Professional sport has always been big business, but the scale and variety of commercial partnerships around Canadian teams and leagues continue to grow. Broadcasters are paying billions for live rights, streaming platforms are competing for exclusive games, major brands are attaching themselves to teams, and newer industries are finding their way into the sponsorship mix.
Some of the biggest deals affecting Canadian sport in 2026 were signed earlier, while others are entirely new. Together, they provide a useful picture of where companies believe the value in Canadian sport now lies.
Nothing else on the Canadian sports landscape comes close to the NHL’s new agreement with Rogers Communications.
The 12-year, C$11 billion national media-rights agreement begins with the 2026-27 season and runs through 2037-38. The previous 12-year Rogers deal was worth roughly C$4.5 billion, making the increase particularly striking.
The agreement covers national NHL rights across television, digital, and streaming platforms, as well as the playoffs, the Stanley Cup Final, and major league events. It is a reminder that despite changes in how people consume entertainment, live sport remains extraordinarily valuable to broadcasters.
Rogers is not keeping everything to itself.
A 12-year sublicensing agreement makes Prime Video the exclusive Canadian home of national Wednesday-night regular-season NHL games, beginning in 2026-27. Prime will also exclusively carry selected first- and second-round Stanley Cup Playoff series.
It is another important step in the move away from sports being associated exclusively with traditional television networks. Streaming companies now see live sport as a way to attract subscribers and keep them engaged.
French-language NHL broadcasting is also part of the new structure.
Rogers and Quebecor agreed to a 12-year sublicensing deal giving Quebecor rights to as many as 350 regular-season NHL games per year in French. TVA Sports will carry the coverage, which includes 32 Montreal Canadiens regular-season games and every Canadiens playoff game.
The agreement shows how valuable Canada’s different regional and linguistic audiences remain within a national sports-rights package.
In June 2026, RBC became the Official Bank of Canucks Sports & Entertainment through a new multi-year partnership.
The agreement is broader than a conventional team sponsorship. It covers the Vancouver Canucks, Abbotsford Canucks, Vancouver Warriors, Rogers Arena and Rogers Forum. The RBC logo will also appear on Vancouver’s home jerseys beginning with the 2026-27 NHL season.
Deals like this show how sponsorship is changing. Companies increasingly want access to an entire sports and entertainment ecosystem rather than simply paying for a logo inside an arena.
The NHL also added Procter & Gamble to its Canadian commercial portfolio in 2026.
The multi-year agreement brings several P&G brands into one league-wide partnership. Gillette becomes the NHL’s official shave partner in Canada, Old Spice its personal-care partner, while Tide and Downy Rinse take the fabric-care category.
For a company selling everyday consumer products, hockey offers something valuable: a large national audience and repeated exposure throughout a long season.
One of the most interesting commercial stories in Canadian sport is happening outside men’s professional leagues.
The Toronto Tempo began their inaugural WNBA season in 2026 with major brands already behind the franchise. CIBC joined as the team’s Official Bank and founding partner, while Sephora Canada became another founding partner and the team’s Official Beauty Partner.
Their involvement demonstrates the growing commercial confidence surrounding women’s professional sport in Canada. The Tempo is not simply selling basketball in Toronto either, with the franchise looking to develop a broader Canadian audience.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League is following a similar path.
In February 2026, the PWHL appointed Oak View Group as its exclusive sponsorship sales partner across the league and its eight teams. The arrangement launched with a multi-year agreement bringing Global Industrial into the PWHL as an official league partner.
That builds on an existing commercial base containing major companies such as Canadian Tire, Scotiabank, Intact and Air Canada. Women’s hockey is increasingly being treated as a serious commercial property rather than simply an emerging sporting experiment.
Sports betting has also become increasingly visible in Canadian sports sponsorship.
Ottawa provides a good example. The Ottawa Senators’ partnership with ToonieBet brought the brand into arena signage, broadcasts and digital channels. In August 2026, ToonieBet expanded its Ottawa presence further by becoming the exclusive sportsbook partner of the CFL’s Ottawa REDBLACKS.
TheScore Bet has also entered a multi-year partnership with the CFL, covering areas including sports betting, fantasy football and digital content.
These partnerships are part of a wider battle for customers. Sponsorship creates visibility, but operators also compete through their products, promotions and user experience. Newer names such as the Battery Win are competing for attention alongside brands that already have an established presence in Canada.
The audience is not limited to domestic competitions either. Canadian fans follow the NFL, NBA and other major North American leagues throughout the year. Betting-related content therefore follows the wider sporting calendar too, from hockey coverage to weekly NFL predictions during football season.
For sportsbooks, partnerships with leagues and teams are ultimately another way of remaining visible wherever those fans are spending their time.
National broadcasting may generate the biggest numbers, but regional rights remain important.
In April 2026, the Ottawa Senators and Bell Media extended their long-running broadcast agreement. TSN will continue carrying regional Senators games in English, RDS retains the French-language regional coverage, and TSN 1200 remains the team’s radio home.
That continuity matters in an industry where the economics of regional sports broadcasting are becoming increasingly difficult. For the Senators, maintaining strong local distribution remains an important part of the franchise’s commercial relationship with its audience.
The biggest lesson from these partnerships is that companies are no longer buying only advertising space.
Rogers is investing billions in live content. Prime Video is using hockey to strengthen its streaming offering. RBC is connecting itself with an entire sports and entertainment organization, while consumer brands are looking for ways to become part of the fan experience. Women’s professional sport is attracting increasingly significant commercial backing, and betting companies have joined the competition for the attention of Canadian fans.
Teams and leagues, meanwhile, have more assets to sell than ever before. Broadcast rights, streaming packages, jerseys, digital content, apps, hospitality, data and in-venue experiences all have commercial value.
The money flowing through Canadian sport in 2026 reflects that change. The game itself remains the attraction, but the business surrounding it is becoming broader, more digital and increasingly valuable.
Photo: Unsplash
