Canadian mobile phone giant BCE has reached an agreement with rival telecommunications and cable TV giant Rogers Communications to sell its 37.5 percent stake in Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment for C$4.7 billion (US$3.46 billion).
The transaction will give Rogers a majority stake of 75% in MLSE, which includes the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors professional sports teams. Subject to sports league and regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close in mid-2025.
BCE will use the proceeds from the deal to repay debt, while also securing for its subsidiary Bell Media access to content rights to Maple Leafs and Raptors games broadcast on television sports channel TSN for the next 20 years.
The long-term rights deal with Rogers is intended to bolster TSN as a competitive Canadian TV sports channel. Live TV sports, once the glue that held the Canadian cable bundle together, has become less of a link in recent years as cable TV subscribers cut their subscriptions and U.S.-based streaming giants increasingly snatch away expensive pro sports rights from Rogers’ own TV sports channels, SportsNet and TSN.
In a recent deal, Amazon Prime Video in Canada has signed a deal to exclusively broadcast Monday night National Hockey League games as the entertainment industry’s sports rivalry crosses the U.S.-Canada border.
Terms of the two-year deal, which was not disclosed, were signed by the U.S.-based streaming company with Rogers Communications, the longtime rights holder to the NHL and Canadian league games. Rogers and Sportsnet outbid Bell Media and TSN in 2013 for the domestic rights to NHL games as part of a 12-year, $4.9 billion deal.