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Rogers spending more per year on new NHL deal than total money Guerrero asked for from Toronto Blue Jays

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
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Apr 1 2025, 4:21 pm
Rogers spending more per year on new NHL deal than total money Guerrero asked for from Toronto Blue Jays
Dan Hamilton/Imagn Images

If you spend any time at a sporting event in Toronto, there’s one name you’ll likely see more than any other.

Given its omnipresence around Canada, it might sometimes be easy to forget that “Rogers” is a surname associated with the legacy family behind the telecommunications giant.

But beyond all the superstars that come and go into the city, it’s hard to find a name more closely intertwined with the Toronto sporting scene.

Owning 100% of the Toronto Blue Jays and soon-to-be majority shares in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment that holds control of the Raptors, Maple Leafs, and Toronto FC as well as their minor-league counterparts, Rogers has as much, if not more, impact on the city’s sporting scene than any of the athletes themselves.

And with one of the biggest transactions in the company’s history being reported this week, it only makes sense to compare it to one deal they haven’t yet signed.

Yesterday, Sportico reported that the NHL would be staying with Rogers  (and its Sportsnet properties) as their national television partner in Canada, re-upping their business dealings for 12 more years beginning after next season. The deal was reported at about US$7.7 billion, or C$11 billion.

Notably, the Blue Jays were unable to land Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a new deal ahead of the season, with the star slugger potentially heading to free agency for the first time next winter.

Coincidentally, Guerrero’s reported ask over the course of his deal was in the US$550 million range on a 14-15 year deal, with the Blue Jays reportedly only comfortable with topping out at $500 million, as per multiple reports.

Given how tight-lipped Toronto’s front office is about contract details, it can be tough to parse exactly what the discrepancy was between the two sides.

But it doesn’t take much math to realize that the two are linked, for better or for worse.  Guerrero’s reported ask of US$550 million may sound like a lot, but it’s actually less than Rogers will be spending each year on the NHL rights, which comes out to about US$641 million each season. For comparison’s sake, the entire Blue Jays’ payroll is US$209 million this season, while the MLB’s highest in the Los Angeles Dodgers is US$330 million.

If Guerrero does end up leaving Toronto this year, it won’t be because Rogers didn’t have the money to spend to match his high contract ask. It’s just clear that they opted to spend it elsewhere.

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