CBC Sports and MEDIAPRO Canada today announced a partnership that will see broadcast and streaming coverage of eight games throughout the Canadian Premier League 2020 season – taking place in Charlottetown, PEI and known as The Island Games. Coverage will consist of four Saturday double-header broadcasts available exclusively on CBC at 1 p.m. ET (2 p.m. AT). All eight games will be simultaneously streamed via the free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca and the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices, and will be produced by MEDIAPRO.
The first match of the Saturday double-header kicks off this week (Saturday, Aug. 15) at 1 p.m. ET (2 p.m. AT) at UPEI Alumni Place – Turf Field as York 9 FC (York Region) hosts expansion club Atletico Ottawa in their first official match since joining CPL in February 2020 and establishing a new Ontario battle. At 3 p.m. ET (4 p.m. AT) HFX Wanderers meet Pacific FC in a coastal clash. The full schedule of games included in the partnership is listed below.
CBC Sports’ Andi Petrillo will host the network’s coverage of the games broadcast this weekend, before handing the reins over to Scott Russell for the remainder of the season. Nigel Reed will handle the play-by-play and Canadian former professional soccer player Craig Forrest will serve as analyst. CBC Sports will also offer Canadian Premier League videos, player profiles and highlight shows across its platforms.
The 2020 season will begin with an eight-club first stage where each CPL team will play each other once (28 game total first phase), with the top four clubs to the second round six-match group phase. The Island Games will be played behind closed doors in a sequestered environment at Alumni Place in Charlottetown, PEI and will see the eight clubs – Pacific FC (Vancouver Island, British Columbia), FC Edmonton (Edmonton, Alberta), Cavalry FC (Calgary, Alberta), Valour FC (Winnipeg, Manitoba), Forge FC (Hamilton, Ontario – 2019 Canadian Premier League Champion), York9 FC (York Region, Ontario), Atletico Ottawa (Ottawa, ON) and HFX Wanderers FC (Halifax, Nova Scotia) battle it out until the top two clubs remain to compete in a single-match Final to be crowned the 2020 Canadian Premier League Champion.
Since there is no home-field advantage it will be a one-match Final to crown the 2020 Canadian Premier League Champion who will be awarded the North Star Shield and a 2021 CONCACAF League berth.
*subject to change
CPL broadcast coverage on CBC
| DATE | START TIME | MATCH |
| Saturday August 15, 2020 | 1:00 p.m. ET
(2:00 p.m. AT) |
York9 FC vs Atletico Ottawa |
| Saturday August 15, 2020 | 3:00 p.m. ET
(4:00 p.m. AT) |
HFX Wanderers FC vs Pacific FC |
| Saturday August 22, 2020 | 2:00 p.m. ET
(3:00 p.m. AT) |
York9 FC vs Valour FC |
| Saturday August 22, 2020 | 4:00 p.m. ET
(5:00 p.m. AT) |
Forge FC vs Pacific FC |
| Saturday August 29, 2020 | 1:00 p.m. ET
(2:00 p.m. AT) |
Valour FC vs FC Edmonton |
| Saturday August 29, 2020 | 3:00 p.m. ET
(4:00 p.m. AT) |
HFX Wanderers vs York9 FC |
| Saturday September 5, 2020 | 1:00 p.m. ET
(2:00 p.m. AT) |
Forge FC vs Valour FC |
| Saturday September 5, 2020 | 3:00 p.m. ET
(4:00 p.m. AT) |
Cavalry FC vs York9 FC |
*Broadcasts will also be available via CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca and the CBC Sports app.
All matches to be broadcast LIVE on OneSoccer, the Canadian Premier League’s media partner. Link to full league schedule: www.canpl.ca/schedule
