It's not only expensive to go watch the Maple Leafs in person but new broadcasting rights means fans will have to pay for more streaming services starting in 2026-27.
Toronto Maple Leafs ticket prices are increasingly expensive and pushing a lot of loyal fans away as one game can run into the thousands of dollars with tickets, concessions, parking and the like. With the new NHL broadcasting deals in Canada, those fans are going to need to open their wallets in order to make sure they don't miss any of the action.
The broadcasting situation is a little spaced out when it comes to watching hockey in Canada. You have Rogers Sportsnet being the main player, but there's also TSN as well as Amazon Prime hosting their own games as well.
Crave is joining TSN, Amazon and Sportsnet which means another streaming service for fans to pay for
That's already a pretty pricey endeavour given how expensive cable and streaming packages can be, but come 2026-27 fans are going to need to fork out more cash if they want to make sure they don't miss out on the action.
The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta revealed that the NHL in Canada is about to get a bit more complex as Crave is not looking to enter as a streaming platform for games, meaning that fans need to dish out a subscription fee if they don't already have one:
According to industry sources, Amazon will be extending its deal, and Bell will finally dip its toes back into the national pool.
In Canada, on the English language end, the expectation is a four-night week of national broadcasts. Monday nights will fall under the Bell umbrella of its streaming service Crave.
Wednesday nights will be taken over by Amazon, airing on Prime Video. SN will continue its Saturday broadcasts and sources say they plan on adding a Thursday night to their lineup.
Amazon used to have the Monday night stranglehold on games however with Crave now entering the mix, they switch over to Wednesdays, but there's absolutely no risk of losing Hockey Night in Canada as that will continue Saturdays on Sportsnet.
Watching the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2026-27 could cost over $800 a year
If we are to take cable television out of the mix considering those packages have varied price ranges, the pure streaming cost for having TSN, Sportsnet, Crave, and Prime is downright absurd.
Assuming you're not wanting to pay on a month to month basis, the streaming costs are going to reach into the hundreds and potentially near a thousand dollars depending on service:
Crave - $220+tax/yearly
TSN - $80+tax/yearly
Rogers Sportsnet - $325+tax/yearly (Premium for out of market games)
Amazon Prime - $99+tax/yearly
If you were to add that up, with taxes (in Ontario) it would cost you a total of $818.11 for the entire year. That averages out to be $116.87 a month for the entire NHL season. Sure, you get the benefit of other programs but strictly going off the league schedule - it's a lot of money.
If you're going to games in addition to that, you're looking at minimum $200 per ticket, so you're paying for a quarter of the yearly fee for the price of one ticket; and a family of four is the entire year for one game.
So fans are having to pay over $100 a month to sit in the comfort of their own home and watch the game, and if they do end up going out it's going to cost upwards of 10x that amount. That's unfeasible for fans especially in this current economy.
But hey, paying $800 for the entire year is a heck of a lot better than paying it for a three-hour night.
Will you be buying Crave TV in order to watch the Maple Leafs games?
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