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Skip Jennifer Jones practises at the Continental Cup in Calgary, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

After the showgirls and the Thunder From Down Under, what's next for the Continental Cup of Curling?

What's been dubbed "the Ryder Cup of curling" was held in Las Vegas a year ago. Bagpipes played as curlers walked through a casino. Muscular, bare-chested dancers from an all-male revue led them onto the playing surface holding placards of the team names. Bikini-clad showgirls held up scores for shots in the skills competition.

The World Financial Group Continental Cup has returned to Canada where it was held its first nine years before the getaway to Vegas. The four-day competition of team, mixed doubles, hot-shots and skins games starts Thursday at the 3,000-seat Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park.

The Continental Cup may be back in Canada, but experimentation with it is far from over. The Canadian Curling Association (CCA) has taken complete control of the event. Team Europe will face Team Canada, not Team North America, in Calgary.

A total of 60 points are available, so the side that earns more than 30 points by Sunday is the champion.

Olympic champions Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg and Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., lead a Canadian contingent including teams skipped by world silver medalist Rachel Homan of Ottawa, Calgary's John Morris, Winnipeg's Mike McEwen and Edmonton's Val Sweeting.

Every team who stood on the Olympic podium in Sochi, Russia, last year will be in Calgary: silver medalists David Murdoch of Scotland and Margaretha Sigfridsson of Sweden along with bronze medalists Niklas Edin of Sweden and Eve Muirhead of Scotland.

Reigning world men's champion Thomas Ulsrud of Norway and world bronze medalist Anna Sidorova of Russia round out Team Europe, whose record is 4-6 over the history of the event.

Canadians and Americans previously joined forces under a Team North America banner, but the tournament's backers have shifted priorities. According to a World Curling Federation report, the world governing body for the sport decided after spending about $2-million (U.S.) on team costs, prize money and "share of losses" over the first decade of the Continental Cup, it no longer wanted to be involved.

"Unfortunately it has not really caught on beyond the North American TV market," the WCF said in the report posted on its website. "The WCF executive board agreed that it was no longer justifiable for the WCF to spend the levels it had been over the past few years to maintain this event."

The CCA announced last month that ESPN acquired the U.S. rights to its Season of Champions events, including the Continental Cup, to be shown on ESPN3.

But for now, what is a made-for-TV sports event will be a made-for-Canadian-TV sports event.

"Increasing the Canadian content was also important to our sponsors and to television," CCA chief executive officer Greg Stremlaw said. "They asked us to try and increase Canadian content and that's what we've done."

The Continental Cup's reinvention isn't over. Stremlaw indicated other countries may be invited to future tournaments and that announcement will be made at a news conference Friday.

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