Pivoting to the broadcast booth

As soon as Chris Streveler tore his ACL, he basically knew his gridiron career was over.

Last October, when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hosted the Montreal Alouettes in the regular-season finale, the quarterback went down with a non-contact injury just minutes into the game.

Streveler had torn three of the four major ligaments in that same left knee during the 2024 Banjo Bowl and worked tirelessly to make it back for the 2025 season.

This time, however, a path to a return wasn’t going to be viable.

“I didn’t really want to retire, but it was obvious that I couldn’t keep playing anymore with my knee,” Streveler told the Free Press.

“I have arthritis doing the same knee two years in a row, and you start thinking about quality of life.”

No longer able to run through defenders, Streveler had to start thinking about what he could accomplish without a helmet and shoulder pads.

He spoke to a few NFL connections about potentially getting into coaching, but an ideal opportunity didn’t come out of it. He dabbled in real estate, but quickly found out there’s a steep learning curve. He was even a founding partner of a dating app called Going Steddy, but that ultimately didn’t go through as hoped.

“I was able to pack probably three or four years of failure into a few months because I kept taking action and putting myself out there,” said Streveler.

And then there was broadcasting.

He got his first taste of it in 2023 after he was injured in the pre-season with the New York Jets. He was sitting at home in Phoenix when the University of South Dakota — where he played from 2016-17 — reached out and asked if he could fill in on colour commentary for radio for the season opener in Missouri.

“It was never something I did before that. I hadn’t given it a ton of thought, but anyone who knows me knows I just say ‘yes’ to opportunities — and sometimes way too often — but I was like, ‘You know what, let’s go do it,’” said Streveler.

“And man, I had an absolute blast.”

He received a ton of positive feedback, and since retiring in March, he’s been able to invest more time and energy into broadcasting. The 31-year-old has built up a following on social media by breaking down both CFL and NFL action, and started a YouTube/podcast series called See It Like Strev where he’s interviewed three-down stars like Montreal receiver Tyson Philpot and Edmonton running back Justin Rankin.

DAZN, a streaming service that has the NFL Game Pass rights in Canada and will be the exclusive broadcaster of CFL Saturday Night Football starting next season, clearly took notice.

It was announced earlier this week that DAZN had hired Streveler as a CFL and NFL analyst, creator and on-air personality.

“It’s so exciting. I’ve been working really hard. And the transition for athletes, it’s interesting, man. You think you’re ready to be out of the game, but there are difficult times,” he said.

“And for me to be able to find something that I genuinely love doing, it’s been super exciting. And seeing the reception (to the announcement) from all the fans, not only in Winnipeg but across Canada, people are so supportive and so excited and that is even more energizing.”

See It Like Strev can now be found on DAZN, and he will also host a show called QB POV, which breaks down NFL divisions from a quarterback’s perspective. It’s not yet determined what his exact role will be for the platform’s CFL coverage next season or who he will be working alongside.

“I know everyone’s excited to figure out what it’s going to look like and what it’s going to be like, but truthfully, I think we’re still figuring that out every single day. But what I can tell you is my vision for how we can grow this game and bring new fans to the league is the same way DAZN sees it,” said the 2019 Grey Cup champion, who’s in Winnipeg for Saturday’s Banjo Bowl.

“The league needs more coverage. It’s such a great product. There’s so many creative ways to promote the game, promote the league, and I think having some new voices and new faces around the league and covering the league is only going to be beneficial for the league.”

The CFL announced in May that it had agreed to a six-year media deal with Bell’s TSN and RDS, as well as DAZN and YouTube, that will net the league a record $500 million over its duration.

To watch Saturday Night Football in 2027, as well as the Saturday night playoff game in each of the first two rounds of the league’s new playoff format, fans will have to subscribe to DAZN — currently between $24.99 and $34.99 a month in Canada.

“I understand things are expensive and times are tough for some people. I 100 per cent understand that,” said Streveler. “But I would say go into this with an open mind. I really, really believe in the vision that DAZN has and the value that they can bring to fans.”

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