TORONTO
Three television providers have accused Rogers Communications Inc. of violating competition rules by moving Monday night NHL games exclusively to its Sportsnet Plus streaming service this season.
Cogeco Inc., Eastlink and SaskTel made the allegation in a letter to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on Tuesday.
They say Rogers is forcing fans to pay a $12.99 monthly add-on fee to access the Monday night games, unless they already subscribe to Sportsnet on Rogers TV or Sportsnet Plus.
"Without swift, decisive, and binding regulatory intervention by the commission, this predatory siphoning of must-have live sports content will inflict immediate and irreversible structural damage on the Canadian broadcasting ecosystem," the letter stated.
It added that without action, Rogers' move would establish "a dangerous precedent."
The rival providers are asking the CRTC to order Rogers to immediately offer the content to independent companies for distribution to their customers for free, "ensuring parity" with Rogers' own offering.
Rogers announced in September that Monday night games would stream exclusively on Sportsnet Plus for the first time this season.
It said Rogers, Rogers West and Shaw Direct customers who have Sportsnet in their TV package would get the content at no extra charge.
However, subscribers who get Sportsnet through other TV providers must pay the $12.99 monthly add-on.
The rival companies said this dynamic is "deliberately degrading the user experience on other distributors' platforms" and leads to the "erosion of sports on television."
They called it a "predatory rate squeeze" that forces independent distributors to "absorb severe content devaluation" or pass inflated costs to consumers.
"Left unchecked, this strategy erodes consumer choice, forces Canadian households into mandatory fee-stacking, and distorts fair market dynamics," the letter said.
In a statement, Sportsnet spokesperson Jason Jackson said the company would address all issues through the CRTC proceeding, "including Sportsnet's right to distribute content exclusively on Sportsnet Plus."
"Rogers Cable has paid Sportsnet fair market value to provide Sportsnet Plus exclusive content to their TV customers and decided to make it available to them at no extra cost," Jackson said.
"All TV providers, including Cogeco, Eastlink and SaskTel, have the same opportunity to make the content available as part of their TV offering, but so far have chosen not to."
The complaint also alleges Rogers' move violates conditions of its $26-billion merger with Shaw, which was approved in 2023.
As part of that deal, Rogers committed to "refrain from entering into any agreement for exclusive or referential distribution of any online programming service or rights necessary for its distribution."
The rival companies said Rogers is using its national NHL media rights "to grant preferential access to its own distribution network while effectively withholding full linear carriage from independent (distributors)."
This NHL season is the first under Rogers' 12-year, $11-billion national TV rights deal for English broadcasts.
The shift of Monday games to streaming is one of several changes for hockey fans.
Saturday night NHL games are no longer airing on CBC, ending a sublicensing agreement that had lasted for decades.
It marks the first time since 1952 that NHL games are not available on the public broadcaster via Hockey Night in Canada.
Rogers also raised the annual cost of Sportsnet Plus for premium subscribers to $344.99, a $20 increase.
Meanwhile, the company announced a 12-year deal with Amazon for Prime Video in Canada to exclusively broadcast Wednesday night regular-season games starting this season.
This story was written by the e2gold.ca newsroom from reporting by CBC News and BNN Bloomberg. Quotes are checked word for word against that reporting.