New age aims to sell Canadian university sports to fans from across Canada
The governing body for university sport in Canada recently unveiled a complete rebrand, leaving behind Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) and turning a new page to U Sports.
The first name of the organization was the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU), which was in place from 1906 until the birth of CIS in 2001. Now, 15 years since the inception of CIS, the transition to U Sports will aim to use its new image to create a change in the way that Canadian sports fans are viewing university sport in the digital era.
Another reason for the change was to create a name and brand that was recognizable in both French and English. Surprisingly, the U does not stand for university. Instead the U stands for “United. Unbeatable. Unsurpassed. Undaunted. Unrelenting.”
The press release sent out by U Sports referred to it as “One title that represents the 56 universities with 12,000 student-athletes, 500 coaches, 21 national championships and 12 sports.”
While the title may sound simple enough to be recognizable, it is hard to believe that students will know what the five Us represent. The new name is also reminiscent of names such as eSports, and doesn’t seem easily identifiable as the Canadian university sport association.
Perhaps it will become more recognizable with time and more advertising, but on first thought, the only thing that says “Canada” to me is the logo. The new logo is meant to tie in the history of Canadian university sport with the new era it is entering. A maple leaf used in the original CIAU branding is centered in the logo.
The rebranding of CIS came in a decision to run university sports more as a business rather than a governing body. The aim being to sell the athletes and the competitions to sports fans all over Canada, not just university students. This new model is similar to that of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the governing body of university sport in the United States.
A central issue in selling Canadian university sport to the general public is that many of the best Canadian athletes attend American schools as they are able to offer full-ride scholarships for sport, where Canadian universities are limited in the amount of money that they are able to offer their student athletes. When you are being offered an opportunity to play for free in the States, why stay in Canada?
From 2013 to 2014, CIS provided their student-athletes with roughly $15 million in athletic scholarship money.
Although this was viewed as a large increase from the previous season, it trembled in comparison to that of the NCAA which shelled out $2.7 billion in athletic scholarships to its division I and II schools.
If U Sports hopes to compete with the NCAA, rules on what top schools are allowed to offer student athletes may need to change. Perhaps with the improved advertisement of these sports, if ticket sales increase and investors back the change, this is something that could happen down the road. This rebranding could be a step in the right direction by promoting the schools, sports, and athletes that U Sports represents.
Another angle that U Sports should now consider is that they have a new brand and, with it, a new opportunity to celebrate the differences that Canada has from the United States. Canadian universities are more focused on academics for their student athletes, where American universities are providing athletes with the tools to go professional after or sometimes during their university careers.
The professional atmosphere that is created in the NCAA gives student athletes a taste of what a professional sports career could be like. U Sports’ decision to operate more as a business is in line with attempting to create a more professional atmosphere for Canadian students.
It is understandable that U Sports would like to attempt to compete with the NCAA, but the benefits of playing a sport at Canadian universities shouldn’t be forfeited in that attempt. U Sports, like CIS in the past, helps prepare student athletes for the workforce as well as for the possibility of playing professional sports down the road. Athletes in the Canadian system are encouraged not to go professional until they have finished their university careers, whereas in the States, many student athletes go professional after freshman year.
There are pros and cons to the structures of both of these leagues. Although U Sports does need to close the gap between itself and the NCAA, this could be done by celebrating their differences rather than adopting the same model. While some would argue that university athletics need to be taken to a higher level in Canada, this will be hard to do with full-ride scholarships and professional careers just across the border.
Selling athletes as a business is enticing as it could make U Sports a lot of money, but it is futile since Canadian fans are drawn to watching American college tournaments such as March Madness. It would be tremendously difficult to get the same American sports fans as interested in Canada’s national playoff basketball tournament.
While there are plenty of strong passionate sporting fans across Canada, most people are unaware of when games are happening and have no way of viewing them from home. In U Sports, championships are shown on television once they hit the final-four mark, however, in the States, an average of 10 regular season games are also broadcast to fans at home. It is difficult for fans to know how talented Canadian athletes truly are when there are minimal opportunities to watch them play.
This change could be exciting as there is hope that it will help reward student athletes for the hours of dedication they give to both their academic and sporting careers. However, without the ability to offer the same funding as American schools, only time will tell if this rebranding was the right move to take Canadian university sport into a new age of sport in Canada.
Photo by Tasha Falconer.