BCE Inc. said Wednesday it is teaming up with the chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment to buy the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Bell's partner in the deal is the Kilmer Group, owned by MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum. Bell spokesman Jason Laszlo said in an email that team ownership is split evenly between the two companies. Rogers Communications Inc., which shares control of Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors owner MLSE with Bell, is not part of the group buying the Argonauts. Bell said the deal includes television, digital media and radio broadcast rights, noting in a press release that its TSN and RDS specialty TV channels already have exclusive rights to the entire CFL schedule, including the Grey Cup championship game. "The Argos and the...
The Toronto Maple Leafs franchise was the one National Hockey League club not to vote in favour of the 12-year, $5.2-billion broadcast and digital-rights agreement between the league and Rogers Communications Inc., the Toronto Star reported. The article said that during an NHL board of governors meeting this week, the Leafs — represented by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) chairman Larry Tanenbaum and CEO Tim Leiweke — abstained from voting on the agreement, which gives Rogers exclusive rights for the broadcast of NHL games nationally in Canada for more than a decade,...