Rogers Communications Inc. is set to take full control of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment after signing a $4.35 billion agreement to buy the final 25 percent stake from Kilmer Sports Inc., the company announced Monday.
If the deal clears league approvals, Rogers expects it to close at the end of 2026. The move would make Rogers the 100 percent owner of MLSE, the umbrella company that owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts.
“This is a defining moment for Rogers. Our full ownership of MLSE brings together Canada’s premier communications company with Canada’s premier sports and entertainment organization,” Rogers president Tony Staffieri said in a statement. “It gives us even more opportunity to invest in championship-calibre teams, create unique experiences for customers and fans, and unlock long-term value for shareholders.”
Rogers already owns the Toronto Blue Jays and said it plans to sell a minority stake in its sports, media and entertainment assets in the next year. The company became MLSE’s majority stakeholder in 2024, when it bought Bell’s 37.5 percent share and moved to 75 percent ownership.
For the Maple Leafs, the timing lands in the middle of a sweeping organizational reset. Keith Pelley, as president and CEO of MLSE, brought in John Chayka and Mats Sundin to run the front office in early May. Craig Berube was fired as head coach shortly after, and Jim Hiller eventually took over behind the bench.
The shake-up kept coming. A day after Chayka and Sundin were unveiled as the club’s new front-office pairing, the Leafs won the draft lottery and landed the No. 1 pick for only the third time in franchise history. They used that pick late last month on winger Gavin McKenna, who is seen as a potential franchise player.
Chayka has also spent his first offseason as general manager remaking the roster. Nearly half the team has turned over, with the Leafs adding a new No. 1 goaltender in Sergei Bobrovsky, a new No. 1 defenceman in Darren Raddysh and forwards such as Nick Paul and Colton Sissons. Toronto is trying to get back to the playoffs after missing them for the first time in a decade last season.
The Raptors have already felt Rogers’ influence since it became the majority owner of MLSE. Shortly after the 2025 NBA Draft, the company fired team president Masai Ujiri and kept Bobby Webster as the top basketball decision-maker. After Toronto finished fifth in the Eastern Conference, MLSE gave Webster a new long-term deal and added executive vice president to his title.
Basketball has also been a source of tension inside the old MLSE structure. Larry Tanenbaum, who has served two terms as chair of the NBA’s board of governors, pushed for a WNBA team in Toronto but couldn’t get the group aligned. He later won an expansion bid that became the Toronto Tempo, who began play this season.
There were also internal disagreements over Ujiri’s last extension in 2021. Two years after helping guide the Raptors to a championship, Ujiri’s contract had expired.
Tanenbaum, who had called Ujiri “like a son” and made him a vice chairman of the Raptors, pushed for a costly extension that was unpopular with the company’s board of directors. Ujiri still received a five-year deal and served four years of it.
He is now president of the Dallas Mavericks, though he joined the Tempo ownership group in March 2026.
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