Without TVA Sports, TVA Group would not lose money

Will TVA Sports close? It’s a question that’s been asked over and over again in recent weeks.

In fact, it’s been coming up for several months, if not years, but since Pierre-Karl Péladeau himself concretely raised the possibility on Cogeco earlier this month, it seems that this question is much more legitimate than before.

TVA Sports has lost more or less $230 million since it opened, and lost $20 million in its last fiscal year. So it’s natural to have doubts about the station’s future after June 2026, when NHL broadcasting rights will be renewed at a price that could double, or even almost triple, according to the latest information available.

Pierre-Karl Péladeau visited Patrice Roy on Radio-Canada yesterday, and the future of TVA Sports was obviously discussed.

“It’s clear that TVA Sports is losing a lot of money,” admits @PKP_Qc, president of TVA Group and Québecor, but believes that divesting itself of its sports channel “won’t change the fundamental problem”. #TJ18h pic.twitter.com/J91uldjm8M

– Patrice Roy (@PatriceRoyTJ) May 22, 2025

Patrice Roy, in an interview where the tone wasn’t always super pleasant, made one thing clear: without TVA Sports, Groupe TVA wouldn’t be losing money.

PKP tried to avoid the subject a couple of times, but he did admit that TVA Sports does cost the rest of TVA Group money.

“For sure, TVA Sports is losing a lot of money, but getting rid of TVA Sports wouldn’t change the fundamental problem.” –Pierre-Karl Péladeau

What is the fundamental problem, according to PKP ? Advertising revenues and viewers are steadily declining, the government isn’t helping enough, and the CRTC isn’t settling the dispute between Québecor and Bell Media.

Except Patrice Roy has a point: Groupe TVA shareholders are fed up, and the share is only 61 cents right now. Stopping paying a fortune to broadcast the NHL’s French-language games would allow Groupe TVA to get its head above water. In the short term at least..

Think again!

The more time passes, the greater the chances of the station closing its doors at the end of the current TV deal.

“Was it a tactical and strategic mistake (to pay for NHL rights 10 years ago)?” – Patrice Roy

“… You know, it’s easy to be a Monday Morning Quarterback.” – Pierre-Karl Péladeau

The Monday Morning Quarterback is someone who criticizes something after the fact. Obviously, the decision to pay a fortune to broadcast NHL games is open to criticism.

In closing, Patrice Roy came back and said that at the time, it could have been a gamble, and that in hindsight, the contract has become a liability.

If the next broadcast contract does cost two or three times as much as it does now, it would only be a bigger ball and chain for TVA Group. It would be an elephant or a planet in its own right.

Let’s draw our own conclusions. Because without the rights, I don’t see why so many people would stay with TVA Sports.

Especially since PKP ‘s words seem clear: there would be a monopoly for RDS..

So without the rights, TVA Sports would probably cease to exist. Let’s hope, for the sake of the channel’s many employees, that Groupe TVA’s negotiators succeed in convincing the NHL and Rogers to put some water in their wine.

Extension

I have to admit, I found it a little hard to watch the segment knowing that Patrice Roy, who works for a highly subsidized state-owned public TV station, seems to be lecturing Pierre-Karl Péladeau, president of a private company trying to create economic wealth.

When you’re privileged about something X, you have to be careful when talking to the non-privileged.