Pro football first: BC Lions game to be broadcast in Punjabi
History will be made this weekend when the BC Lions play the Edmonton Elks.
That’s because, for the first time in pro football history, the game will be broadcast in Punjabi.
Richmond’s Sher-E-Punjab Radio AM 600 will carry the game on radio in the Vancouver area, with kickoff set for Saturday at 4 pm PT at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.
We're excited to be making history with the @GoElks this weekend as our game will be the first professional football game broadcast in Punjabi.
Richmond’s @SherEPunjab600 will carry the game locally & will also be streamed on-line!
MORE: https://t.co/cs7I2A0YsA#BCLions | @CFL pic.twitter.com/iLhn8ivT86
— BC LIONS (@BCLions) July 26, 2023
“Our Punjabi community in Canada is nearly one million people. We are proud to make our game more inclusive to everyone,” said Lions offensive lineman Sukh Chungh, who grew up in Port Coquitlam and is the son of immigrants from India.
Harpreet Pandher and Taqdeer Thindal, who were each born and raised in the Lower Mainland, will call the historic broadcast. Both Pandher and Thindal have television broadcasting experience, calling games for nearly a decade with Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition. Pandher also has Abbotsford Canucks broadcasts on his resume.
The idea for the Punjabi broadcast originated out of Edmonton with the Elks announcing it yesterday, but the Lions stepped forward to get the game simulcast on AM 600 in their home market.
“With a Punjabi population of over 300,000 in British Columbia, this historic broadcast enables a whole new segment of football fans to enjoy our great game,” said Lions president Duane Vienneau. “We commend Victor Cui and the Elks for making this happen.”
First launched in 2000, Sher-E-Punjab Radio AM 600 broadcasts to the South Asian population in the Lower Mainland and Northwest Washington State.
With a 5-1 record the Lions enter the game as the best team in the CFL’s West Division, but they’ll be without starting quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., who is injured. Dane Evans will get the start for BC after he and Saskatchewan Roughriders QB Mason Fine helped make a bit of history last weekend. Saturday marked the first time in CFL history that two Indigenous quarterbacks played against each other.
“I’m glad you find that cool because I think it’s kind of cool too,” Evans said in a response to a question from a reporter after Saturday’s game. “I think that’s kind of special.”
✨ Making history ✨
For the first time in the CFL, two Indigenous quarterbacks faced off against one another.
Here is what Dane Evans (@daneevans9) had to say about being part of that historic moment with Mason Fine (@Masonfine09): pic.twitter.com/zt9GIJLy42
— BC LIONS (@BCLions) July 24, 2023
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