Canucks expected to be back on Rogers Sportsnet 650
The Province
2022-09-20
© Steph Chambers
Conor Garland #8 of the Vancouver Canucks celebrates after scoring a goal against the Seattle Kraken in the third period during the Kraken's inaugural home opening game on October 23, 2021 at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington.
Vancouver Canucks radio broadcasts will be back on Sportsnet 650 for the upcoming NHL season, Postmedia has learned.
A team source told Postmedia that the station, which has broadcast games on the radio since 2017, would continue to broadcast Canucks games this season.
Months after it was first suggested that the Canucks’ radio broadcast would be staying put, the NHL team and the national broadcaster have inked a deal that will line up the radio rights’ expiration with the expiration of the regional TV rights deal with Rogers-owned Sportsnet Pacific and the expiration of the Rogers arena sponsorship deal.
All three deals will now be up for renewal next summer.
It’s expected the fee paid by Rogers for this season will be far below what the rights have gone for in the past, chiefly because of the decline in prominence of AM radio.
In future, if the Canucks are to continue with a radio broadcast, they would likely seek an FM partner. They may also move to producing their audio commentary in-house.
Asked Monday about the status of radio rights for 2022-23, Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford, played coy.
“All that stuff will fall in to place. That’s not an issue,” he said.
Asked to confirm or comment, Meghann Cox, spokesperson for Rogers Sports and Media, said the company had “ nothing to share at this time.”
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