RUMOR! At least 10 fewer games on RDS starting in 2026

The 2024-25 season is coming to an end; there are only about twenty games left (significant ones for the Canadiens) before the start of the playoffs. And golf for half of the NHL teams!

After this 2024-25 season, there will be only one season left on the enormous Canadian national broadcast contract for NHL games. On July 1, 2026, a new contract will dictate who has the right to broadcast national games in Canada.

The contract for broadcasting the Canadiens’ regional games in French (RDS) will also expire on June 30, 2026.

Currently, the French-language broadcast of the Montreal Canadiens breaks down as follows:

– 22 regular national games on TVA Sports,
– 60 regular regional games on RDS,
– Playoff series (of the CH and other teams), as well as several national games on TVA Sports.

However, I was told earlier this week that the next contract could be very different.

Firstly, a new collective agreement should be signed in the near future… an agreement that should have the effect of adding two games to the regular season of the 32 teams in the Bettman circuit.

Where will these games come from? They would be taken from the pre-season, which would now be four games, and not six, seven, or eight.

Secondly, the possibility of removing 10 regional games to transfer them to national games would be seriously considered. In short, what this means is that there would now be 50 regional games, and 34 national games (in French).

According to what I’m told, the package for French national broadcast rights will be VERY expensive, and no traditional Quebec media would think they could obtain it on their own. So, we may see a split. A split between Amazon and a local media outlet…

Could TVA Sports keep 15, 17, 20, or even 24 Canadiens games, in addition to having a package of regular and/or playoff games? It’s a possibility, according to people close to Pierre-Karl Péladeau.

As for regional games, someone at RDS confessed to me off the record that they are VERY confident that the 60 50 games will remain on RDS. Discussions have already begun in earnest…

Note that a few games could be broadcast exclusively on Noovo, Crave, or an application owned by Bell Media (Canadiens?). To better understand:

I summarize.

Starting from 2026-27, we could therefore have 50 games on RDS or one of Bell Media’s platforms, 17 on TVA Sports, and 17 on Amazon, like…

And the playoffs, between Amazon and TVA Sports. Since the CH is likely to finally make the playoffs regularly, it could be profitable to have playoff games in Montreal…

No, TVA Sports is not yet dead and buried.

But be careful! RDS could also win a part of the national pot…

Gary Bettman is aware of the major mistake made by the MLS: locking themselves into a single streaming network (Apple). This is why in a perfect world, he would like to be able to count on RDS, TVA Sports, and Amazon Prime to broadcast the Montreal Canadiens. This would ensure perfect (or almost perfect) coverage.

If 17 Canadiens games are exclusively broadcast on Amazon, will people who canceled their subscription as a boycott re-subscribe to the American giant?

From January 1 to March 1, only Rogers could negotiate with the NHL regarding national broadcast rights, but for the past five days, all media outlets have been able to discuss with the league.

According to what I’m told, the rights to a single game could cost double what they currently cost… which is already triple what they cost before 2014.

I’m eager to see what’s next…

Extension

A week ago, Réjean Tremblay wrote at the end of his column (on PunchingGrace) that the Amazon giant was trying to acquire RDS and TSN.

At first, I thought: “it would make sense.”

Especially since three months ago, a rumor that RDS and TSN were for sale made the rounds.

Except that when I dug a little deeper, I was quickly told that the CRTC prevents a Canadian traditional media outlet from being owned by foreigners.

Even if Amazon creates a Amazon Canada shell and adds 12 layers of opaque ownership, it is VERY unlikely that the CRTC will approve the purchase of Canadian stations by Amazon.

At best, Amazon could hold minority shares, I’m told.

I continued to dig…

And I came across someone who told me that yes, Amazon and Bell Media had indeed discussed a potential sale of assets.

Bell Media is exiting the content business (MLSE, radio, and eventually TV media, etc.) to specialize in the container (Internet, TV provider, etc.). And Amazon is entering the scene…

Will the CRTC bend? I doubt it.

Will Amazon want to be a minority owner? Not sure…

But if it happens, we’ll have to consider the option of seeing the Amazon – RDS duo broadcast the Canadiens’ 82 84 games starting in 2026…

And TVA Sports might have to close up shop.

It’s going to be an interesting few months. And I’m not talking about American politics…

I invite you to listen to my segment on Amazon, RDS, TVA Sports, and the NHL, which was broadcast on Stanley25 this week. If some things seem unclear in writing, it might be clearer in video/audio.