Rogers To Become Majority Owner Of MLSE After $4.7B Buyout Of Bell

For over a decade, Toronto’s sports teams were owned by two telecommunications companies: Bell and Rogers. Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) had been under joint management of the two competing companies since 2012, but a major announcement today has fundamentally changed the future of sports in the city.

Rogers announced that it has signed an agreement to buy Bell’s 37.5% ownership stake in the parent company — which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Raptors, Argonauts of the CFL, and Toronto FC (among other sports properties) — for $4.7 billion.

“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 Tony Staffieri, President and CEO of Rogers in the press release.

With this move, Rogers becomes the majority stakeholder in MLSE, having a 75% controlling interest in the company, and already has strategic partnerships elsewhere in Canada with the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames in the NHL. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2025.

What Does This Change?

From a broadcast perspective, nothing yet. For 12 years, Bell and Rogers split the broadcast rights to the Leafs and Raptors 50-50. In the press release, Rogers stated that it will provide Bell with “the opportunity to renew its existing MLSE broadcast and sponsorship rights long-term at a fair market value.”

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Shortly after, in a press release by BCE (Bell Communications), the company noted that it has reached a long-term agreement with Rogers for broadcast rights for the Maple Leafs and Raptors for the next 20 years and that Bell will remain the official telecom sponsor of the Raptors, as well as the Argos and TFC.

The other 25% of MLSE was owned by private investor Larry Tanenbaum, who — via his holding company Kilmer Sports Inc. — sold 5% of his stake to OMERS for $400 million to purchase a WNBA franchise that will play in Toronto starting in 2026. Reports indicate that Rogers also intends to buy out the rest of Tanenbaum’s 20% stake by 2026.

This is important to note for a few reasons.

First, Tanenbaum has been the longstanding Chairman of the NBA Board of Governors and was recently re-elected. He played a major role in the operations department of both the Raptors and Leafs and was fundamental in bringing current Raptors President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri into the fold in 2013 and again, helping extend Ujiri’s contract with the company back in 2021.

Tanenbaum’s support of Ujiri and the Raptors was fundamental in building their championship-winning team in 2019.

But now, Ujiri’s future with the company is also in jeopardy, and his contract is up in 2026 much like Tanenbaum’s. According to a report in the Toronto Star, Edward Rogers was the holdout during the negotiations for Ujiri’s deal in 2021, reporting refusing to sign off on a five-year contract that included lucrative benefits and a $15 million salary. According to the report, this created a rift between the two sides, and with 2026 around the corner and this sale final, nothing stands in Rogers's way of letting Ujiri walk.

This, of course, has massive implications for the Raptors' future. Under Ujiri's leadership, the team has seen its most successful stretch in franchise history.

What will happen? Only time will tell.

But this announcement today has undoubtedly fundamentally changed the sports landscape in the city of Toronto for the foreseeable future.