Rogers, NHL have agreed to another broadcast deal. What will that mean for how you watch the game?

Abby Hughes · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 03, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Rogers volition proceed to bring hockey to Canadians for different 12 years, pursuing the announcement of different exclusive woody betwixt the telecommunications institution and the NHL.

The $11-billion woody announced contiguous gives Rogers the rights to broadcast hockey games crossed the state until 2037-38. The details are akin to the past deal, which besides spanned 12 years, but cost just $5.2 cardinal and expires astatine the extremity of the 2025-26 hockey season.

This gives Rogers nationalist rights crossed TV, streaming and integer for each regular play and playoff games, positive the Stanley Cup Final and each peculiar events. This besides extends to sum successful each languages and each regions.

"For us, this isn't conscionable a game, it's our game, and we're arrogant to beryllium the location of hockey for the adjacent 12 years," Tony Staffieri, president and CEO of Rogers Communications, said astatine a quality league Wednesday.

But what volition the caller woody mean for hockey fans erstwhile they beryllium down to ticker the game? Experts accidental there's a fewer things to ticker for. 

Will the terms spell up?

When asked if the outgo of the $11-billion woody mightiness get passed connected to viewers, Staffieri didn't reply directly, but said Rogers is focused connected increasing its viewership successful bid to bring successful caller revenue. He added that the absorption would beryllium connected bringing the champion worth for customers astatine the lowest prices. 

Richard Deitsch, a sportswriter for The Athletic, says Rogers and Sportsnet should beryllium wary of immoderate outgo increases for their services. As passionate arsenic Canadian hockey fans are, helium says there's inactive a threshold erstwhile it comes to however overmuch they'll wage to ticker the game, particularly fixed the rising outgo of surviving successful different areas of life.

"I deliberation if I was Rogers, I would deliberation precise agelong and hard astir what that terms constituent would beryllium for hockey," Deitsch said.

Fewer blackouts connected the horizon

The NHL mandates that its rights holders tailor what games are disposable by region, causing what are known arsenic blackouts. Montreal Canadiens fans aren't often capable to ticker their squad successful Alberta, for example. However, due to the fact that immoderate hockey games are deemed national, they are played crossed the country.

Colette Watson, president of Rogers Sports and Media, told reporters Wednesday that part of the caller woody volition let them to person immoderate determination games to nationalist ones. Details are inactive to come, but wide that means much games would beryllium disposable to the full state alternatively than conscionable successful circumstantial regions.

Where volition I beryllium capable to ticker hockey?

Though Rogers holds the exclusive rights to broadcast NHL games successful Canada, it sub-licenses the rights to a fig of different media organizations. That's wherefore you spot hockey games broadcast connected entities similar TSN, TVA and, astir recently, Amazon Prime.

The streaming elephantine made a woody with Rogers past twelvemonth that allowed it to watercourse regular-season games connected Monday Night Hockey — thing some companies heralded arsenic a bully mode to find caller audiences. 

Rogers' Staffieri said it's a "strong possibility" that they'll proceed their woody with Amazon going forward. 

Dan Berlin, an adjunct prof of athletics media astatine Toronto Metropolitan University, says the statement falls successful enactment with wherever audiences are moving — that is, distant from accepted cablegram and onto streaming platforms. He says that moving with Amazon, who person a "massive, built-in audience" lone helps Rogers, and the athletics of hockey, turn and innovate. 

"I deliberation we're lone truly scratching the aboveground of what that imaginable sublease statement oregon bringing Amazon successful arsenic a spouse could look like," Berlin said.

Sublicensing agreements are besides however Hockey Night successful Canada — the iconic, Saturday nighttime hockey crippled programme that's tally connected TV since 1952 — airs connected CBC television. The CBC was the archetypal broadcaster of Hockey Night successful Canada, but mislaid the rights erstwhile Rogers signed their archetypal exclusive woody with the NHL successful 2013.

WATCH | It's ne'er been much analyzable — oregon costly — to ticker NHL hockey:  

A continued woody to aerial Hockey Night successful Canada connected CBC hasn't been made arsenic of yet. Watson said contiguous that Rogers and CBC are continuing to sermon their agreement.

"We worth our concern with the CBC. And implicit the adjacent 18 months, we'll look to spot if there's a continued concern there," Watson said.

If that statement were to spell distant aft adjacent season, erstwhile the woody betwixt Rogers and CBC is set to expire, it would people the archetypal clip that Hockey Night successful Canada wouldn't beryllium disposable escaped to each Canadians via the CBC since the program's inception. 

Berlin says arsenic agelong arsenic the CBC remains funny successful bringing hockey to Canadians crossed the country, helium doesn't spot the instauration going away. What could complicate that representation is however overmuch backing the CBC has available, Berlin says, pointing to the information that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has campaigned connected defunding the CBC.

"My anticipation is that [the] narration volition proceed due to the fact that … everybody should person the accidental to beryllium capable to ticker that organization crippled broadcast connected a Saturday night," Berlin said. 

What other mightiness alteration successful the agelong run?

Berlin says determination are immense opportunities for maturation successful integer and streaming spaces implicit the adjacent 12 years. He says helium anticipates that contented volition go much personalized and tailored to idiosyncratic fans implicit the people of the caller deal.

"[It] mightiness not lend itself to fans wanting to ticker an full broadcast, but the diverseness of the contented and however it has the quality to conscionable the assemblage wherever they are, I deliberation volition spell done a existent profound change," he said.

Deitsch agrees. He expects to spot technological innovations utilized to marque the viewing acquisition much idiosyncratic — particularly if Rogers ends up raising prices. 

But Cary Kaplan, laminitis and president of selling firm Cosmos Sports, says an exclusive woody for much than a decennary solidifies what helium calls Rogers' monopoly implicit Canadian sports.

With the afloat rights and an assemblage that's not apt to springiness up watching hockey immoderate clip soon, Kaplan says helium worries that could marque Rogers complacent successful presumption of the prime of the programming they're putting out.

"If you cognize you're gonna get your audience, you tin bash 2 things. You tin accidental 'We person an astonishing audience, let's spell each in,' " Kaplan said. "Or you tin accidental 'The viewers aren't going anywhere,' which is true."

He says helium hopes Rogers takes this arsenic an accidental to innovate — and that the NHL included presumption successful the woody that volition guarantee a high-quality broadcast.