Sports fans need to make feds aware of company’s monopolistic practices

At some point, Canadian sports fans have to ask how much control in the hands of one company is simply too much.

Over the past several weeks, Rogers has made a string of announcements that should concern anyone who cares about affordable and accessible sports coverage in Canada.

First, Rogers and CBC announced that their broadcasting partnership would end. Beginning with the 2026-27 NHL season, CBC will no longer carry NHL games, bringing nearly 75 years of Hockey Night in Canada on the public broadcaster to an end.

Saturday night hockey will continue on Sportsnet, but the important distinction is that Canadians will no longer be able to receive those games through CBC’s widely available, over-the-air television network.

Then Rogers announced an agreement to purchase the remaining 25 per cent of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for $4.35 billion. Once completed, the deal would give Rogers full ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and Scotiabank Arena.

In other words, the company that owns Canada’s national NHL broadcasting rights and one of the country’s largest sports networks will also fully own Canada’s most valuable hockey team and several other major professional sports properties.

That announcement was followed almost immediately by Rogers shutting down Sportsnet 960 in Calgary and Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver.

The closures eliminated the only all-sports radio stations in both cities. The Calgary decision went even further, leaving Flames fans, at least for the moment, with no over-the-air radio broadcast of their team’s games at all. Calgary: the 4th largest city in Canada.

This affects more than just urban Calgary. Rural Albertans working in shops, sitting in tractors, commuting to the oil patch, etc. can’t even flip a Flames game on the radio.

And now that sports fans have fewer options than ever, Rogers has announced another increase to the price of Sportsnet+.

Beginning Sept. 22, the annual Sportsnet+ Standard subscription is scheduled to rise to $269.99, while Premium will increase to $344.99. The monthly Premium price will climb to $44.99.

That makes Sportsnet+ extraordinarily expensive compared with other standalone sports streaming services available in Canada.

Look at the sequence.

Rogers secures national NHL rights through 2038. Free NHL broadcasts disappear from CBC. Rogers moves toward complete ownership of the Maple Leafs. Sports radio disappears in Calgary and Vancouver. Flames fans lose their only traditional radio broadcast. Then the price of the company’s streaming service goes up.

Perhaps Rogers has a reasonable business explanation for every individual decision. But week after week, this is starting to look more and more anti-competitive in nature.

That is what the federal Competition Bureau is for.

The bureau is the independent federal agency responsible for investigating possible violations of the Competition Act.

Sports fans who are concerned about the growing concentration of teams, broadcasting rights, television networks, streaming services and radio coverage under one corporate roof should consider completing the Competition Bureau’s online complaint form.

https://competition-bureau.canada.ca/en/contact-competition-bureau-canada/complaint-form

Explain what has changed in your community, which free or affordable options have disappeared and how the changes affect your ability to follow Canadian sports. Also detail how costs are prohibitive and lack of options have hurt you or your family.

It doesn’t feel like much, but it might be the only option left.

Maybe the bureau will determine that nothing improper has occurred. But the more noise sports fans make, the more they’ll feel compelled to launch a full investigation.

Canadians should not quietly accept fewer choices, less free access and continually rising prices without at least asking whether the company controlling so much of our sports landscape has accumulated too much power.