Cable TV and telecom giant Rogers Communications has picked up the remaining 25 percent stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment it did not already own to become the sole owner of the company behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors pro sports teams.
Rogers took its ownership stake in MLSE to 100 percent after paying CAN$4.35 billion (US$3.1 billion) to Kilmer Sports for its minority stake. Rogers in 2024 picked up a 37.5 percent ownership stake in MLSE for CAN$4.7 billion. MLSE includes local Toronto franchises in Major League Soccer and the Canadian Football League, the city’s Scotiabank Arena and a concert venue partnership with Live Nation.
Rogers will create a new business unit, Rogers Sports to combine MLSE and the Toronto Blue Jays. And Keith Pelley, while remaining as president and CEO of MLSE, will after an interim period return as president of Rogers Media, a post he held until 2015 when he departed to become the new commissioner and CEO of the PGA’s European Tour.
In early 2024, Pelley left the European Tour Group after the PGA Tour and the Saudi backers of LIV Golf formed a joint company to reshape pro golf and returned to Canada to become the MLSE head. During his earlier five year stint as head of Rogers Media, Pelley ran a portfolio of over-the-air TV and radio stations, magazine titles, cable channels like FX Canada, Sportsnet and the Shopping Channel, and the Toronto Blue Jays pro team.
He also negotiated an initial $5.2 billion, 12-year Canadian TV rights deal with the National Hockey League, a package that Rogers has renewed. As he gets set to replace a retiring Colette Watson as head of Rogers Media, Pelley will oversee a portfolio that includes the Sportsnet channel and another 30 TV networks and over 40 radio stations.
That includes Canadian versions of U.S. lifestyle channels like Bravo, Food Network, HGTV and Discovery that Rogers took over as part of multiyear content licensing deal with NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery.
“We’re proud to bring these beloved teams together with the rest of Rogers to deliver more for fans, audiences, and customers. We know how much these teams mean to fans and we are fully committed to investing to build championship-calibre teams, to enhancing the fan experience, and to delivering compelling experiences for our customers,” Tony Staffieri, president and CEO of Rogers Communications, said in a statement after completing the MLSE deal.