Montreal Canadiens signs landmark expansion project with Bell Media – The Hockey Writers – Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens fans can rejoice as they will be watching Canadiens games in both French and English for the foreseeable future. With TV rights becoming big business and big companies like Amazon looking to air more NHL games, it seems increasingly difficult to watch your favorite team without subscribing to a special channel. Now fans don’t have to.
Canadiens sign landmark regional long-term partnership
The contract between TSN/RDS and Montreal was scheduled to end at the end of the 2025-26 season, leaving Habs fans confused as to where to watch games. Fans no longer need to worry as the Canadiens and Bell Media have signed a long-term agreement to continue broadcasting Habs games in French and English for years to come.
France Margaret Bélanger, President of Groupe CH Sports and Entertainment, said: “We have been fortunate to count TSN and RDS as valued partners over the years and are excited to officially extend this partnership in the coming years. Whether through live games or shoulder programming, this will allow fans to enjoy Canadiens games in multiple formats with the best production in the industry.”
There was no word on how long the deal would last, only that it would be long-term and considered a landmark extension.
Fans can watch Canadiens games on many platforms
Under the new deal with Bell Media, Montreal fans can now watch 50 games on TSN, 45 games on RDS, 28 games on Sportsnet and 22 games on TVA Sports. Sportsnet owns the rights to Saturday and Wednesday night games and will prioritize the Toronto Maple Leafs game on CBC; however, you can watch the Canadiens game locally on Montreal City TV. Amazon Prime Video has rights to Monday night’s game and will show four Montreal games. You can also watch some Punjabi games on OMNI and Cree via Sportsnet or Inuktitut games on APTN.
TSN will show 50 games and RDS will show 45 games, which is a decrease from the 60 games under the previous contract. TVA’s 22 games will air primarily on Saturday nights, with the exception of Wednesday’s home opener. Bryan Mudryk will serve as play-by-play announcer for TSN, and long-time legend Pierre Houde will call the game in French on RDS. Sportsnet still owns the English-language rights to the playoffs, and TVA will broadcast postseason games in French.
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To watch all 82 games, you must have access to Sportsnet, TSN2, TVA, RDS and Amazon Prime Video. Watching games isn’t as easy as it used to be; however, if you’re willing to pay, you can watch even more games from the comfort of your own home.
