Look forward to catching sports on Crave by year's end!
The Montreal Canadiens, one of Canada's most storied NHL teams, are gearing up for an exciting change in their French-language national broadcast rights. Bell, the media company behind the Crave streaming platform, has announced plans to expand Crave's offerings by the end of 2025, potentially including live sporting events, news bulletins, and expanded children's programming [1].
This move comes as the trend of live sporting events being available on streaming platforms gains traction, not just in Canada, but also in Quebec [2]. In Quebec, TOU.TV has already broadcast games of the Alouettes and the Montreal Canadiens [3].
However, the future of the Canadiens' French-language national broadcast rights remains uncertain. The current rights are held by TVA Sports under the Canadian national NHL broadcast deal, which expires after the 2025–26 season [3]. While a new 12-year national broadcast deal is set to commence in 2026–27, the details regarding which platform will take over the Canadiens' French-language national broadcast rights have not been disclosed [1].
Bell Media, which owns RDS and Crave, has been tight-lipped about the specifics of the Canadiens' future French national broadcast rights [5]. The company's President and CEO, Mirko Bibic, mentioned the possibility of broadcasting football games on a streaming platform [6]. However, it is unclear if NHL games could be part of the offering on Crave [7].
RDS, which currently airs regional Canadiens games, lost $20.3 million before taxes in 2024 [8]. Meanwhile, TVA Sports lost $15.4 million in the same year [9]. These financial struggles could impact both channels' ability to secure the rights to broadcast the Canadiens' games.
Analysts find it strange that no sub-licensee has been revealed yet for the French-language national broadcast rights [1]. In the past, Bell and Quebecor, the parent companies of RDS and TVA Sports respectively, have been the usual contenders for obtaining such a license [9]. However, Quebecor's CEO, Pierre Karl Peladeau, stated last spring that TVA Sports might not have the means to pay the required amounts for broadcasting the games [4].
As the 2025–26 NHL season approaches, fans and analysts alike are eagerly waiting for a public announcement regarding the post-2025–26 French-language NHL national broadcast rights [1][3][5]. Until then, the future of the Canadiens' French-language broadcasts remains a mystery.
References:
- Sportsnet
- La Presse
- CBC Sports
- RDS
- Sportsnet
- Sportsnet
- Sportsnet
- La Presse
- CBC Sports
The Canadiens, a renowned NHL team from Montreal, may soon find their French-language national broadcast rights on the streaming platform Crave, part of the Bell Media conglomerate. With the growing trend of live sports on streaming platforms, it is possible that hockey games, including NHL matches, could be included in Crave's expanded offerings by the end of 2025.
