North Bay will be home to the biggest and brightest curling stars next week as the Masters – the first event of the 2019-20 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season – slides into town from October 22-27. Exclusive TV and streaming coverage of the premier curling event begins Thursday, Oct. 24 at Noon ET / 9 a.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet NOW.
Taking over the North Bay Memorial Gardens beginning Tuesday, the Masters will feature 15 top men’s and 15 elite women’s teams from around the world. Teams set to compete at the Masters include: world No. 1 Team Koe (Calgary), 10-time Grand Slam champion Team Homan (Ottawa), local Northern Ontario squad Team Jacobs (Sault Ste. Marie, ON), and defending Masters champions Team Hasselborg (Sundbyberg, SWE) and Team Epping (Toronto).
All participating teams will compete in a round-robin style bonspiel, contending for a combined $300,000 purse and a berth in the Humpty’s Champions Cup, the final Grand Slam event of the season. Full broadcast schedule and complete team lists are available online.
Sportsnet Broadcast Team
Live from the heart of the action, Sportsnet’s expert curling commentators are set to deliver exclusive insight and analysts from North Bay next week. Veteran play-by-play announcer Rob Faulds will be joined in the booth by celebrated Canadian Olympic medallists and curling analysts, Kevin Martin, Mike Harris, and Joan McCusker.
Pinty’s Cup
Following its inaugural 2018-19 season, the race for the Pinty’s Cup returns for the 2019-20 Grand Slam series. In the season-long battle between all men’s and women’s squads, teams compete to accumulate points according to their performances at each Grand Slam event. The men and women’s team that collects the highest total of points by the conclusion of the Players’ Championship in April will capture the winners’ share of the $300,000 Rogers Bonus Pool and personalized championship rings to commemorate their win.
