08:41 AM EDT, 04/02/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Rogers Communications (RCI-B,TO, RCI) edged up in premarket New York trading as the telecom company on Wednesday said it renewed its contract to be the prime broadcaster of National Hockey League games in Canada for another 12 years, paying the league $11 billion over the period.

The renewal, which takes effect in the 2026-2027 season, sees the company's Sportsnet network continue to hold national rights over TV and digital broadcasts amid growing competition from online services like Amazon Prime, which is now streaming a single game on Mondays. However the agreement is a steep premium over its existing 12-year agreement which saw it pay US$4.9 billion for Canadian rights.

"This is not like the last negotiations when Bell and Rogers competed aggressively for the rights. This time around Rogers was mostly competing against itself and possibly the likes of Amazon plus maybe other streamers which may not necessarily want anywhere close to the full package of games being made available by the NHL," National Bank Financial analyst Adam Shine wrote.

Rogers said the agreement gives it the right to sub-license other broadcasters, including for French-language games and for single games. It retains rights to broadcast all league playoff games and special events such as stadium games staged by the league.

"The NHL and Rogers have a shared commitment to best serving Canadian fans and the unmatched passion that they have for our game, and we are particularly excited that through this agreement, we'll bring more live games to more fans across Canada," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.

Rogers said it expects the new deal to be accretive to earnings over its duration, improving profits for its Rogers Sports & Media unit, though costs for its viewers may rise.

"Sports content is what resonates most with viewers and advertisers. Still, escalating costs of premium sports content is sure to lead to material hikes in the price of Sportsnet subscriptions at a time when streaming costs are steadily rising and aggregating to sums that had previously triggered cord-cutting and cord-shaving among linear TV subscribers," National Bank's shine said.

The company's Class B shares were last seen up US$0.09 to US$25.34 in premarket trade. They closed down $2.26 to $36.17 Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.