Canada’s biggest soccer moment in years won’t be on major TV. That’s not just a shame – it’s a failure

On June 1, the Vancouver Whitecaps will play one of the most important games a Canadian sports team has ever played.

In most countries—in fact, in almost any country—broadcasters would be clamouring over each other for the right to show it. The national public broadcaster might be claiming it as a program of national interest, and politicians would be weighing in to grab a bit of the spotlight for themselves.

The Whitecaps’ Concacaf (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) Champions League final against Cruz Azul at 72,000-seat Estadio Olimpico Universitario in Mexico City will determine the top club in the northern half of the western hemisphere. The winner will qualify for a future FIFA Club World Cup appearance. It is a very big deal for the game, Vancouver and the country.

But thanks to years of corporate shenanigans by federally licensed broadcasters and cable companies, a taxpayer-funded yet tight-fisted CBC, and the abject failure of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), access to the game will be limited. It will only be available via the streamer and rights-holder OneSoccer and the foreign service Fubo TV.

As a result, the game won’t achieve the audience or sponsorship numbers it should, especially at a time when major soccer events in Canada now draw large national audiences. Just as important, the public won’t be served in the manner the Broadcasting Act envisions.

In 2015, the first time a Canadian team reached the final, Montreal Impact drew a crowd of 61,004 to Olympic Stadium. In the Whitecaps’ recent semifinal victory over Lionel Messi’s star-studded Inter Miami, the home leg at BC Place attracted 53,837 fans, a record for the club in the Major League Soccer era.

If the point isn’t clear already, this is a major event. And it’s happening at a time when Canada is crying out for pride-building, unifying moments.

Until a few years ago, the only way Canada Soccer could get games on TV was to pay one of the national broadcasters, usually TSN, to carry them. Then came a turning point: Canada Soccer Business and OneSoccer created an arrangement that actually generated revenue for the federation. In return, OneSoccer gained rights to broadcast all men’s and women’s national team games outside of major finals like the World Cup and Olympics, as well as all Canadian Championship matches and regional club competitions. It also broadcasts every game in the Canadian Premier League, which was created in part to help Canada qualify as a co-host for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

But while OneSoccer is available on Telus cable, it remains shut out of Bell (TSN) and Rogers (Sportsnet) systems. Three years ago, OneSoccer filed a complaint with the CRTC, arguing that Rogers was violating rules by giving undue preference to its own properties. In March 2023, the CRTC agreed.

Yet due to a perfect storm of regulatory sloth and corporate gamesmanship, there is still no resolution. The result? OneSoccer has lost millions of dollars, starving Canada’s soccer ecosystem of vital funding.

Since acquiring Shaw for $26 billion, Rogers, which also owns Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and its struggling  MLS franchise, Toronto FC, has been fighting over every nickel. Undue preference complaints against it have been stacking up, and it’s worked hard to undermine regulatory oversight at every turn.

The CRTC, meanwhile, seems either unable or unwilling to respond. And when a regulator is publicly humiliated by the companies it’s supposed to oversee, the damage ripples across the entire industry, not just to the Whitecaps or OneSoccer.

A little over a year from now, Canada will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside the United States and Mexico. Canada’s national team is young, fast and media-savvy, with global stars like Ottawa’s Jonathan David of Lille FC and Edmonton’s Alphonso Davies of Bayern Munich. Its performances in the 2022 Qatar World Cup and the 2023 Copa America showed the potential to rally the nation.

At a time when U.S. President Donald Trump hovers menacingly over the nation while we are simultaneously staring down the barrel of an Alberta independence referendum, Canada needs all the unifying moments it can muster.

OneSoccer represents precisely what the Broadcasting Act was created to support: a Canadian broadcaster, showcasing Canadian teams and content from coast to coast, connecting the country. And yet the CRTC, weakened by a cable giant, still can’t get OneSoccer carried on major TV providers in Canada. It isn’t even clear anymore, for that matter, whose system it is.

This isn’t just frustrating—it’s intolerable. And with events like the Whitecaps’ final, the Concacaf Gold Cup and the buildup to next year’s World Cup, the stakes are only growing.

This is an opportunity for our new “elbows up” Prime Minister, Mark Carney, to put on a pair of boots and kick whatever’s necessary to reassert national pride and institutional authority in Canada.

Peter Menzies is a former newspaper executive, a past vice-chair of the CRTC and a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Explore more on CRTC, Soccer

The views, opinions, and positions expressed by our columnists and contributors are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of our publication.

© Troy Media

Troy Media empowers Canadian community news outlets by providing independent, insightful analysis and commentary. Our mission is to support local media in helping Canadians stay informed and engaged by delivering reliable content that strengthens community connections and deepens understanding across the country.