Leafs Fans Revolt as Monday Night Hockey Goes Sportsnet+ Exclusive

Toronto Maple Leafs fans who went looking for Monday’s game against the San Jose Sharks on their cable box came up empty, and a lot of them are not happy about being asked to pay extra for Sportsnet+ to watch it.

That’s according to the Toronto Sun, which reported on Tuesday that the Leafs’ first Monday Night Hockey game of the season set off a wave of angry replies from viewers on X and in its comments section. Rogers moved every Monday Night Hockey game to exclusive streaming on Sportsnet+ this season, and the Leafs are scheduled for 12 more of them, starting with next Monday’s game against the Calgary Flames on October 26.

The switch was announced back in September, but it clearly didn’t hit home for many viewers until Canada’s most popular team showed up on the streaming-only schedule.

“I already pay for every Sportsnet channel, yet I’m expected to pay $12.99 a month for Sportsnet+ to watch the Leafs?” one viewer wrote on X, as quoted by the Toronto Sun. Others kept it shorter. “Watching hockey is now only for the rich,” wrote one, while another said, “First Leaf game I missed in a decade.”

What Monday Night Hockey costs now

How much you pay depends on how you get Sportsnet today. Here’s where things stand:

• Sportsnet through a TV provider: sign in to Sportsnet+ with your provider and add the Monday Night Hockey package for $12.99 per month.
• Rogers Xfinity TV with Sportsnet: Monday games are included at no extra cost through three new digital channels.
• Sportsnet+ Standard: includes Monday Night Hockey for $34.99 per month or $269.99 per year.
• Sportsnet+ Premium: adds more than 750 extra NHL games, including out-of-market Canadian team games, for $44.99 per month or $344.99 per year.

Those Sportsnet+ rates only took effect last month, after Rogers raised prices again right before the season started. One fan told the Toronto Sun they tried Sportsnet+ for a season, “but then they jumped the price up by 30 per cent.”

Sportsnet isn’t the only bill

Monday nights are only part of the picture, since Rogers also handed exclusive Wednesday night games to Prime Video, which are included with Amazon Prime at $9.99 per month or $99 per year. Over on Bell’s side, TSN+ carries select regional Leafs, Canadiens, Senators and Jets games, with plans running $24.99 per month for Standard and $29.99 per month for Premium.

The Toronto Sun pointed out that TSN is doing something similar in other sports, with subscribers no longer getting NFL games played abroad unless they pay for TSN Premium. It also noted that a handful of streaming-only Leafs games, like the Blue Jays games that land on Apple TV, would be one thing. Thirteen Mondays is another.

Some fans are opting out entirely, with replies suggesting the radio call instead. “The radio broadcast tonight was excellent,” wrote one. At these prices, a radio might be the best value in Canadian sports right now.

Are you paying for Sportsnet+ to watch Monday Night Hockey this season, or sitting those games out?