La Presse has confirmed that French-speaking fans will need three different subscriptions this season to watch all Montreal Canadiens' games in their own language.
We’ve known for some time that English-speaking fans of the Montreal Canadiens would need three different subscriptions to watch every Habs game this season: TSN, Sportsnet and Amazon Prime. This morning, Richard Dufour from La Presse confirms the same will be true for French-speaking fans.
Rogers’ 12-year, $11 billion broadcasting deal for English-language coverage also included the right to license the French broadcast of the 37 games that weren’t going to be shown on RDS, which worked out to 39 games in the new NHL 84-game schedule.
According to La Presse, TVA Sports will broadcast 32 regular-season Canadiens’ games in 2025-26, 10 more than it did last season, and for the first time, Amazon Prime will show seven Canadiens’ games in French. This will leave RDS with just 45 games, down from 60 last season. This news was already announced last October and was not well received by French-speaking fans, the overwhelming majority preferring to watch Marc Denis and Pierre Houde on RDS rather than Felix Seguin and Patrick Lalime on TVA Sports. There is no word yet on who will be on screen in French for Amazon Prime.
La Presse also adds that the deal secures TVA national games broadcasting rights for the duration of Rogers’ 12-year deal. The article stops short of revealing the actual value of the deal, information which will no doubt be made public when the deal is officially announced. As always, TVA Sports will also be broadcasting all of the Montreal Canadiens’ playoff games.
It’s worth noting that Amazon Prime did a very good job last season with the four Canadiens games it had the rights to. Their coverage was smooth and focused. They showed a Habs game and stuck to that team rather than feeling the need to discuss the Toronto Maple Leafs as Rogers’ broadcasts so often do. From a quality standpoint, their arrival is good news, but it’s doubtful that the extra cash the French-speaking fans will have to spend will be well received. While the monthly subscription to Amazon Prime only stands at $9.99 per month, and it also has an option to add TVA Sports directly for $17.99 a month, it still means another subscription to manage and needing to add RDS through Crave TV.
If you are more of a traditional TV consumer, you can also subscribe to TVA Sports from your TV provider, whether it is Bell or Videotron, but if you want to save some money, it’s worth shopping around and asking yourself if you still need your traditional TV bundle. On Videotron, a subscription that includes 23 basic HD channels and the option to add 10 channels, including sports, will set you back at least $60 per month. Then you’ll need to fork out another $9.99 per month to add Amazon Prime if you want to catch all of the Canadiens’ games in French.
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