Sportsnet is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

English-language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

specialty channel A specialty channel (also known in the United States as a cable channel or cable network) can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted ...

owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV,

Liberty Media Liberty Media Corporation (commonly referred to as Liberty Media or just Liberty) is an American mass media company controlled by chairman John C. Malone. The company has three divisions, reflecting the company's ownership stakes in Formula One ...

, and

Rogers Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties, such as the Citytv and Omni Television terrestrial television stations, Sportsnet, ...

. CTV parent

Bell Globemedia Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies. Establishment (2011–13) On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...

then was required to divest its stake in the network following its 2001 acquisition of competing network

TSN TSN may refer to: Science and technology * Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function * Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System * The Science Netwo ...

. Rogers then became the sole owner of Sportsnet in 2004 after it bought the remaining minority stake that was held by

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

. The Sportsnet license comprises four 24-hour programming services; Sportsnet was originally licensed by the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

(CRTC) as a

category A service Category A services were a class of Canadian specialty television channel which, as defined by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, must be offered by all digital cable and direct broadcast satellite providers that h ...

, operating as a group of

regional sports network In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region. ...

s offering programming tailored to each feed's region (in contrast to TSN, which was licensed at the time to operate as a national sports service, and could only offer limited regional opt-outs). Since 2011, the service has operated under deregulated category C licensing, which allows Sportsnet to operate multiple feeds with no restrictions on alternate programming. In each region, only the local Sportsnet channel is available on analogue cable, but all four channels are available nationally via

digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previou ...

(subject to blackouts for some out-of-market teams). The four Sportsnet feeds air some common programming and simulcast major, national events, but are capable of airing programming autonomously—most prominently regional programming. Sportsnet is the national cable rightsholder of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, and also holds regional rights to five of the league's Canadian franchises. It is also the national rightsholder of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

in Canada (although most of

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's MLB broadcasts are sub-licensed to rival network

), and the exclusive broadcaster of the co-owned

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. It also splits regional coverage of the NHL's

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

and national coverage of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

's Toronto Raptors with TSN; Rogers Communications and TSN's parent company

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...

own a joint majority stake in the teams' parent company. The Sportsnet brand has since been extended beyond the original regional channels, now encompassing the national channels

Sportsnet 360 Sportsnet 360 (SN360) is a Canadian discretionary specialty channel owned by Rogers Media. The channel was launched in 1994 as the licence-exempt service Sportscope, which featured a display of sports news and scores. In 1997, the network was ...

Sportsnet One Sportsnet One (SN1 or SN One) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary digital cable and satellite television, satellite specialty channel owned by Rogers Media, Rogers Sports & Media; it operates ...

(and its regional part-time companion channels), and

Sportsnet World Sportsnet World is a Canadian English language discretionary digital cable and satellite specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications operating as a national sports channel complementing the Sportsne ...

; Sportsnet Radio stations in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary; and '' Sportsnet Magazine''. With these brand extensions, Rogers now generally uses "Sportsnet" (by itself) to denote its sports media properties as a whole, and on-air promotions for programs being carried nationally by these four regional feeds often list all four channels separately, or refer to the Sportsnet "regional" (or "main") channels, to avoid any ambiguity. However, standalone mentions of "Sportsnet" in reference to a specific channel can still generally be assumed to be referring to the four regional channels (or the specific regional channel available locally on analogue cable).

History

Sportsnet was approved by the CRTC in September 1996 under the tentative name ''S3'', with Baton Broadcasting Inc. (later renamed to CTV Inc.) holding a 40% controlling interest in the network, and 20% minority stakes held by

and

(in turn a

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

of TCI, an American cable-television group). The network proposed a structure with an emphasis on regional programming, operating four feeds to serve different areas of the country. The network launched on October 9, 1998, as CTV Sportsnet, under the ownership of CTV, Rogers, and Liberty; the latter which owned some of the Fox Sports Net operations that Fox ran in the United States after which the channel was named. The new network gained credibility before it went on the air, having acquired national cable rights to the

from long-time holder

. From 1998–99 until 2001–02, Sportsnet aired NHL games to a national audience throughout the regular season, and covered first-round playoff series not involving Canadian teams. Its first live sports event was an NHL opening night telecast between the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

. The national cable rights to the NHL returned to TSN in 2002, though Sportsnet retained regional broadcast rights for most Canadian NHL teams.

Acquisition by Rogers

When CTV purchased NetStar, the former parent company of TSN, in 2000, the CRTC ordered CTV to sell either TSN or its stake in Sportsnet. CTV ultimately chose to retain TSN, and sell its stake in Sportsnet. The other shareholders had first right of refusal; as Rogers was the only interested party, it acquired CTV's stake in the summer of 2001, and soon after renamed it Rogers Sportsnet. During part of the transition period, during which time the channel was known as "Sportsnet", CTV was allowed to control programming on both networks, and some cross-affiliation and programs that were going to be tape-delayed on TSN, most notably

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

, were given to Sportsnet. In 2004, Rogers then bought the remaining 20 percent stake from Fox. While Sportsnet had been based there from the beginning, TSN's operations would move to CTV's suburban Toronto complex, 9 Channel Nine Court, following the acquisition. This led to some peculiarities related to the fact that the two rival sports channels were only separated by a "

parking lot A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

", leading to jokes and references from both networks. On April 30, 2008, Rogers Sportsnet moved its broadcast operations from 9 Channel Nine Court to the Rogers Building, a cluster of buildings in the Mount Pleasant-Jarvis Street area of Downtown Toronto.

Expansion

In 2010, Rogers began to extend the Sportsnet brand beyond the original regional networks with the August 14 launch of Rogers

– a national companion channel promising 800 hours of live events per year. The channel was also accompanied by additional part-time feeds to serve as overflow channels for its regional NHL coverage.Chris Zelkovich
"Sportsnet adds another channel to its roster"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', July 28, 2010; retrieved July 29, 2010. In January 2011, Rogers'

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

stations,

CJCL CJCL (590 AM, ''Sportsnet 590 The Fan'') is a Canadian sports radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor and Jarvis in downtown Toron ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

("The Fan 590") and CFAC

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

("The Fan 960"), were rebranded as "Sportsnet Radio Fan 590" and "Sportsnet Radio Fan 960" respectively. Critics speculated that the Sportsnet Radio branding was intended to increase synergy with its television counterparts, upon rumors that TSN would be launching a sports radio network of its own. In July 2011, Rogers announced that it would be rebranding its premium international sports channel Setanta Sports Canada as "

" on October 3, 2011 – a move that would allow the channel better opportunities for cross-promotion with other Sportsnet services. As part of the transition,

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previo ...

sold its minority ownership interest in the channel to MLM Management. On September 29, 2011, Rogers published the first issue of '' Sportsnet Magazine'', a bi-weekly

sports magazine A sports magazine is usually a weekly, biweekly or monthly, magazine featuring articles or segments on sports. Some may be published a specific number of times per year. A wide range of sports are covered by these magazines which include general ...

positioned "for Canadian sports fans", covering professional sports from a Canadian perspective. Sports writer

Stephen Brunt Stephen Brunt (born March 20, 1959) is a Canadian sports journalist, well known as a former columnist for '' Sportsnet.ca'', '' Sportsnet'', and former co-host on podcasts for Sportsnet. Journalist Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Brunt started at ''T ...

left his position at ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' newspaper to become the magazine's back page columnist.

"Fuelled By Fans" re-launch

On October 3, 2011, Rogers Sportsnet underwent a major rebranding, introducing a revamped logo and visual appearance designed in conjunction with Troika Design Group, and a new image campaign ("Fuelled By Fans"). Additionally, the network's official name was shortened to just Sportsnet. The new logo does not incorporate the previous "player" emblem that had been used in the network's branding since its original launch, as research performed by Rogers indicated that its association with Sportsnet did not resonate well with viewers. The redesign of Sportsnet was overseen by Dean Bender, who served as the network's creative director upon its original launch as CTV Sportsnet.

2013–2018

On August 25, 2012, Rogers announced that it would acquire the television assets of Score Media, owners of The Score Television Network (a competing sports network which primarily airs sports news and highlights, alongside event coverage), in a transaction valued at $167 million. The acquisition itself closed on October 19, 2012, at which point Score Media's digital assets (including its website and

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

s) were spun off into another company,

theScore Inc. Score Media and Gaming Inc. is a digital media company based in Toronto, Canada, often referred to as theScore. It was founded in 2012 by John S. Levy, the company's Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. The company owns and operates digital sp ...

, in which Rogers Media would retain a 10% interest. Score Media's TV properties were immediately placed into a

blind trust A blind trust is a trust in which the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust, and no right to intervene in their handling. In a blind trust, the trustees (fiduciaries, or those who have been given power of attorney) h ...

, under trustee Peter Viner, pending final CRTC approval. Rogers plans to continue running the network as a sports news service. The acquisition and Rogers' proposed amendments (which included a reduction in the frequency of sports updates during live events) were approved by the CRTC on April 30, 2013; the same day, The Score also began to air more Sportsnet-produced programming, including a simulcast of CJCL's afternoon show ''Tim & Sid'' and ''Hockey Central Playoff Extra''. However, the CRTC rejected the use of a proposed winter sports competition, the ''Sportsnet Winter Games'', for its tangible benefits requirements. On June 4, 2013, Rogers announced that The Score would be rebranded as a Sportsnet channel; the channel changed its name to

on July 1, 2013. As of 2014, Sportsnet is available in 8.2 million Canadian homes. On October 2, 2018, Scott Moore, Rogers' head of Sportsnet and NHL properties, stepped down.

Regional feeds

Similarly to regional sports networks in the United States, Sportsnet is operated in four regional feeds. While the feeds carry national programming as well, they primarily broadcast sporting events tailored to the region they serve. The four regional feeds are listed in the table below. All four feeds are available in both standard and high-definition formats. Although cable providers in Canada are permitted to carry only the local Sportsnet feed on analogue cable packages, all four feeds can be carried on digital television services. However, in some instances, programming on the out-of-market Sportsnet feeds, particularly regional NHL games, are

blacked out ''Blacked Out'' is a studio album by American country rap duo Moonshine Bandits from California. It was released on July 17, 2015 via Average Joes Entertainment. It features guest appearances from Bubba Sparxxx, Colt Ford, Crucifix, Demun Jones, D ...

due to league restrictions on teams' regional broadcast rights. Since the revival of the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, pl ...

in 2011, regional Flames and Oilers games on Sportsnet West have also been blacked out in Manitoba, despite it being the "local" Sportsnet feed for that province.

Programming

Sportsnet is the main television outlet for

in Canada: it is the exclusive television outlet for the

(which are also owned by Rogers), airing all of its games and other Blue Jays-related programming throughout the season. It also holds Canadian rights to ''

Fox Saturday Baseball ''Fox Saturday Baseball'' is an American television presentation of Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by Fox Sports for the Fox network on Saturday afternoons. Fox's coverage includes 4 weeks worth of coverage as of 2023. Coverage usual ...

'', the All-Star Game and the postseason (through Fox, TBS and

MLB International MLB International is a division of Major League Baseball primarily responsible for international broadcasts of games. In partnership with DirecTV and MLB Network, it produces and syndicates the All-Star Game, and the World Series, as well as the Ca ...

). Sportsnet also carries other MLB games simulcast from U.S. regional sports networks. Sportsnet began airing

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

games Starting with the 2005 season, splitting late games across the Pacific and West feeds, and the East and Ontario feeds. The games not shown in the opposite regions were carried regionally by

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

. It also had rights to ''

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 20 ...

'' and the American Thanksgiving games. Sportsnet lost all NFL broadcasting rights for the 2017 season. Sportsnet carried a large amount of soccer programming; it has been the Canadian broadcaster of the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

since 1998 until 2018/19 season (from 2013/14 to 2018/19 season, Sportsnet jointly held Canadian rights to the Premier League with TSN), and also held rights to the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

and

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. Sportsnet lost UEFA coverage to TSN for 2015, but gained rights to

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

matches beginning in the 2015–16 season. Sportsnet aired the

Amway Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...

, an annual competition featuring Canada's five professional soccer teams –

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

CF Montréal CF Montréal is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1992 as the Montreal Impact (french: Impact de Montréal, links=no), ...

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

, FC Edmonton, and Ottawa Fury FC, until TSN acquired full rights in 2017. In 2006, Sportsnet aired coverage of the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

as part of a consortium with TSN and CTV. From 2011 through 2014, beginning with the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

, CBC sub-licensed cable rights to FIFA tournaments to Sportsnet, including the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. On February 8, 2011, Sportsnet announced that it had signed a multi-year deal with Tennis Canada to acquire early round rights to the

Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...

. Sportsnet also acquired rights to the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and ATP World Tour 500 series events. As per an extension of Rogers' sponsorship rights to the tournament, Sportsnet holds sole rights to the Rogers Cup beginning in 2016. In 2016, Sportsnet lost the ATP tours to TSN, but it still maintains exclusive rights to the Rogers Cup, as well as the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

and Fed Cup. In February 2013, Sportsnet announced that it would become the official Canadian broadcaster of the IndyCar Series beginning in the 2013 season in a five-year deal with the series. The new contract includes broadcasts on Sportsnet's networks and City, and French rights sub-licensed to

TVA Sports TVA Sports is a Canadian French-language sports specialty channel owned by the Groupe TVA, a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media. The channel is a general-interest sports network, and the first major competitor to RDS, the only other Fre ...

. That season, Sportsnet also originated coverage from the

Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is an IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida. In most years since 2009, the race has served as the season opener (or at minimum, the first race held on U.S. soil). The race is held annually ...

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

and Honda Indy Toronto, with

Bill Adam Bill Adam (born May 25, 1946) is a Canadian racing driver born in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Starting his career in sports cars toward the end of the 1970s, Adam drove as a privateer, winning a Canadian championship before being hire ...

, Todd Lewis and

Rob Faulds Rob Faulds (born September 29, 1955) is a Canadian sportscaster on Sportsnet. Faulds graduated from Western University and started his broadcasting career at CFPL (AM) in London, Ontario. He then worked for CKSO radio and covered the 1992 Summe ...

. Canadian driver Paul Tracy joined Sportsnet as an analyst. As of the 2019 season, all but the Honda Indy Toronto and Indianapolis 500 moved exclusively to

and Sportsnet Now+. In May 2013, Sportsnet reached a six-year deal for rights to the national championships of

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

(then known as Canadian Interuniversity Sport), including coverage of the

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup (french: Coupe Vanier) is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanier, ...

Hockey coverage

Sportsnet is a major broadcaster of

games; the network is the current national cable rightsholder to the league, and regularly airs nationally televised games on Wednesday, Saturday nights as part of ''

Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...

'', and Monday nights as part of ''Rogers Hometown Hockey''. Sportsnet is also a major regional broadcaster of the NHL; its four regional feeds carry regional telecasts of five of the seven Canadian franchises, including the

on Sportsnet Ontario (split with

TSN4 The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. Since 2001, it has been majority-owned by commu ...

beginning in 2014–15; Rogers and

own a joint, majority stake in the team's parent company Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment), the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

and

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

on Sportsnet West, and the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

on Sportsnet Pacific. In January 2014, Sportsnet lost the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

to TSN, who acquired regional rights to the team in English and French under a 12-year deal, beginning in the 2014–15 season. In September 2014, Sportsnet announced its acquisition of regional English-language television rights to the Montreal Canadiens under a 3-year deal, replacing the Senators on Sportsnet East and succeeding TSN as regional rightsholder, until 2016–17. Sportsnet held the rights to the

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...

under a 12-year deal renewed in the 2014–15 season. Its coverage included a package of national broadcasts from the CHL's member leagues, coverage of the CHL Canada/Russia Series and the

CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game The CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game is an annual event in which forty of the top NHL Entry Draft eligible prospects in the Canadian Hockey League play against each other in an all-star game environment. Players are able to boost their draft ranking ...

, along with coverage of the season-ending Memorial Cup tournament. In the 2021–22 season, Sportsnet lost the rights to

CBC Sports CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-languag ...

and

, with the latter covering the Memorial Cup.

National NHL contracts

2017 NHL Entry Draft (35513219955) (Sportsnet)

From its launch through 2002, Sportsnet was the national cable broadcaster of the NHL in Canada, displacing the rival TSN; it aired a package of Tuesday night games, along with coverage of non-Canadian matchups from the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. On November 26, 2013, Rogers Communications announced that it had reached a 12-year deal to become the exclusive national rightsholder for the National Hockey League, again displacing TSN, along with CBC, a deal which began in the 2014–15 season. Valued at $5.2 billion and covering both television and digital media rights to the league, the value of the contract surpassed the league's most recent U.S. rights deal with NBC. Alongside its existing regional rights, Sportsnet now airs ''Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey'', along with games during ''

''.

Olympics coverage

In early 2005, Rogers Media and CTVglobemedia jointly acquired broadcast rights to the

Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

, as well as the

London 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. This was considered a serious coup, as the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

(CBC) had consistently won Olympic broadcast rights from the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

through to the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. CTV and V were the primary broadcasters; Sportsnet,

and RDS provided supplementary coverage. Rogers announced in 2011 that it would not bid with CTVglobemedia's predecessor Bell Media for the rights to the 2014 and 2016 games, citing scheduling and financial issues. While Bell Media did attempt to partner with the CBC in 2011 to bid for coverage, CBC reached a deal of its own in August 2012, winning the rights to the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Games. On February 7, 2013, CBC announced that it had reached deals with Sportsnet and TSN for both networks to become their official cable partners, beginning at the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. CBC will continue this sub-licensing agreement through the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. Sportsnet televised coverage of the

2015 Pan-American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album) ...

, also as part of a sub-license with CBC; it aired coverage of the soccer tournaments, as well as a Men's basketball semi-final game involving Canada.

Summary of sports rights

Baseball

: All

games, All-Star Game, post-seasons (through Fox, TBS and

), other MLB games simulcast from U.S. broadcasters

Hockey

: **National rights through 2026, including weekly national games, all playoff games, and other NHL games simulcast from U.S. broadcasters. **Holds regional rights to the

(split with TSN), and

Basketball

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

: splits regional coverage of Toronto Raptors and NBA playoffs with TSN; selected NBA games *

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

(through 2025)

Football

* England:

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

(until 2024),

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

(from

2020-21 The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as such. ...

season) * Germany:

, DFB-Pokal, DFL-Supercup (2015–present) *International: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF Third Round (Canada games only, minus USA home games, sublicensed from

OneSoccer OneSoccer is a Canadian English language television channel and English and French language subscription over-the-top video streaming service owned by Mediapro Canada. The service broadcasts programming related to soccer including live and pre-t ...

)

Tennis

* Canadian Open *

* Billie Jean King Cup

Curling

* Grand Slam of Curling (2012–present) (selected events sub-licensed to CBC Sports)

Olympics

Summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

and Winter Olympics, sublicensed from CBC

Original programs

*'' Sportsnet Central'' – The daily sports news/highlights program of Sportsnet. Hosted by various personalities. Formerly known as ''Sportscentral'', ''Sportsnetnews'', and ''Sportsnet Connected''. *'' Hockey Central'' – News and reports from the NHL. Hosted by

Caroline Cameron Caroline Cameron (born March 23, 1990) is a Canadian television sportscaster for Sportsnet. Cameron is the host of "Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey" as well as the pre-game program ''Hockey Central'' Tonight, four nights a week, regional interm ...

, and features hockey analysts

Nick Kypreos Nikos "Nick" Kypreos (born June 4, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Hartford Whalers, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs ...

, Bill Watters and

Gord Stellick Gord Stellick (born May 26, 1957 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian sports broadcaster and former NHL executive. Stellick formerly hosted The Fan 590 Morning Show with Don Landry, and also appears on Hockey Central on Rogers Sportsnet. Currently, ...

. *''

Hockey Central at Noon ''Hockey Central'' is the brand used for programs and segments covering hockey (particularly the National Hockey League) on the Canadian sports channel Sportsnet. The ''Hockey Central'' name encompasses several programs, including segments aired ...

'' – Simulcast from

; News and reports from the NHL. Hosted by Marek and features either Nick Kypreos or Bill Berg as co-host. *'' Premier League Matchday'' – News and reports from the Canadian and world soccer scene and highlights from matches from all the major leagues in Europe and around the world with Gerry Dobson and Craig Forrest. *'' Tim & Friends'' - sports talk program hosted by Tim Micallef.

Notable on-air staff

David Amber David Amber (born April 21, 1971) is a Canadian anchor for Sportsnet as a host and reporter. He is best known for his time doing ''NHL On the Fly'' on the NHL Network and as the anchor for ''Gate 5 Live'', ''Raptors Pregame'', and ''Raptors Po ...

(also with

) *

Colby Armstrong Colby Joseph Armstrong (born November 23, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Atlanta Thrashers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens in a 9-y ...

* Jamie Campbell * Anthony Carelli *

Sam Cosentino Salvatore "Sam" Cosentino (born March 16, 1971) is a Canadian sportscaster who currently works as a junior hockey analyst on Rogers Sportsnet. Baseball Cosentino attended Spring Arbor College in Spring Arbor, Michigan, where he played baseball an ...

* Chris Cuthbert *

Steve Dangle Steven Glynn (born March 12, 1988), known professionally as Steve Dangle, is a Canadian sports analyst, author, librarian, and internet political and hockey personality. Early life and education Steven Glynn was born on March 12, 1988, in Toro ...

Louie DeBrusk Louis Dennis DeBrusk (born March 19, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is currently a colour analyst for Edmonton Oilers broadcasts on Sportsnet and the late game of ''Hockey Night in Canada''. Playing career DeBrusk ...

Brad Fay Brad Fay (born June 16, 1964) is a Canadian sportscaster for Rogers Sportsnet. Fay began his sportscasting career in 1997 as a weekend sports anchor for BCTV and has also worked in the radio industry calling junior hockey games. He co-hosted the ...

Elliotte Friedman Elliotte Friedman (born September 27, 1970) is a Canadian sports journalist. He currently serves as a hockey reporter for Sportsnet and as an insider for the NHL Network. He is a regular panelist on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. Early life an ...

(also with CBC Sports) * Martine Gaillard *

Garry Galley Garry Michael Galley (born April 16, 1963) is a Canadian broadcaster and former professional ice hockey player. Galley played in the National Hockey League from 1984 to 2001. Galley was a former co-host of the defunct "More On Sports" radio prog ...

* John Garrett * Kelly Hrudey * Ron MacLean (also with CBC Sports) *

Hazel Mae Hazel Mae Barker (born April 7, 1970), known professionally as Hazel Mae, is a Filipino-Canadian sportscaster. She was the former lead anchor for the New England Sports Network's SportsDesk news program and most recently the anchor on MLB Networ ...

Jeff Marek Jeffrey James Marek (born Keegan Sean Laughlin, July 9, 1969) is a television personality and radio host for properties originating from Stouffville, Ontario, Canada. Jeff has hosted ''Live Audio Wrestling'', ''Leafs Lunch'' (cohosted with former ...

* Buck Martinez *

Jack Michaels Jack Michaels (born January 23, 1974) is an American ice hockey Sports commentator, announcer who is currently the play-by-play announcer for Edmonton Oilers broadcasts on CHED (AM), 630 CHED and Sportsnet television. He was previously the an ...

Greg Millen Gregory H. Millen (born June 25, 1957) is a Canadian hockey commentator-analyst and a former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 14 seasons for six teams in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently a colour commentator on ''Ho ...

* Dan Murphy *

Scott Oake Scott Oake (born 1952 or 1953) is a Gemini Award-winning Canadian sportscaster for CBC Sports, Sportsnet, and Hockey Night in Canada. Biography Early life Oake was born in 1952 or 1953 in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and raised in Sydney's "Shipyards" ...

(also with CBC Sports) *

Evanka Osmak Evanka Osmak (born September 20, 1980) is a sports anchor for Canada's Rogers Sportsnet television. Osmak was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, but raised in Oakville, Ontario. After attending Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario, Osmak earned a c ...

Darren Pang Darren Robert Pang (born February 17, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played his professional career with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (1984–85 and 1987–89). He is currently the lead c ...

Gene Principe Eugenio Principe (born February 26, 1967) is a Canadian sports reporter and broadcaster, who is the current host of Edmonton Oilers broadcasts on Sportsnet. He is best known for his frequent use of puns and props during his pre-game segments. B ...

Cabbie Richards Cabral Richards, better known as Cabbie, is a Canadians, Canadian sports television personality who is best known for his time on ''SportsCentre'' on The Sports Network, TSN, a Canadian sports cable television network. Broadcasting career Origi ...

* John Shannon * John Shorthouse *

Dan Shulman Daniel Shulman is a Canadian sportscaster with Sportsnet as well as the American network ESPN. Shulman serves as a play-by-play announcer for select Toronto Blue Jays telecasts on Sportsnet and during 2018 and 2020 he hosted the baseball-the ...

(also with

) *

Christine Simpson Christine Laura Simpson (born October 5, 1964) is a Canadian television personality, best known as a hockey reporter, host and interviewer. She is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. Family Simpson's mother Mario ...

Craig Simpson Craig Andrew Simpson (born February 15, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers and the Buffalo Sabres. He is currently a broadc ...

Jason York Jason Andrew York (born May 20, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL) and current broadcaster. A defenceman, he played for the Detroit Red Wings, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Ottawa Senators, N ...

Notable alumni

''This list includes the all time Sportsnet 360 staff dated to its days as The Score.'' *R.J. Broadhead *

Dean Brown Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

(at TSN Radio 1200) *

Hugh Burrill Hugh W. Burrill is a Canadian radio sports anchor. Hugh was born in Pembroke, Ontario and raised in Chalk River, Ontario. Career Burrill began his career working for numerous radio stations for a few years. His first television gig was at Citytv T ...

* Don Cherry *

Bob Cole Robert Cole may refer to: Entertainment *Robert William Cole (1869–1937), British writer *Bob Cole (composer) (1868–1911), American composer *Bobby Cole (musician) (1932–1996), American musician Sports *Bob Cole (cricketer) (born 1938), for ...

Damien Cox Damien Cox (born August 23, 1961 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a journalist, broadcaster and author based in Toronto. Currently, he writes two columns a week for The Toronto Star, who he has written for since 1985, and was the co-host of Prime Time Spo ...

James Cybulski James Cybulski is a Canadian broadcaster. He is currently the play by play voice for the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League and the NHL video game franchise from EA Sports. Cybulski also worked as host of ''The Starting Lineup'' on ...

Gerry Dee Gerry Dee (born Gerard Francis-John Donoghue;Profile
, oct.ca; accessed February ...

*Chantal Desjardins *Gerry Dobson *

Brendan Dunlop Brendan Dunlop is a Canadian sportscaster known for his anchoring and hosting duties on The Score and Sportsnet television networks. Dunlop was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario where he graduated from Catholic Central High School. Dunlop grew ...

Darren Dreger Darren Dreger (born June 13, 1968) is a Canadian sportscaster for TSN, and currently serves as one of TSN's Hockey Insiders. He had previously hosted ''Leafs Lunch'' on CFMJ AM640 Toronto Radio. Broadcasting career After graduating from the We ...

(at

) * Craig Forrest (at

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

and

) *

Erin Hawksworth Erin Hawksworth is an anchor and reporter. She is a former sports anchor for Sportsnet and CNN International. Hawksworth worked for KCPQ, the Fox affiliate in her hometown of Seattle as both a sports and morning news anchor and reporter. She also ...

(at WJLA-TV) * Glenn Healy *

Jim Hughson Jim Hughson (born October 9, 1956) is a retired Canadian sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play of the National Hockey League. He was the lead play-by-play commentator for the ''NHL on Sportsnet'' from 2014 to 2021 and ''Hockey Night in Ca ...

* Mike Johnson (at

) *Chris Johnston (at TSN) *

Steve Kouleas Steve Kouleas (born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian television anchor, hockey broadcaster and currently radio host on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio channel 91 (The Power Play). Kouleas has also worked for TSN. He hosted both the weeknigh ...

(at

) * Doug MacLean *

Bob McCown Robert Alan "Bob" McCown (born in Columbus, Ohio) is an American-Canadian radio personality. He is best known as the long-time host of the Canadian sports talk show ''Prime Time Sports'' from its inception on October 2, 1989 to June 21, 2019. He n ...

Daren Millard Daren Millard (born August 16, 1970 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada) is a Canadian sportscaster. Millard began his broadcasting career in radio as he worked in cities including Melfort, Saskatchewan, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Yorkton, Saskatche ...

Deb Matejicka Deb Matejicka (born in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a Canadian sports journalist formerly working for The Score sports television network.(20 September 2010)OT loss should keep Stamps from falling asleep canoe.ca ("Yes, that is indeed former Score repo ...

*Roger Millions * Gabriel Morency (at The Fight Network) * Arda Ocal *

Sara Orlesky Sara Orlesky (born July 30, 1980) is a Canadian sports reporter, currently a senior host and producer for the Winnipeg Jets. She was formerly the Winnipeg Bureau Reporter for TSN's SportsCentre. In 2008, ''The Globe and Mail'' described her as ...

(at

) * Renee Paquette (at

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

as Renee Young) * Kevin Quinn * Rick Ralph *Jackie Redmond (at NHL Network (U.S. TV Network), MLB Network) * Dave Randorf *

Drew Remenda Drew Remenda (born April 13, 1962) is a Canadian former hockey coach, radio broadcaster, and television hockey analyst. He currently is a radio and television broadcaster for the San Jose Sharks. He served as colour commentator for television bro ...

Paul Romanuk Paul Romanuk (born October 31, 1961) is a Toronto sportscaster and writer. He was born in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Romanuk did television play-by-play for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the ''NHL on Sportsnet''. Early life Raised in Oshawa, Roman ...

* Greg Sansone *

P.J. Stock Philip Joseph Stock (born May 26, 1975) is a Canadians, Canadian Sports commentator, sports broadcaster and former professional ice hockey player. After retiring as a player in 2004, he hosted a radio show on Montreal station CKGM (AM), Team 99 ...

(at RDS) *

George Stroumboulopoulos George Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos (; Greek: Γεώργιος Μάρκος Παύλος Στρουμπουλόπουλος; born August 16, 1972) is a Canadian media personality. He is one of Canada's most popular broadcasters and best known as fo ...

* Pat Tabler * Don Taylor (at TSN Radio 1040) * Adnan Virk (at

) *

Gregg Zaun Gregory Owen Zaun (; born April 14, 1971) is an American baseball analyst, public speaker and a former professional baseball catcher. He played for nine teams over 16 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1995 until 2010, winning a World Series C ...

Other services

Sportsnet Now

In 2014, Sportsnet announced the launch of a new

TV Everywhere TV Everywhere (also known as authenticated streaming or authenticated video on-demand) refers to a type of subscription business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" themselv ...

service known as Sportsnet Now, allowing online streaming of the Sportsnet regional channels, Sportsnet One, and Sportsnet 360 for cable subscribers. On March 31, 2016, Rogers announced that Sportsnet Now would be made available as an over-the-top streaming service for cord cutters, initially priced at $24.99 per-month, in addition to remaining available at no additional charge to cable subscribers. In October 2018, the price was dropped to $19.99, annual subscription options were added, and an additional tier known as Sportsnet Now+ was introduced, adding additional international soccer and rugby events, and out-of-market streaming of regional NHL games for Canadian teams whose rights are owned by Sportsnet. NHL Live, the NHL's digital out-of-market sports package, was later added to Sportsnet Now+ in January 2021. In April 2022, the plan structures were changed; a $24.99 tier was reintroduced which adds WWE Network, while Now+ was replaced with Sportsnet Now Premium, which is priced at $34.99 per-month and includes WWE Network and out-of-market NHL games beginning the 2022–23 season (replacing NHL Live).

High-definition television

Sportsnet operates four high-definition feeds, one for each regional channel. Originally, Sportsnet operated one national feed that consisted primarily of a simulcast of Sportsnet Ontario, carrying nationally televised events, or separate content from other regional feeds. That feed was launched on September 1, 2003. In 2007, Sportsnet began using a second high-definition feed in order to broadcast selected regional NHL games in HD, beginning in the

2007–08 NHL season The 2007–08 NHL season was the 91st season of operation (90th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). It began on September 29, 2007, and the regular season ended April 6, 2008. The Stanley Cup playoffs ended on June 4, with the D ...

,Rogers Sportsnet Continues as Home of Canucks Hockey with 47 Games in 2007–08
Retrieved on May 25, 2007. activated only in the regions where a game is set to be televised. On January 26, 2009, the national HD feed was replaced by individual HD feeds for each region.

4K

On October 5, 2015, Rogers announced that it planned to produce 101 sports telecasts in 4K ultra-high-definition format in 2016, including all Toronto Blue Jays home games, and "marquee" NHL games beginning in January 2016. These broadcasts are offered via 4K event channels on participating television providers. On January 14, 2016, in cooperation with BT Sport, Sportsnet broadcast the first ever

game produced in 4K, and the first live sporting event in 4K in Canadian history—a Toronto Raptors/

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

game at

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena (London) *O2 Arena (Prague) *The 3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decemb ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Sportsnet's first domestic 4K telecast, a Toronto Maple Leafs/Montreal Canadiens game, aired January 23, 2016.

References

Sources

External links

* {{Major League Baseball on national television Rogers Communications Sports television networks in Canada Television channels and stations established in 1998 English-language television stations in Canada Analog cable television networks in Canada Franchised radio formats Former News Corporation subsidiaries Category C services 1998 establishments in Canada