The $5.2 billion dollar deal over 12-years means more hockey, more often, on more channels
I can remember a time not too long ago when SportsNet, the underappreciated littlest brother to TSN, CBC and locally, TheScore, boasted little more than sporadic Blue Jays games, poker, and 3 a.m. darts competitions that watched viewers fall asleep on their living-room couches.
Little brother SportsNet grew up in the summer of 2001 when Rogers acquired the beleaguered network, which had just been optioned off by CTV who, at the demands of the CRTC, has to sell off rights to either TSN or SportsNet.
From thereon, Sportsnet had exclusive rights to all 162 Blue Jays games; bought TheScore outright; began to broadcast channels to every coast of Canada and a channel exclusive to Ontario; expanded their broadcasting capabilities with the 2010 launch of SportsNet One, a channel that features 800 live events a year, including regional NHL coverage; launched SportsNet Radio in 2011 with the acquisition of The Fan 590 out of Toronto and The Fan 960 out of Calgary; launched SportsNet World which saw SportsNet rebrand its international sports channel, Setanta Sports, with the Rogers image; and launched SportsNet Magazine which features a bi-weekly publication of all things sports from across the globe.
Little brother ain’t so little anymore.
Alas, the icing on the cake for the increasing dynasty that is Rogers sports is the acquisition of NHL rights from TSN, to the tune of $5.2 billion dollars over 12-years.
There is a lot of hoopla surrounding the deal, but for the average fan of the NHL that has little interest in the deal, here is what SportsNet’s newly acquired rights to NHL games starting at the beginning of the 2014-2015 season means for you:
– “Hockey Night in Canada” will continue to air on the CBC.
– The CBC will also air the Stanley Cup Finals, however, if a Canadian team is in the finals, SportsNet can option to have it simulcasting on many different channels that it owns.
– No more regionalization of games or blackouts. This also means that all Wednesday and Saturday games that feature a Canadian team will be broadcasted by Rogers.
– Pre and post-game coverage on Saturdays and Sundays will not begin at 4 p.m.
– The NHL All-Star game and Draft will be broadcast by Rogers.
This deal also benefits the CBC in many ways. Though the CBC was worried about losing rights to their Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts due to their unwillingness to spend more tax-payer money to outbid their private-sector counterparts, they still get to keep their Saturday night program and the NHL finals.
This is a win-win for the CBC, as programming stays the same and they no longer have to pay licensing fees or collect ad revenue, which will net them positively in an economic sense.
CBC’s head, Hubert Lacroix, added that now the CBC has the ability to focus and promote their other programming, which traditionally has drawn their largest audiences anyhow.
Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) released a statement saying they put in a bid that deemed “appropriate” for what they valued the NHL at.
Though the former hockey mogul loses majority of broadcasting rights to Rogers, BCE maintains their commitment to hockey.
“In hockey, our partnerships with the Leafs, Jets, Canadiens, Sens, and Hockey Canada (including the World Juniors) remain core to our TSN and RDS TV, radio and digital properties,” read the BCE statement.
The deal still has to be approved by the NHL’s board of governors at their meeting from Dec. 9 to 10, but the meeting is said to be more of a formality, and there shouldn’t be any dissenting opinions on the acquisition by Rogers.
This really sucks for Bell. SportsNet isn’t TSN’s little brother so much as its direct competition. TSN and TSN2 are Bell properties, and SN is Rogers. SN being the home of the Blue Jays was already used as leverage to win customers. Now that they are going to have the Leafs as well, Bell is going to take a huge hit in their customer base: Rogers is going to be able to offer additional programming or ways to access NHL content (mobile, web) to Rogers subscribers as an incentive to switch providers. And if you switch for your TV, there will obviously be cost breaks to switch for internet, phone and mobile as well. That our service providers also own the television networks and channels in this country is fucked up.
It sounds so good. Until you turn to RDS from BC (and, as it turns out, from anywhere in western Canada) and the feed is blacked out during nhl games. Read the fine print. You can watch games from “devices” and you can choose games from “Apps”. I don’t have this stuff and don’t want it, shouldn’t need it to watch the NHL season and playoffs. I’ve been watching for 50 years and now its all messed up, with Rogers have a huge Monopoly. What gov’t agrees to a complete monopoly of its major sport franchises in its country?