Outgoing Sportsnet exec Moore calls Slam series a ‘real success story’
The big feather in Scott Moore’s cap as he leaves his position as Sportsnet president is that he helped the company land a long-term deal with the National Hockey League.
It can be easy to forget that he also made a significant impact on the Canadian curling scene during his eight-year run at Rogers Communications. Moore was a key player in the development and growth of the Grand Slam of Curling, a sevenevent series that helps anchor the sport’s calendar each season.
“It has been a real success story,” Moore said. “I’m really proud of that one.”
From humble beginnings nearly two decades ago, the Grand Slams have become the most lucrative bonspiels on the circuit.
A number of Canada’s top curlers opted to shun the national playdowns to join what was then a renegade four-event Slam loop in 2001. Money and sponsorship issues were at the forefront of the players’ dispute with the Canadian Curling Association at the time.
The World Curling Players’ Association, which represented teams skipped by Kevin Martin, Jeff Stoughton, Kerry Burtnyk and others, reached a deal with the CCA (now Curling Canada) in 2003 to end the Brier boycott.
The developments led to better paydays for athletes and improved the quality of the provincial and national championship fields. The Slam circuit continued to grow over the years and Sportsnet became owner-operator of the series in 2012.
The number of events jumped to seven for the 2015-16 season. Total prize money for the current campaign is up to $2.1 million.
“What’s great about the Grand Slam (series) is that we own it,” Moore said in a recent interview. “We can take a long view on it, we’re not worried about trying to negotiate with a rights-holder in a year, two years, three years to keep it. So we can make long-term investments.”
The Slams provide muchneeded revenue opportunities for top curlers from Canada and around the world, many of whom still hold down regular jobs.
A total of $250,000 was up for grabs at last week’s Masters in Truro, N.S. Team John Epping earned $30,000 of the $125,000 men’s purse and Team Anna Hasselborg picked up $30,000 of the $125,000 women’s purse.
Moore said the original goal he shared with former Rogers Media president Keith Pelley was to create a league where about a dozen top men’s and women’s teams could make a good living as pro curlers.
“I think we’ve accomplished we might not be at 12 but we’re pretty close - we went from I think $700,000 in prize money to now we’re at ($2.1) million in prize money,” Moore said. “I think there’s way more room for curling internationally to grow.”
The Slam series tends to make stops outside the major Sportsnet president Scott Moore poses in this undated handout photo.
Canadian markets - Conception Bay South, N.L., North Battleford, Sask., and Thunder Bay, Ont., are on this season’s calendar - and television ratings have been solid.
“For us, you can put curling on the main network, on Sportsnet One, on Sportsnet 360, and you get the same audience no matter what,” Moore said. “It’s a very loyal audience and it’s a good-sized audience.”
The search for Moore’s successor is underway. Rogers Media president Rick Brace is handling the role on an interim basis.
“We’re probably a year behind where I really wanted to be with it,” Moore said of the series. “But we’re so close it’s frustrating. We’re probably a year from making money. Probably not a lot of money, but we’re a year away from making money. It has been an investment and it’s an investment that is paying off.”
Pinty’s, Canadian Beef and Humpty’s are a few of the sponsors who have come on board. Moore said there has been interest from China and the United States in hosting Slam events.
He feels there is strong growth potential for the sport but some hurdles remain.
“The only thing that’s going to get in the way - and it happens with so many sports - is the sport has got to get together,” he said. “I think because of the rivalry between TSN and Sportsnet, because (TSN has) the Brier and the Scotties and the worlds, and the Canadian curling association doesn’t oversee the Grand Slams, you get turf wars.”
Moore vividly recalled one particular interaction from years ago.
“I haven’t said this very often but there was a time that (a former) head of the Canadian curling association said that we would shut down the Grand Slam of Curling because we didn’t have the appetite for it,” Moore said. “I didn’t respond (to that), but I said, ‘I think our pockets are pretty deep here. I think we’re going to invest in the long term.”’
“We could have put a milliondollar tournament up against the Brier,” he continued. “I guarantee nobody would have won. That would have been bad for the sport. But we would have hurt the Brier substantially. We didn’t do it because we don’t think that’s the right thing for the sport. I would never want to put the players in that position.”
Sportsnet, TSN/RDS and CBC are all significant players on the Canadian curling broadcasting scene.
“For us, you can put curling on the main network, on Sportsnet One, on Sportsnet 360, and you get the same audience no matter what.”
Sportsnet president Scott Moore