Rogers Communications has reached an agreement with Kilmer Sports to buy the remaining 25% of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), which owns the NHL’s Maple Leafs, NBA’s Raptors and MLS’ Toronto FC. Rogers is paying CAD $4.35 billion ($3.06 billion based on current exchange rates).
The transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, will give Rogers 100% ownership of a Canadian sports behemoth. In addition to the MLSE assets, Rogers also owns MLB’s Blue Jays, Rogers Centre and Sportsnet, the No. 1 sports media brand in Canada.
It sets the stage for another transaction where Rogers will sell a minority stake in its consolidated sports, media and entertainment assets over the course of the next year. In April, Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said the company would bring in minority investors for its sports assets, and Staffieri pegged the value greater than CAD $25 billion ($17.6 billion) during the company’s earnings call. Rogers reiterated these plans in Monday’s announcement, and it plans to use the raised funds to pay down debt.
Last year, Rogers purchased BCE’s 37.5% stake in MLSE for CAD$4.7 billion, which gave Rogers ownership of 75% of Maple Leaf Sports. Rogers had an option to buy the Kilmer stake this summer, and Staffieri has publicly said many times the company would exercise the option. Kilmer is 80% owned by Larry Tanenbaum, the longtime governor of the Toronto NHL and NBA teams. Tanenbaum has been chairman of the NBA board of governors since 2017 and was last reelected in 2024.
