The renewed Rogers-NHL broadcasting rights deal has been confirmed on Wednesday, after earlier reports that claimed a deal was in the works.
Rogers has signed a 12-year, $11 billion CAD deal to keep national broadcasting rights for NHL games in Canada through the 2037-38 season. That’s about a 2.5x increase in pricing compared to the previous 12 year deal.
The agreement will begin in 2026-27, right after the current 12-year deal ends. It gives Rogers control over how national games are shown across TV, digital, and streaming platforms — and promises fans more games with fewer regional blackouts, which have been a pet peeve of many hockey fans.
The deal includes national rights to all regular season and playoff games, the Stanley Cup Final, and major league events. Rogers also has the ability to sublicense some rights, such as French-language broadcasts or a one-night exclusive game package.
“The NHL has been a terrific partner for over a decade, and we’re proud to continue our partnership and bring more great fan experiences and best-in-class broadcasts to Canadians,” said Tony Staffieri, President and CEO, Rogers, in a statement.
“We’re thrilled to continue our landmark partnership for an additional 12 years. The NHL and Rogers have a shared commitment to best serving Canadian fans and the unmatched passion that they have for our game, and we are particularly excited that through this agreement, we’ll bring more live games to more fans across Canada,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
Rogers will also remain the exclusive sponsor of NHL events held in Canada. The company says this new deal will be profitable from the start and benefit shareholders over the long term. This means 12 more years of Rogers NHL broadcasting for fans.
Some analysts said the Rogers deal was imperative to stop cord-cutting, as most TV subscribers are paying for sports. Others questioned how much value Rogers can get out of this new expensive deal at a time of rising costs for media broadcasting. Rogers has almost $45 billion in debt, with $26 billion from its merger with Shaw.
The deal comes as Rogers had an exclusive negotiating window from January 1 to March 1 to get a new deal done.
What do you think of this renewed Rogers-NHL TV broadcasting deal?
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Great! Now I'm never going to be able to watch the Habs games! F*cking hate these blackouts. I remember a time where I could watch all the Habs games from Toronto!
I hate the blackouts, I live in Northern Ontario but because all of Ontario has always been the leaf's region I get blacked out of so many SENS games.
These companies have so many channels airing the same games most of the time on multiple channels and pretty much every region of the country gets every channel TSN and Sportsnet offer so why not remove the blackouts and lets us watch our favorite teams play this way they get more viewers watching.