Rising team values and a desire to build a legacy are likely at the heart of what motivated Rogers Communications executive chairman Edward Rogers to bolster the company’s portfolio of Toronto-based professional sports teams, experts say.
Rising team values and a desire to build a legacy are likely at the heart of what motivated Rogers Communications executive chairman Edward Rogers to bolster the company’s portfolio of Toronto-based professional sports teams, experts say.
The company’s $4.7 billion deal to acquire telecom rival BCE’s 37.5 per cent stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment will give Rogers majority control of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto Argonauts and Toronto FC.
It’s a move that fits into Rogers’ long-standing strategy to grow its sports empire, with the company already owning the Toronto Blue Jays and becoming the national television rights holder for the NHL a decade ago.
Edward Rogers was the main person responsible for the deal, said Richard Powers, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.
“He’s the boss,” Mr. Powers said.
“He always wanted to be the decision maker, and now he will be.”
Edward Rogers inherited ownership of the Blue Jays after the death of his father, Ted, under whom the company bought the baseball team in 2000. Powers says it gave him “a taste of what it was like” to own a professional sports team.
“This consolidates control of almost every professional sports team in the Toronto market under Edward Rogers and I think that’s certainly what he was looking for all along,” Powers said, adding that his only surprise was the length of Rogers’ partnership with Bell owner BCE in MLSE.
Rogers and Bell entered into an agreement to acquire equal shares in MLSE in August 2012.
“The opportunity to control the entire market was, I think, something he couldn’t refuse,” Powers added.
“He always showed that he wanted to be in charge.”
A “public mission”
In an interview with Sportsnet on Wednesday, Edward Rogers said he recognizes that “being involved with these teams is a public mission.”
“We see this as a responsibility that we take very seriously,” he said. “We want to win as much as any of our fans.”
Mr. Rogers also noted that his company has spent more than $14.5 billion over the past decade on sports.
“So it’s a core business for us and this opportunity came up and we felt it was a perfect fit for what we do and where we’re going.”
Dave Heger, senior equity analyst at Edward Jones, believes Rogers likely has an “ego boost” to realize, which comes from the status and name recognition associated with owning professional sports teams in a major city.
That’s on top of the financial appeal of teams like the Maple Leafs and Raptors, whose value continues to rise, Heger said.
Forbes ranked the Leafs as the most valuable team in the NHL at US$2.8 billion in its latest ranking released last December, up 40% from 2022.
The Raptors, with $4.1 billion, were No. 10e NBA’s most valuable franchise in October 2023, up 32% from the previous year.
It remains to be seen whether Mr. Rogers could further expand his stake in MLSE beyond 75%. Under their ownership agreement, Rogers and Bell would have the right to buy out MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum, who owns the other quarter of the sports conglomerate, by July 2026.
“Are they going to consider combining the ownership (of MLSE) and the Blue Jays into some sort of stand-alone entity?” Heger wondered.