Rogers' move to extend its hold on NHL rights signals a schematic play to control the future of hockey broadcasting in Canada, with one professor arguing the company is now the industry's "gatekeeper."
The reported 12-year deal is worth US$7.7 billion (C$11 billion), more than double the current rights deal between Rogers and the NHL, which was worth C$5.2 billion over 12 years and is set to expire next season.
Brock University sport management associate professor Michael Naraine believes the company is positioning itself to monitor industry trends before deciding whether to sublease rights to streaming companies such as Amazon.
"I've been very bullish and on the record … saying that Amazon was going to get the rights," Naraine said. "What this deal says to me from an Amazon perspective is that Rogers wants to be a bit of the gatekeeper here and see how things are trending.
"And if things are trending positively in terms of Canadian teams making the playoffs, ad revenues being there, subscriber rates being decent and progressing, then obviously, Rogers has less incentive to sublease the rights."
Amazon is in the first of a two-year deal to stream Monday night NHL games in Canada on its Prime streaming service through an agreement with Rogers.
Naraine believes the 'premium' Rogers paid for the NHL rights points to a deeper strategic purpose, beyond just securing the games
"I think what this deal is truly about is two things: One, is preventing a big player like Amazon from getting all of the rights, and cutting Rogers Sportsnet out of the game," he said. "They've invested a lot into hockey.
"The other thing that this signals is that Rogers is trying to increase value to its media division, and they're also trying to do a lot of back-end shifting here."
The deal also directly impacts the rise of streaming and cord-cutting.
Rogers' cable offers more options, but, according to Naraine, viewers are disappointed by the lack of out-of-market games and Sportsnet's higher streaming costs
"When it comes to sports fans, boundaries don't matter," he said. "They want to support their team wherever they are. And so that's the first thing that hockey fans want is no blackouts. And I'm not sure that this deal is going to help them with that.
"I think there is an indication here that maybe prices might go up for things like Sportsnet Now or Sportsnet Plus."
A Desjardins report also concluded that increased pricing and diminished fan support were concerns
"We did model an acceleration in cord-cutting in 2026-27, which now looks less likely to occur. The potential announcement will shine a light on the growing cost of distributing TV and on the diminishing number of subscribers paying to support it," the report read.
Desjardins concluded that losing the NHL rights would be worse for Rogers' business than paying the increased costs.
Naraine says the NHL emerges as the big winner, with the revenue boost supporting a rising salary cap, which increases by $4.5 million to US$88 million next season.
"Any time you can improve upon your current deal by more than 50 per cent, that's a huge win," Naraine said. "You expect to have incremental growth on your rights deals, but to have more than a 50 per cent premium, that's pretty big win."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2025.
Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press
