Rogers ends ties with CBC for NHL, Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts
The landscape of how to watch the NHL in Canada continues to evolve, as games will no longer be shown on CBC on Saturday nights, pulling the broadcasts from the public broadcaster famed for creating a national identity through Hockey Night in Canada.
On Tuesday, Rogers Sportsnet and the CBC announced that they would end their 12-year partnership of showing games on the public broadcaster on Saturday nights, while Rogers Sportsnet would maintain Saturday night broadcasts.
CBC will maintain the intellectual property rights to the Hockey Night in Canada brand, as well as the social media accounts under that name. Due to that factor, the Saturday night broadcasts on Sportsnet will not be known as “Hockey Night in Canada,” effectively ending the traditional branded broadcast, outright.
CBC began the Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts in 1952, and before that, broadcast hockey on the radio. Since 2013, when Rogers purchased Canadian NHL rights, the CBC has shown Saturday nights and the Stanley Cup Playoffs on its platforms and channels but has received none of the advertising revenue, resulting in a major hit to key viewership hours.
The two sides did not extend the 2013-created partnership for the 2026-27 campaign, the first year of Rogers’ new 12-year, $11-billion broadcast rights deal with the NHL.
For the CBC, it means the end of an era. However, the public broadcaster, which holds Olympic and Paralympic broadcasting rights through 2032, will increase its coverage of Olympic sports, including a new Saturday night primetime show highlighting Canada’s athletes as they compete at home and around the world, for which the broadcaster would earn advertising revenue.
“As Canada’s Olympic network every day through 2032, our increased commitment will include more in-depth storytelling, more live sport, and more coverage of Canadian athletes at home and abroad,” said Chris Wilson, Executive Director of CBC Sports and General Manager of Olympics for CBC/Radio-Canada. “We’re focused on the people at the heart of the competition, covering their achievements and sacrifices as they represent our country.”
For Sportsnet, it means largely status quo, without sharing their property with other networks, aside from a partial rights agreement with Amazon Prime and some local broadcasts through TSN.