Scarboroughbluffsradiof99 wrote:

And instead of rogers, The CBC should have gave the rights to bell, if they want to take hockey off the cbc, if they put it on ctv, they will still get national reach even in some northern communities in ontario.
But, the cbc has the largest reach, so the cbc and rogers should have kepped hockey night in Canada.

It wasn't up to the CBC. They essentially "rented" the games from Rogers in a long term agreement that finally ran out. Rogers owns the Leafs and the rights to the games, so they could do what they want. That would never include selling anything to Bell. 

For the vast majority of viewers, the NHL hasn't been on "free" TV for decades. 

cash wrote:

 For customers who do not have a television subscription, Sportsnet+ is available directly for $34.99 monthly. (Sportsnet says it is working with other distributors to make Sportsnet+ available without an upgrade, but negotiations over such fees among competitors rarely go smoothly.)


https://nationalpost.com/opinion/scott-stinson-what-channel-is-the-hockey-on-the-nhl-is-back-and-watching-it-is-more-expensive-than-ever

If you can't fully connect to the story, try this link.

This story focuses on how the move to restrict the NHL to pay-only and its affect on bars and fans. One expert predicts losing Hockey Night In Canada could affect fan bases in future generations.  

“This is the type of thing that, 10, 20 years out, you're going to find there's an entire generation of fans who say, ‘The only thing I know about hockey is the 30-second clip that I get on Instagram or on TikTok, and beyond that I don’t really know anything about that,’” (sports economist Moshe) Lander said."

Not sure I entirely buy that conclusion, but if it comes to pass, it's certainly a warning sign for the sport's future. But I doubt the NHL will lose its grip on people, even if you have to pay to watch it - especially if the Leafs finally win something. 

Local hockey fans adjust to watching NHL games without Hockey Night in Canada on CBC

John Moore and Mark Towhey just discussed this on Moore in the Morning. It seems to be the consensus is that hockey is Canada’s game and therefore we shouldn’t have to pay to watch it.

Rogers just forked out $11B to the NHL to hog hockey, so I wouldn’t bet on them giving anything away for free. Although it sucks, there’s no freebies anymore. The last few years on CBC, I believe, was Rogers weening us off the Corp for our hockey fix without pissing fans off. I bet they couldn’t wait to drop CBC.

I will continue to watch hockey where I can, but we have decided that we’re not signing up for any new services to watch the Leafs, as we know how that story ends every season. Go Leafs Go!

RadioActive wrote:

For better or worse (and I definitely think it's worse) Rogers has snagged the legitimate rights to this property and sadly can charge whatever they think they can siphon out of people's wallets to see it. 

Much as it pains me to say it, I cannot see a scenario where any government could usurp those rights with a decree that Canadians should be able to watch it for free. It seems to me that's just not something any ruling body could legally do.

Nice idea, though. Not possible in the real world, until, perhaps the rights come back up again some day. 

& again, in a world where there is no force to do anything about how hockey airs, what about the advertisers?
Shouldn't they have a say? Maybe they want at least one game a week to air on City TV to reach those who might not be willing to pay for Sportsnet, but still love to watch hockey...

Only 12% of Canadians watch TV OTA, and it's only been a fraction of available games there for a long time.