Four months ago, Bell Canada took a massive pivot away from live sports, agreeing to sell its 37.5 per cent stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to Rogers Communications in a $4.7-billion deal.
But Bell on Tuesday strongly denied the rumour that TSN, the Bell Media sports broadcasting arm which televises some Toronto Raptors and Maple Leafs games, as well as other major sports, could be on the chopping block.
“There is no truth to the report that TSN is being considered for sale,” a Bell Media spokesperson told the Star by email. “It is not.”
The rumour was first reported by sports media writer Jonah Sigel on his website yyzsportsmedia.com.
Bell’s agreement to back out of MLSE — the parent company of the Maple Leafs, Raptors, Argonauts and Toronto FC — is pending regulatory approval and is expected to close in mid-2025. The deal, publicly announced in September, gives Rogers 75 per cent ownership of MLSE and, in turn, a “monopoly on Toronto sports,” said Michael Goldberg, sports financing analyst at DBRS Morningstar.
It was Bell who originally approached Rogers about the deal, Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said in September. Bell is maintaining a 50-50 split on regional broadcast rights for Raptors and Leafs “over the next couple of years,” Staffieri said.
At the time, most analysts viewed Bell’s move as a sound financial decision. The company has struggled with mounting levels of debt and cut 4,800 jobs early this year. It also sold nearly half its radio stations and ended multiple TV broadcasts.
In an internal memo sent to staff in September, Bell CEO Mirko Bibic said the deal will help transition the company to a tech services and digital media entity.
It is unclear if TSN is part of that pivot.
In a statement issued in September, Bell said Canadians “can count on TSN for Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors game action through access to content rights for 20 years.” The truth, though, according to experts, may be more complicated.
Regional and national broadcast contracts expire after the 2025-26 season, the Star’s Ana Pereira previously reported, after which Rogers’ Staffieri has said Bell will “have the opportunity to continue to buy those rights at market rates.” But those market rates will have to be negotiated. Rogers says it has agreed on a process to determine fair market value.
A Bell spokesperson told the Star at the time the company had “every intent to exercise this access to our existing content rights, and to continue to deliver live game coverage of both teams to TSN viewers.”
Bell will have to compete not only with Rogers but streaming giants like Amazon Prime Video to keep those rights.
With files from Ana Pereira.
