If you are a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, you have probably already heard the bad news that at least 23% of the team’s games will require a subscription during the 2026-27 NHL season.
That is the unfortunate reality heading into the upcoming campaign, especially when the Leafs appear to have done a great job this offseason, and there is more excitement and anticipation than ever to see them back on the ice.
Indeed, to watch the Maple Leafs’ regular-season games without traditional cable in Toronto, fans will need at least three streaming subscriptions.
To start, fans will need a Sportsnet+ subscription, which will cover the Saturday night games, Hockey Night in Canada, while 13 exclusive games will be behind a paywall. Depending on the subscription plan, the monthly price starts at C$29.99 and will increase to C$34.99 on Sept. 22 of this year. The annual plan is currently around C$249.99 per year and will increase to C$269.99 on the same date.
There is also a TSN+ subscription, which covers the regional broadcast rights and includes about 26 regular-season games within the Toronto broadcast area. The subscription costs around C$24.99 per month, although three-month offers for C$59.99 total are generally available.
Fans will also need to add an Amazon Prime Video subscription, as six Maple Leafs games will now move exclusively to the platform. The subscription costs around C$10 per month, while an annual plan is about C$99.
That means that without any traditional cable service, each fan would have to spend roughly C$500 to C$600 per year if they opt for annual subscriptions. Alternatively, the cost would rise to about C$65 to C$70 per month if fans buy the basic monthly plans during the seven months of the NHL season.
There are obviously some alternatives, but any option represents a significant expense compared to previous seasons.
To put things into perspective, most games broadcast by Sportsnet and TSN will still be available through traditional television packages from providers such as Rogers, Bell, or Cogeco. For example, Rogers Xfinity automatically includes digital access to Sportsnet+ exclusive games in packages that include Sportsnet at no additional cost.
Even then, fans would still need an Amazon Prime Video subscription for the games exclusive to that platform.
23% of Maple Leafs Games Fall Outside Traditional Cable
Fans outside Toronto also have alternatives. If you live outside Ontario’s local broadcast area, in other Canadian provinces or in the United States, the broadcast rights change depending on your location.
In Canada outside Ontario, fans can use NHL Center Ice or the Sportsnet+ Premium package, which costs around C$42.99 per month. In the United States, you can watch nearly all Maple Leafs games through ESPN+.
The limitation, of course, is that regional blackouts apply if you live in Toronto or elsewhere in Ontario.
So, having traditional cable television alone will no longer be enough, as approximately 23% of the Maple Leafs’ games will fall outside conventional television coverage.
That includes 13 exclusive games on Sportsnet+, which will be the Monday Night Hockey games for the 2026-27 season, and six exclusive games on Amazon Prime Video for Wednesday Night Hockey.
These games are part of a national digital-exclusive package and will not be broadcast on any traditional cable television channel.
Clearly, this has caused widespread frustration among local fans, which is both expected and completely understandable. There is little doubt that this arrangement may not work out as well as the companies involved hope.
It is more than obvious that fans cannot simply be expected to accept this without pushing back, and many will look for free alternatives by whatever means they can.
We will see how this experiment plays out over the course of the season.
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