lack of Canadian teams in the professional baseball league also shows us the MLB is organized to make baseball an American