After 74 years, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) will no longer air the weekly NHL broadcast known as Hockey Night in Canada. The change comes following the expiration of a side agreement with Sportsnet, the privately owned channel that secured exclusive rights to Saturday night National Hockey League telecasts in Canada in 2014.
Since 2014, Sportsnet, owned by cable provider Rogers, has held the primary broadcasting rights to NHL games on Saturday nights, allowing the CBC to simulcast the games on its main national channel. This arrangement enabled free over-the-air access to hockey for some viewers, maintaining a tradition that dates back to the early days of Canadian hockey broadcasting. However, following unsuccessful negotiations to renew the side deal for another 12 years, the CBC will no longer carry these Saturday night games starting in the upcoming season.
With this development, hockey broadcasts on Saturday nights will be available exclusively through Sportsnet’s paid services, including cable subscriptions and its Sportsnet+ streaming app. Non-playoff games on weeknights have long required subscriptions to either Sportsnet or TSN, another private sports network. The shift effectively ends the CBC’s longstanding role as a free-to-air home for NHL broadcasts in Canada.
The financial scale of professional hockey broadcasting has expanded significantly over the past decade. Rogers initially secured the NHL rights in 2013 for $5.2 billion over 12 years; the current agreement spans the next 12 seasons with a reported value of $11 billion. The CBC, which receives approximately $1.4 billion annually in government funding, does not have the capacity to compete financially for these sports rights in a market dominated by private-sector investment.
The CBC has emphasized that this transition offers an opportunity to refocus its programming strategy. Rather than competing in the lucrative arena of NHL rights, the public broadcaster intends to prioritize coverage of Olympic sports and women’s hockey, including the newly established Professional Women’s Hockey League. The network will also retain the Hockey Night in Canada brand, signaling a commitment to preserving the cultural legacy of the program within a changed broadcasting landscape.
Media analysts note that the CBC’s departure from NHL broadcasts reflects broader shifts in the sports media environment, where digital platforms and specialty channels have fragmented audiences. The public broadcaster faces ongoing challenges in attracting English Canadian viewers during prime time, trailing behind competitors that frequently feature imported U.S. programming.
These developments have prompted calls for a comprehensive review of the CBC’s mandate, including its advertising model and digital strategy. Such an evaluation could help the broadcaster better define its role in delivering distinct content that is not readily available on private networks or subscription services.
As hockey moves fully into the pay-to-watch domain on Saturday nights, the CBC appears poised to carve out a renewed public service mission focused on underserved sports coverage and original Canadian programming in an increasingly complex media landscape.