Rogers Communications has bought Bell out of its stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. This company is known to own the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors, for $4.7 billion. Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE Inc.), is known to own 37.5 percent of MLSE, said in a media release Wednesday that the deal is expected to close in mid-2025.
The company, Rogers said that it is selling its ownership stake. This is being done to reduce its debt and thus, help to “support its ongoing transformation”. This is being done from a telecommunications firm to a tech company. Plus, Rogers and Bell currently share the rights for the Leafs and the Raptors. Furthermore, Bell Media says that it has reached a long-term, which is a 20-year agreement with Rogers to renew the rights deal once it expires.
The pending approval from each league, from which Rogers says Bell will have access to content rights for “50 percent of Maple Leafs regional games and 50 percent of Toronto Raptors games for which MLSE controls the rights.”
In addition to the Leafs and Raptors, MLSE owns a soccer club at Toronto FC. It also owns the AHL’s Toronto Marlies and the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts. Rogers and Bell closed a deal to jointly acquire a 75 per cent stake in MLSE in August 2012.
More on Rogers…
Cary Kaplan, the president of Cosmo Sports Entertainment in Toronto, called the Rogers and Bell co-ownership of MLSE extremely unusual. This means that he was likening it to “Coke and Pepsi owning a team together.”
Furthermore, while the buyout might not make any immediate difference to fans, “what it should mean is that Rogers will spend like the Yankees and Dodgers and Lakers,” said Kaplan.
“Will Rogers step up and spend [on those teams] based on the financial capacity that that company has?”
Under the new deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, Rogers will have a 75 percent majority ownership of the company.
A spokesperson for the Competition Bureau confirmed that the regulator would be reviewing the proposed transaction between Rogers and Bell. Plus, the MLSE chair Larry Tanenbaum owns a 20 percent stake. He also sold a five percent share in the company to the Canadian pension fund Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) in the summer of 2023.
“MLSE is one of the most prestigious sports and entertainment organizations in the world and we’re proud to expand our ownership of these coveted sports teams,” said Rogers CEO and president Tony Staffieri in a statement.
“Together with our sports and media assets, we plan to surface more value for shareholders long-term,” said Staffieri. “This agreement also ensures long-term Canadian ownership and investment of these iconic teams.”
What More Has Been Said?
Further as to what has been stated by the reports, Rogers said that the purchase will not affect its debt leverage”. This means that financing will include a lot of private investors.
Mirko Bibic, the CEO and president of BCE Inc., said that the company was proud of its time co-owning the sports teams.
He added that “today’s announcement demonstrates that we are focused on creating the financial flexibility to support our ongoing transformation and core growth drivers.”
A Look into What had Happened
Rogers Communications and Bell Canada stated on Wednesday. They stated that they have completed their acquisition of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and its sports television channels. Both also announced that they had jointly acquired a 75 percent stake. Along with it, the CRTC also gave its approval to the deal last week. However, it was done on the condition that the two spend $7.5 million over the next seven years. This is done especially on new sports-themed programming by Canadian independent producers.
The federal broadcast regulator also repeated its assertion. This meant that the companies are prohibited from offering television programs. Especially on an exclusive basis to their mobile or internet subscribers. MLSE is known to own the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team. It also owns the Toronto Raptors basketball team and Toronto FC soccer team. Along with it, it also owns the Leafs TV, Golf TV and NBA TV Canada. It also effectvely owns the two services that have not yet launched in the mean time.