For nearly three decades, Sports Page shaped how British Columbians experienced local sports. And as of next week, the iconic institution is returning, albeit in an entirely different format.

The iconic BC-based sports highlights television program that helped kickstart the careers of broadcasters such as Don Taylor, John Shorthouse, Blake Price, and many others went off the air in 2005. Another of those broadcasters was Scott Rintoul, who is part of a group of three individuals championing the effort to revive Sports Page with a modern approach.

The “new Sports Page” officially launches next week, on October 14th, and its website is sportspagebc.ca.

To start, the website will feature some original content but will focus more on amplifying stories already being told across the province.

“We’re going to have original content, and that’s going to be modest to start,” said Rintoul. “That’s the hard part for me, is that I love seeing the groundswell of support because of the nostalgia that comes with the play on the name [Sports Page]. But it’s not going to be that at the beginning. It’s going to be modest original content, because I do think that one of the things that can happen is you get too far in front of your skis on something like this and go, ‘okay, we’re going to do all the original content and cover all the things.’ It’s not going to start like that. It’s actually going to be very modest. A lot of it will be amplification to begin. I want, and I know that Jared and Karm want, the person who writes a story in Penticton that’s good to be amplified. And so people find it on our site, but when they click on it, it goes right to their [Penticton writer in this example] site. So part of this is just trying to create a broader community and a platform and a hub more than anything.”

Rintoul, who has made several stops since he was laid off from Sportsnet 650 in September 2021, sees a real opportunity to offer BC sports fans something they don’t have right now: more localized sports coverage, and not just about the Canucks.

“We have a Canadian quarterback who’s the best player in the CFL right now, who’s on a heater and maybe leading his team to a Grey Cup. We have a 2-time reigning MVP, and I know he’s not from BC, but a Canadian MVP in the NBA. We had the Jays go on their run last year. We just had the World Cup. The Whitecaps are top of the table. We have arguably the best female rugby player in the world from Victoria. We have all of this stuff, and we’re only going to talk about the Canucks? Are you kidding me?

“We deserve better overall. And I think we can all be part of that solution. So one of the things you’re gonna see is we’re gonna be like, ‘hey, if you think you can contribute content, let us know.’ And that might be on a one-off basis, or, or maybe as this grows, there’s regular people that are able to be paid more often.

“I’m of the opinion, if you are in Prince George, and you think you’re pretty good on your iPhone with CapCut, and you can put together a cool little 2-minute story video on the local football player who’s got a cool backstory, I think that should see the light of day.”

Rintoul is part of a group with Karm Sumal, one of the original founders of Vancity Buzz (now Daily Hive), and Jared Harman, a former TSN 1040 employee and, more recently, CEO of One Group Agency, a marketing agency he co-founded in 2018. It was Harman who first came up with the idea and later approached Rintoul and Sumal.

“I just saw that the sports media scene was just shrinking and shrinking and shrinking,” said Harman. “And I just kind of thought, there’s got to be a way to pull all the information into one place and create kind of like a hub for everything local sports, amateur to professional, where people could go and find the information they want. And from a growth standpoint, I was like, if my kid got tagged in a story, he’s going to share that with all his buddies, and that’s going to generate eyeballs and views, and it could grow into a really cool place to find that information. And so I actually bought the domain in 2017 or 2018, and I’ve been sitting on it for a long time.

“A year or so ago, I was having a beer with Scotty and kind of pitched him the idea of calling it Sports Page and just like playing on the nostalgia a bit and just kind of asked what he thought. And he obviously liked the concept. Having someone with that kind of journalistic experience and network and all those good things that Scotty brings to the table was a no-brainer. And I had gotten to know Karm a little bit because we run in some similar circles, like on the marketing side and business side of things. With his experience, it just seemed like a really good group of people to work with.”

At launch, the site will feature stories aggregated from across the province, with one of the group’s goals being to dive deeper into original content and launch a podcast as the brand grows.

Karm Sumal, meanwhile, looks to bring his expertise in building digital media outlets to the table, and is excited to be part of an effort to revive a program that he grew up watching.

“We saw the gap,” said Sumal. “I remember growing up, Sports Page would cover a lot of the up-and-coming stuff and some of the other stuff not covered every day. Like, even the PWHL isn’t covered that much, and I feel like those women are killing it, and the fans are loving it. The local scene throughout BC, we’re going to amplify those stories.”

You can bookmark sportspagebc.ca by clicking here. The site doesn’t truly go live until October 14th, but you can sign up for their newsletter at the current landing page, and follow them on all social channels @sportspagebc.

Welcome Daily Faceoff Vancouver to the lineup. The new collection brings DFO Vancouver style to premium Nation Gear x Levelwear tees, hoodies, hats and layers — designed for game days, everyday wear and hockey wherever you find it. Same hockey community. Bigger home. SHOP DAILY FACEOFF VANCOUVER AND HALFORD AND BROUGH GEAR at nationgear.ca