Like Thanos in the Avengers movies, Rogers is collecting Toronto sports teams like infinity stones — one-by-one and then all at once, the telecom giant has agreed to buy a controlling stake in the biggest sports market in Canada.
With its $4.7-billion purchase of Bell’s stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), Rogers Communications now owns the majority of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, the Toronto Argonauts and their affiliated minor league teams. That’s on top of their pre-existing ownership of the entirety of the Toronto Blue Jays.
With the latest consolidation in the sports sphere, here’s just how vast the Rogers empire is.
Sports teams, stadiums and MLSE
Want to see any of those Toronto teams play? You’ll have to go to the Rogers majority-owned Scotiabank Arena or Coca-Cola Coliseum. Eager to watch a Blue Jays game? See Taylor Swift? Well, the name “Rogers Centre” speaks for itself. And, if you want to go see hockey in Vancouver or Edmonton, you’ll go to Rogers Arena or Rogers Place — though Rogers only owns the naming rights of those buildings.
Forbes, as of December 2023, had the Toronto Raptors valued at $4.1-billion, the Leafs at $2.8-billion and Toronto FC at $725-million. MLSE cracked Forbes’ ranking of the world’s most valuable sports empires for 2024 at tenth place.
If you’re a Canadian fan watching sports on TV, you’re probably already familiar with the Rogers-owned Sportsnet. The iconic Hockey Night in Canada is also presented by Rogers. If you’ve watched any NHL hockey games since 2013, you’ve likely watched it on a Rogers network thanks to a 12-year exclusive broadcasting deal that Rogers was awarded by the league. Even if you’ve watched free playoff hockey on the CBC, those rights are sublicensed from Rogers to the public broadcaster.
Maybe you’re not into sports and more of a “Real Housewives” or Below Deck” sort of person, those air on Bravo, a Rogers-owned network. They also own a majority stake in FX Canada — so if you’ve watched Emmy-sweeping shows like “The Bear” or “Shogun,” you’ve likely watched it on a Rogers platform. The telecom giant also scooped the rights to HGTV, Food Network, Discovery and more channels from Bell Media and Corus Entertainment earlier this year.
Heading to TIFF? Rogers became the festival’s top sponsor this year after nearly three decades of Bell.
All this in addition to Rogers’ colossal network of news organizations — it owns Citytv and CityNews, its affiliates across the country as well as the multicultural network OMNI TV. The telecom giant also owns 56 radio stations across Canada and the Frequency Podcast Network, which produces shows like the Big Story and the Reheat.
Collectively, Rogers’ media division pulled in $2.3 billion in revenue last year.
Rogers Telecommunications
Rogers telecommunications division is the company’s largest by far — its wireless and cable services raked in a combined $17.2-billion in revenue including $8.76-billion in revenue for the company last year.
On top of its cable network and a majority stake in Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC), Rogers is one of the major players in mobile and home internet services.
Rogers, on top of its eponymous internet and mobile services, also owns discount providers Fido and Chatr. That’s not including the drawn-out $26-billion deal that saw Rogers takeover Shaw.
Together, according to Rogers, the company provides wireless services to 11.7 million subscribers in Canada or nearly three in 10 Canadians.
