Three Canadian television providers are asking the country’s broadcasting regulator to intervene over Rogers Communications’ move of Monday night NHL games to Sportsnet Plus, alleging the arrangement violates competition rules and raises costs for hockey fans.

Cogeco, Eastlink and SaskTel submitted a letter to the CRTC on Tuesday seeking an order that would require Rogers to make the games available to independent television distributors at no charge, according to reporting by Sammy Hudes of The Canadian Press, published by CBC.

The companies say viewers face a $12.99 monthly add-on charge to watch Monday games unless they already subscribe to Rogers TV or Sportsnet Plus. They argue that providing the content free to rival distributors would ensure their customers receive treatment comparable to Rogers’ own television subscribers.

Their complaint also targets the viewing experience. The providers accuse Rogers of “deliberately degrading the user experience on other distributors’ platforms” and contributing to the “erosion of sports on television.” They say the arrangement prevents competing providers from assembling a comprehensible sports lineup for subscribers. Those claims are allegations made by the companies in their request for regulatory action.

The Monday-night shift is among several changes to Canadian hockey broadcasting this season. A sublicensing agreement that allowed Saturday night NHL games to air on CBC under the Hockey Night in Canada brand has ended.

Rogers has also raised the annual price of a premium Sportsnet Plus subscription to $344.99. Separately, it announced a 12-year agreement giving Amazon’s Prime Video exclusive Canadian broadcasts of Wednesday night regular-season national games.

The dispute comes in the first season of Rogers’ new national English-language NHL television rights agreement. That deal, worth $11 billion over 12 years, began with the ongoing 2026–27 season.

Sources