Canada is witnessing a growing merger of sport and entertainment, as arenas are turning into media spectacles, broadcasts blending with concert-style production, and rights deals reshaping how fans experience their favourite games. From blockbuster media rights contracts to leagues leaning into spectacle, branding, and star power, the boundaries between sport and show are blurring. Here are 8 visuals that show how sport and entertainment are colliding in Canada:
Rogers’ Media Deal Transforms NHL Into Application-Era Spectacle
In April 2025, Rogers Communications inked a 12-year, C$11 billion deal for NHL media rights covering TV, digital, and streaming platforms for all national games. This isn’t just about who broadcasts games—it’s about how they’re packaged. The deal promises fewer regional blackouts, more high-production value across platforms, and NHL games becoming integrated lifestyle entertainment, not just matches. One can imagine visuals: cinematic intro montages, superstar profile segments, immersive viewing experiences combining sport with storytelling. It signals sport as media entertainment at scale.
Esports and University Athletics Merge Enter Stage Center
The Canada Sport & Entertainment Expo, especially in its partnership with Ontario University Athletics, shows physical sport facilities, athletic gear, and esports/event production companies all under one roof. The visual imagery from past expos includes trade show booths next to sport demo zones, athletes impacting display panels, and a mix-and-match of fitness apparel alongside streaming tech. That cross-pollination, crowds walking through vendor halls observing sport, spectacle, and entertainment products together, is a sign of sport becoming part of broader entertainment commerce.
Tech, Data, and Branding in NHL Broadcasts
According to SportBusiness, recent agreements have included major sponsorships (e.g., Sony) tied to enhancing viewer experience, augmented reality overlays, real-time data visualizations, and dynamic camera angles. Fans tuning in don’t just see ice and players, they also see branded entertainment packages reminiscent of big concert tours or theatrical events. The image would be screens with sponsor logos, vivid graphics, and pre-game light shows, providing visual cues of entertainment joining the hockey rink.
Buffalo Bills and MLSE Team Up to Boost Canadian Football
The Buffalo Bills’ partnership with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) highlights the growing intersection of sport and entertainment in Canada. This collaboration aims to expand football’s reach, combining the Bills’ NFL expertise with MLSE’s local marketing and fan engagement strategies. Initiatives include youth programs, fan events, and cross-promotional media content designed to cultivate a passionate Canadian football audience. By leveraging both teams’ branding and entertainment platforms, the partnership reflects how professional sports are increasingly blending with experiential entertainment.
Sport Venues as Multipurpose Entertainment Hubs
The Avenir Centre in Moncton provides an example of how entertainment and sports are merging. Opened in 2018, it hosts junior hockey, basketball, concerts, and entertainment events. The visual set-ups show arena floor switching: ice one night, a stage and band setup the next, with lighting rigs and audio equipment obviously borrowed from theatrical setups. These visuals tie together sport and entertainment in shared physical space.
Festival-Style Conferences Highlighting Sport Business
Images from the Collision Conference (Toronto), which has photojournalists and exhibitor booths, are not sports events per se, but visuals from “Collision 2023 – Day Three” show a crossover as people wearing sports apparel, media personalities, and attendees network in large halls with lighting, stage presenters, and big screen backdrops. These blur the visual identity of “sport event” and “entertainment conference,” showing how the sport business is using entertainment aesthetics to attract youth, media, and lifestyle audiences.
Fans Expect Spectacle in Broadcasts and Venue Lighting
Even though not tied to one single image, recent media reports (e.g., SportBusiness on NHL/Sony sponsorships) discuss the heightened expectation for spectacle, camera drone shots, lighting effects, music cues, and theatrical player entrances. The visuals here are players entering the ice to spotlights, animated scoreboards, and interactive in-arena lighting shows. These visuals are now expected and promoted, not just extras.
Drake and the Raptors: Music Meets Sport on the Sidelines
Few images capture the sport-entertainment crossover better than Drake’s courtside presence with the Toronto Raptors. As the team’s Global Ambassador, his appearances at Scotiabank Arena blur the line between celebrity performance and live sport. Cameras cut to him reacting to plays, hyping up the crowd, or exchanging words with players. During the Raptors’ 2019 championship run and continuing into 2025, visuals of Drake courtside have become iconic, sometimes trending as much as the games themselves.
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