Today's Take for July 8, 2026
The main story: Yesterday, Rogers Sports & Media announced an agreement to buy out the last remaining shareholder of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment for $4.35 billion. The deal would see Larry Tanenbaum’s 25% stake (via his company, Kilmer Sports) sold to Ed Rogers’ media empire. But as one door opens, another one slams shut: the same day, Rogers abruptly shuttered six radio stations, laying 230 people off all in one go.
Why it matters: Companies tend to plead poverty during layoffs, and Rogers did cite "declining audience and revenue trends" for the stations it took off the airwaves. But that’s hard to square with its, I repeat, $4.35 billion outlay for MLSE. Clearly the company has money to throw around – it just currently wants sports more than it wants media.
What this means…
- For workers: A very bad day for those 230 journalists working the airwaves – at least one of whom learned of their sacking over the radio while driving to work. Ouch.
- For the sports sector: This purchase gives Rogers a (near) monopoly on the Toronto sports scene, joining MLSE’s Maple Leafs, Raptors, and Toronto FC teams to Rogers' own Toronto Blue Jays.
- For investors: Rogers is now the stock to watch for investments in Toronto sports, and the MLSE news gave it a modest bump yesterday.
- For consumers: Monopolies don’t tend to be great for consumer prices (just look at Ticketmaster). If you thought going to a Leafs game was pricey now, just get ready.
- For Ed Rogers: Victory after victory. After wresting control of the company from family members several years ago, Ed has gone on to dominate both the telecoms and sports side of the family business. It’s good to be king.
- What everyone’s getting wrong: There’s a reason we kept saying near empire, and it's that one major Toronto team still lies outside of Ed Rogers’s grasp: the Toronto Tempo, the brand new WNBA team that's still owned by Larry Tanenbaum (and, as of yesterday, outgoing Raptor Kyle Lowry).
Bottom line: It’s a new gilded age for sports in Toronto, and therefore, the country: Canada’s only major league baseball and men’s basketball teams are now owned by the same guy. Let’s hope he knows what he’s doing.
The Number: 3%
That's how much more people spent at Toronto-area bars and restaurants during the first two weeks of the World Cup, according to credit and debit card spending data from payment processor Moneris.
What it actually means: That’s kind of a paltry return on investment for the estimated $1 billion spent by multiple levels of government to host the World Cup in Toronto and Vancouver. That's in addition to similar reports from the hotel sector that the promised tourism boom from FIFA never materialized. It’s not the full story, of course – we’ll only know the total economic impact of the tournament once the games are done and the beans are properly counted. But so far, it’s not looking good.
Quote of the Day:
“The selection of Mr. Van der Werff follows a comprehensive global search for the best person to lead Air Canada into the future. The search considered a number of performance criteria, including the ability to communicate in French.”
Who said it and when: Air Canada, in a press release announcing the appointment of Anko Van der Werff as their new president and CEO.
Why it matters: The whole reason Air Canada needs a new leader is because its outgoing one, Micheal Rousseau, ignited a massive brouhaha in Quebec earlier this year for conspicuously failing to parler français. After the tragic accident at La Guardia Airport in May that killed two Air Canada pilots, Rousseau released a video offering his condolences to their families… in English only, with French subtitles. Many Quebeckers took that as a grave insult, and Rousseau was swiftly called to testify before Parliament. The company's board of directors announced his retirement just over a week later, kicking off the search that found Van der Werff. Hopefully, the new CEO's language skills will be up to the task.
