Grand Slam of Curling targets Europe, United States and Asia

As the fourth leg in this season's Grand Slam Of Curling - The Players' Championship - winds down in Toronto this weekend, some eyes are already turning to the future and possible forays beyond Canada's borders.

"The vision is definitely to go to Europe, in the near future" said Pierre Charette, the president of the World Curling Players' Association.

“They’ve already been talking about that this year," offered current men's world champion Niklas Edin. "They’ve talked about getting a slam to Switzerland or one to China. That will happen sooner or later. We’ll see how the slams go next year. I think they’re happy with the progression so far this season. We still need to build on that and get other countries involved. In a few years I’m really sure we’re going to see slam events in other countries too.”

“Switzerland is probably a natural," echoed Charette. "They have good events there and we think we could do well there.” After that, he says, "obviously the U.S. and then the Pacific (rim) would be the next steps."

The future seems bright for the slams, whereas not so long ago their very existence was in doubt. Deep doubt. It's a classic case of what a difference a year can make.

After struggling through a disastrous (financially speaking) 2011-12 season - which included an acrimonious parting of the ways with the CBC mid-contract, the 2012 Players' Championship was contested in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, with just 8 women's and 8 men's teams, as opposed to this year's 15 on each side.

Although the tour was on monetary quicksand at the time, Charette says the smaller number of teams taking part had nothing to do with that. "Honestly, we had trouble filling the field," he said, of the 2011 Players' Championship. To get to a total of 15 teams, Charette claims, they needed to go too far down the rankings. That led to a decision to cut the number of participants in Summerside the following year.

“I think it kind of shook up the teams," said Charette. "They all came back to me and said 'Pierre, how come only 8 teams?' I said because last year you were (ranked 14th) and you didn’t want to come play in it. I had to go to the 20th and the 22nd (ranked teams).”

"I said I don’t want a weak field. I want the best players to play.”

Dark times. A certain amount of player apathy and the imminent demise of the slams' association with its cash-challenged promoter, iSport, had some thinking this season's slams might evaporate.

Rogers Communications jumped in with a white hat and saddlebags full of money and the slams have roared back to life, with that eye on future global expansion.

While the prize money - Rogers' bonus cash excluded - remains comparable to levels of the last five years, The Players' Championship is back to a field of 30 teams, almost completely comprised of the very best on the planet. The players have heeded the call to circle the wagons.

“I said we’ll bring it back to 15 but you guys have to play in it," explained Charette. "And they responded really good.”

"All 15 women’s teams that were invited are here. We have the best field ever assembled in the women’s event. Same with the men. There was only team (Jean-Michel Menard's) that was ranked 13th that couldn’t make it due to family commitments. But we have 15 of the top 16, so that’s pretty amazing."

“The more the merrier," began last year's men's champion John Epping, when asked about the expanded field. Although his win at Summerside came from an intense round-robin week against a constricted field of the very best - “I think what we were so proud of last year is that the field was the top 8 in the world," he said - he likes the feel of this year's increased participation.

“These days in curling, there are no easy games. If you can’t find the free space on the bingo card, you’re it.”

That kind of competition is a siren song for the world's best players. So, too, is playing in events that have a big time feel to them. The curling in Summerside last year was tremendous, even if there was a pall cast over the tournament's future. Now, according to Charette, that negativity has been removed.

“For the curlers they said that on the ice, there’s not really a difference. It’s everything around it. They feel more secure about the future of our tour than they ever have.”

“I think the structure of the tour and the financial backing of it is certainly much better (than last year).”

So, the tour looks to other pastures down the road. While three of four slam sites have been named for next year (Abbotsford, Medicine Hat and once again, Summerside) that fourth location is not likely to be in a place outside Canada. Not yet. The crush of an Olympic year means those plans probably won't come to fruition until the 2014-15 season, according to Charette.

Switzerland is the probable location. America might be in the mix, but only if a curling star emerges south of the border.

“I’m waiting for a good U.S team," explains Charette. "There are some young guys out there and it’d be great if there were a good U.S. team coming up that would attract the Americans to come and watch their team.”

So much optimistic talk about growth and expansion for a set of events that were all but orphaned last spring.

“We’ve tripled and sometimes quadrupled our exposure on TV," Charette said of the deal that breathed new life into the tour with oodles of coverage on Sportsnet (Rogers' commitment to curling is one of our top ten curling stories of the year, found by clicking here). "The numbers have been really, really good. Now they have something to go to the sponsors, to get some sponsors."

To that end, over a hundred potential sponsors were invited to attend a VIP night at The Players' on Friday night.

“I think (it’s) a big step towards maybe making some great partnerships," said Charette.

Last year, in Summerside, it was tough to see through the storm clouds. This weekend, in Toronto, The Grand Slam of Curling has far flung horizons in its sights.

What a difference a year can make.