It was announced this week that Rogers will stop licensing NHL hockey games to the CBC, bringing Hockey Night in Canada to an end, and sparking outrage from hockey fans across the country.
Hockey Night In Canada (HNIC) on CBC is a Canadian cultural fixture. Its roots trace back to 1923 as a radio broadcast, and since 1952 it aired NHL games on the public broadcasting network, with free-to-watch games online on CBC Gem since 2018. Generations of Canadians have grown up watching HNIC, with millions of viewers tuning in every Saturday night. Its iconic theme song has often been referred to as “Canada’s second national anthem”.
In 2013, Rogers became the exclusive national rightsholder for the NHL in Canada in a $5.3 billion deal, but reached a sublicensing agreement to maintain HNIC on CBC. NHL games became a key driver of subscriptions for Rogers-owned Sportsnet. In March 2026 Rogers renewed its agreement with the NHL for the next 12 years in an $11 billion deal.
However, Rogers had no desire to allow CBC to continue to get viewership numbers on NHL games, especially for a premier Saturday night time slot. Rogers has ended their partnership with CBC. Saturday night NHL games will now air exclusively on Sportsnet, putting an end to HNIC as we know it.
Executive director of CBC Sports Chris Wilson said in an interview about the failure to reach a deal, “They’ve got big plans and they have to monetize it as a business. We weren’t able to find a number that made sense for both.”
With this move, Rogers has shamelessly destroyed a Saturday night tradition that spans generations, and has taken away the last free way for Canadians to watch hockey. Sportsnet continues to raise the price of its streaming service, with an increase of 25 per cent for a standard subscription and an increase of 30 per cent for a premium subscription this season alone, bringing the cost up to $29.99 a month. In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, that means that many working-class families will no longer get to watch hockey.
As one 77-year old pensioner who grew up watching hockey with his family said, “I guess I don’t get to watch hockey anymore. We don’t have an option. It was only CBC or nothing. So I guess it’s going to be nothing. My days of watching hockey are over.”
Meanwhile, Rogers’ Communications media revenue (from broadcasting, streaming subscriptions, and sports) jumped 82 per cent in the first quarter of this year, hitting $988 million. Apparently, that’s not enough for them.
After coming home from work we should be able to unwind with friends and family, and cheer on our favourite teams without being gouged by Canada’s greediest telecommunications monopoly, but capitalism is ruining sports. The ruling class are “elbows up” when it comes to protecting their business interests, but when celebrated cultural institutions get in the way of their profits, they’ll happily toss aside their patriotic facade.
During the Winter Olympics, Rogers ran hockey ads with the slogan, “This is our game”. It’s not “ours” anymore; it’s theirs because the rich stole it from us. Just like the ruling class is stealing from us at the gas pump and the grocery store, just like they’re trying to steal airports and healthcare and postal services. They won’t stop until they’ve taken everything—or until the working class stops them, and takes back what’s ours.
