Rogers’ MLSE play the latest shift for Canadian sports landscape, experts say

TORONTO — Sports business experts say Rogers Communications Inc.’s full takeover of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment is the latest sign of a shift in Canada’s professional sports landscape.

The telecommunications giant announced Monday it will acquire the remaining 25 per cent stake in MLSE it didn’t yet own for $4.35 billion, spelling the end for longtime part-owner Larry Tanenbaum through his holding company, Kilmer Sports Inc.

MLSE owns the NHL’s Maple Leafs, NBA’s Raptors, MLS’ Toronto FC and the CFL’s Argonauts. Last year, Rogers closed a separate $4.7-billion deal with rival BCE Inc. to buy its 37.5 per cent stake in MLSE, making it the majority owner.

Rogers and Bell previously owned equal stakes in the sports conglomerate, while the remaining quarter was owned by Kilmer. Rogers held an option allowing it to buy out that remaining 25 per cent stake this year.

The move comes amid other big changes involving Rogers’ sports ventures.

In a joint announcement with CBC last month, the pair said they wouldn’t renew their sublicense agreement that allowed the public broadcaster to air NHL games on Hockey Night in Canada. That means Rogers-owned properties will be the only option for nationally televised games in English on Saturday nights.

“The days of free-to-air are gone,” said Concordia University sports economist Moshe Lander.

“It’s not just the Canadian sports landscape that’s changing. This is something that other leagues have realized before the NHL, which is you only have so much money that you can make from game day sales.”

He said hockey has long been overly reliant on a revenue strategy of “how many bums in seats can you fill,” but has recently taken steps to diversify, including through lucrative television deals. That forces fans to pay more to watch hockey, along with their other favourite sports.

Last year, Rogers and the NHL extended their national TV rights deal for English broadcasts. The 12-year, $11-billion agreement starts in the upcoming 2026-27 season.

In addition to MLSE, Rogers owns the Toronto Blue Jays, Rogers Centre and Sportsnet network.

“They’re now realizing that, ‘Wait there’s a lot more other opportunities here to make money,’ TV being just one of them,” Lander said.

“If you have teams that are being owned by multimedia platforms, there is that ability then to innovate and to create lots of different revenue streams that go just beyond, ‘Hey how many people showed up to tonight’s Leafs game?'”

Rogers also has TV partnerships with the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, along with the NBA.

Lander said sports are among the few remaining entertainment options where live programming is still valued. With MLSE, the Blue Jays and a national sports broadcaster all under one figurative roof, he said Rogers has a stranglehold on some of the biggest content makers.

“When you have Rogers owning (MLSE), they basically create content for themselves and for their platforms,” he said.

“It makes sense, I guess, in Canada to have all of that stuff concentrated in one company. If you have it spread out, if you have different owners, if it’s not fully concentrated, then there’s not necessarily the same unity of purpose.”

Some Toronto-area pro sports teams still exist outside the Rogers bubble though.

Kilmer owns the Toronto Tempo, who are playing their inaugural WNBA season. Last month, it became the first Canadian investor in the PWHL, which is owned by the Mark Walter Group.

Women’s soccer team AFC Toronto, of the Northern Super League, is majority-owned by Canadian-American investor Mark Mitchell. Inter Toronto FC, a men’s soccer team playing in the Canadian Premier League, was bought by Mexican brothers Ricardo, Eduardo and Miguel Pasquel, via Game Plan Sports Group, in 2023.

Yet there are relatively few competitors in the sports ownership space in Canada, which has led to an “oligopoly setup,” said Brock University’s Michael Naraine.

He said Rogers has “made a purposeful, intentional play to continue to double down on being the sports leader in this country.”

“Rogers has been using sport to try to position themselves as Canadiana in the same way that Tim Hortons does this with Timbits hockey and Timbits soccer,” said Naraine, a professor of sport management.

“To do that, they’re going to spend the billions of dollars to get hockey rights. They’re going to spend the billions of dollars to get the best teams in this country.”

The strategy is also playing out at a time of elevated Canadian pride, he noted, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and rhetoric referring to Canada as “the 51st state.”

Rogers was also the jersey sponsor of Team Canada during last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament, which happened to coincide with the height of Canada-U.S. tensions after Trump returned to office.

“Rogers has figured out that these are products that people want. This is content that people across the country, coast-to-coast want to see,” Naraine said.

“These are things that are associated with Canadiana and as we go through this period of nation-building and patriotism … sport is going to be even more relevant. Canadians are going to want to tune in and over time they’ll know that association, that Rogers is sport.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2026.

Companies in this story: (TSX:RCI.B)

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press