How much it costs to stream sports in Canada
Canadians have already been gouged by high inflation over the past few years.
However, Canadian sports fans are starting to really feel the pain.
The rise of streaming sports in Canada was initially a cheaper, more flexible alternative to cable, for those who only wanted to watch sports without all the other channels needed in a regular cable package.
However, it’s beginning to feel like cable might not be so bad after all.
The biggest sports streaming providers in Canada have been jacking up their prices of late, with Sportsnet+ and TSN+ both raising their costs to consumers this year.
Here’s how much it costs for all major sports streaming services in Canada.
Sportsnet+
- Monthly: $34.99
- Annually: $269.99
Sportsnet recently announced a price hike for its platform, which currently costs $29.99 per month, or $249.99 annually.
However, on Sept. 22nd, the price will change to $34.99 monthly and $269.99 annually.
Hockey fans in Canada don’t have much of a choice if they want to watch all the games from their favourite teams, unless those teams are included in TSN’s regional coverage.
The Sportsnet+ standard subscription includes all Stanley Cup playoff games along with most Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks contests. They also carry most Toronto Blue Jays games and about half of the Toronto Raptors games.
A premium subscription allows fans to watch even more hockey (over 1,100 games), but the cost is increasing to $44.99 per month or $344.99 annually.
TSN
- Monthly: $29.99
- Annually: $244.99
Like Sportsnet+, TSN also hiked their prices this year. It was $24.99 per month or $199.99 annually for some years, but a price increase in April saw that jump to $29.99 per month, or $249.99 annually.
TSN offers regional games for the Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Winnipeg Jets, along with some NFL games (including RedZone) and all CFL games. They also cover Formula 1 racing, events like the recent FIFA World Cup, along with the always popular World Juniors.
For fans who just want to watch NFL RedZone and the PGA Tour, they can get away with an $8/month or $80/year subscription.
NFL fans in Canada have to go to DAZN to see the majority of games. (Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images)
DAZN
- Monthly: $24.99
- Annually: $299.88
Fans who want to watch every NFL game need to use DAZN as their streaming source in Canada.
DAZN also used to offer more access to the Premier League, but they’ve lost those rights in recent years. However, they can access the Premier League and other soccer leagues through an Ultimate subscription, which costs $44.99 per month or $539.88 annually.
FUBO
- Monthly: $31.49
- Annually: $231.00
DAZN lost the Premier League rights in Canada to FUBO. The streaming service also provides access to CONCACAF, Ligue 1, along with 65 other channels.
There’s also access to all NFL games through DAZN on a pro plan, which costs $54.99 per month or $449.88 annually.
Amazon Prime
- Monthly: $9.99
- Annually: $119.88
There isn’t a lot of sports available on Amazon Prime without additional subscriptions, but they do have Prime Monday Night Hockey, along with select PWHL, WNBA, NWSL and NBA games.
MLS on Apple TV
- Monthly: $14.99
- Annually: $129.99
MLS fans got good news heading into this season when Apple TV announced that it was discontinuing the MLS Season Pass. No additional subscription within Apple TV is required to watch MLS, so the cost to access all games in the league is just the standard Apple TV subscription.
Back to cable?
If you’re just a casual Canadian sports fan, the idea of cord-cutting in favour of streaming services is beginning to make less sense.
For instance, if you’re a hockey fan, you may be subscribing to Sportsnet+, TSN+ and Amazon Prime to catch all of the action.
Doing so monthly, which gives you the flexibility to cancel in the offseason, costs $69.97 per month. That doesn’t include tax either.
On annual plans, those three subscriptions cost $634.96 per year, or $52.91 monthly.
Sports fanatics in Canada who want subscriptions on all of these platforms could see their costs as high as $1,214.73 annually, or $101.23 monthly, before tax.
In contrast, residents of B.C. and Alberta can subscribe to basic cable, along with Netflix, Sportsnet and TSN for $65/month. For Ontarians who want something similar (without Netflix), the cost is about $80/month. There are also discounts for bundling those cable packages with internet.
Streaming sports isn’t what it used to be. And unless you’re a hardcore sports fanatic that doesn’t mind stomaching these exorbitant costs, you might want to ask yourself, is it really worth cord-cutting in favour of streaming services?