Oct 2, 2026
For the first time in generations, Canadians can’t turn on CBC on a Saturday night and catch an NHL game for free — now you’ll need a subscription.
However, you continue tuning in to CBC on Saturday nights to watch the burgeoning Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) in action.
What changed: Which leagues can you watch and where?
On Sept. 28, CBC/Radio-Canada, the country’s national public broadcaster, announced that its Hockey Night in Canada program will return for its 90th season — but without the NHL. Replacing it will be the PWHL, with the first game scheduled to air on Dec. 5, when the reigning Walter Cup champion, the Montréal Victoire, will face expansion team PWHL Hamilton.
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Canadians who still want to watch NHL games will have to pay — as almost all NHL games are now behind paywalls. That’s because CBC and Rogers Sportsnet didn’t extend their partnership into the 2026-27 season after the two broadcasters couldn’t agree on a new sublicensing deal.
While free-to-watch NHL games are gone, Rogers Sportsnet will still air games — with the 2026-27 season marking the first of a 12-year, $11-billion broadcast deal the broadcaster has with the league.
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To watch NHL games, check out:
- Saturday Night Hockey on Sportsnet, which takes over the old Hockey Night in Canada time slot
- Monday Night Hockey, streaming exclusively on Sportsnet+
- Wednesday games on Amazon Prime Video, with at least 26 regular-season games plus select playoff series
For households already juggling rising subscription costs, the question isn’t just where to watch, it’s how much you’re willing to pay.
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How much does it cost to watch the NHL in Canada now?
Rogers raised the annual price of its standard plan for Sportsnet+ from $249.99 to $269.99, and its premium plan, which includes out-of-market NHL games, is now $344.99, up from $324.99. Coming on top of price increases in 2025, that means standard plans now cost $70 more per year than they did two years ago, and premium plans cost $95 more.
Keeping cable doesn’t fully protect you either. Fans who subscribe to Sportsnet through their TV provider must now pay $12.99 a month to log into Sportsnet+ to watch Monday games, unless their provider waives the fee. Rogers TV Plus and Ultimate customers get those games at no extra cost.
Prime Video is simpler: its Wednesday games come at no additional cost to Prime members. A membership costs $9.99 a month or $99 a year and also includes other perks, such as Amazon Music Prime and Prime Reading.
Calculating the cost of NHL games this season
So, what will it cost you to watch the NHL this 2026-27 season?
If you want every national broadcast game, you’ll pay $269.99 for Sportsnet+ Standard, which now includes the Monday games, plus $99 for Prime to watch Wednesday nights. That’s about $369 a year before tax.
If you’d rather keep cable, Monday games cost an extra $12.99 a month through Sportsnet+. From late September through the end of the regular season in April, that’s about $104, or about $130 if you keep it through the June playoffs. Add $99 for Prime and you’re paying roughly $200 to $230 on top of your TV bill.
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Is it worth the cost for your household?
Paying between $200 and $444 to get NHL is a large commitment — especially when factoring in things like recurring bills, competing economic priorities and how much watching at home matters to you. But for many Canadians already cutting back because of higher living costs, paying to watch the NHL may be out of reach.
According to the Angus Reid Institute, a non-profit research foundation, one in three Canadians cancelled at least one streaming service in a six-month span, while more than three-quarters (77%) describe their cable bill as already too expensive.
And prices probably won’t come down anytime soon. The 10 leading streaming providers raised their fees by an average of 7% last year, according to Convergence Research’s annual Couch Potato Report.
For a fan who watches several games a week, $369 a year can be a good value. For someone who mostly catches Saturday games, paying for every platform probably isn’t worth it.
Is the PWHL a better-value way to watch hockey?
For those willing to look beyond the NHL, the PWHL may offer more hockey for less money.
CBC will air eight primetime PWHL games under the Hockey Night in Canada banner, starting Dec. 5, with pre- and post-game analysis on CBC TV and the free CBC Gem streaming app. Radio-Canada also holds exclusive radio rights to every Montréal Victoire game played in Canada. The goal, according to Chris Wilson, CBC’s executive director of sports and Olympics, is to give Canadians “free access to world-class hockey.”
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The full PWHL broadcast schedule was released on Friday, Oct. 2.
PWHL broadcasts are only now catching up to the demand for tickets. By March of last season, the average attendance at a PWHL game was up 25% over the previous season, and the league reported higher ticket sales after the Winter Olympics break.
This season, there’s even more access to live games. PWHL Hamilton is now one of 12 teams in the league — their home opener is scheduled for Dec. 13 at TD Coliseum. They join existing Canadian teams in Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.
Tickets for PWHL are also reasonable, with regular tickets to a Toronto game ranging from $20 to $50. Compare this to an average Toronto NHL ticket of $150 or more.
Season tickets and flex packs
For Canadians fortunate enough to live in a city with a PWHL team, there are still ways to save. For instance, PWHL Hamilton season ticket members save up to 40% per game compared with single-game tickets, although the $50 deposit is non-refundable.
You can also check out flex packs — packs of three or more games that let you save 10% or more.
What to do now
Before you pay for anything, run through this checklist:
- Map your team’s schedule. Find out which games air nationally and which air regionally, then pay only for the platforms that carry most of them.
- Call your TV provider before paying the Monday add-on. Sportsnet says the extra fee could be waived by your provider.
- Check what you already have. If you’re a Prime member, Wednesday games are already included.
- Compare annual and monthly pricing. Paying annually can cost less, but paying monthly lets you cancel once your team’s season ends.
- Swap rather than stack. If you add Sportsnet+, drop a service you rarely use to offset the cost.
- Add the free option. PWHL games on CBC Gem cost nothing.
- Price a PWHL game before renewing NHL subscriptions. A PWHL flex pack may cost less than a year of Sportsnet+.
- Read the deposit fine print. Know what’s refundable before you lock in.
The Saturday night ritual hasn’t disappeared, but to keep it as-is, you’ll have to pay. That means you’ll need to treat your hockey subscriptions like any other recurring bill: know what you’re paying for, use what you pay for and cut what you don’t.
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Romana King, Senior Editor at Money.ca, also writes for various North American publications and the RKHomeowner blog. Her book, House Poor No More, is an Amazon bestseller and five-time award winner, including the 2022 New York CPA Society's Excellence in Financial Journalism (EFJ) Book Award.
