TVA Sports

About

TVA Sports history, coverage, features

TVA Sports is a French-language sports channel based in Canada and owned by Groupe TVA. Established in September 2011, TVA Sports is well-known for sublicensing a variety of sporting events from Sportsnet, which is owned by Rogers Communications, thus enhancing its programming offerings.

TVA Sports formed a partnership with Sportsnet-owned Rogers Media just under a month before its launch, acquiring the French-language rights to some of its programming. Notably, the channel became the official French-language broadcaster of the National Hockey League (NHL) in Canada, securing these rights through Rogers after the latter obtained the broadcast rights via a 12-year agreement worth $5.2 billion, starting from the 2014-15 season.

In addition to its NHL coverage, TVA Sports has secured sublicensing rights to several other major sporting events and leagues. The channel broadcast the 2014 Winter Olympics, which it acquired from Radio-Canada, and has showcased a wide range of other events.

This includes Major League Baseball (MLB) games featuring the Toronto Blue Jays, National Basketball Association matches involving the Toronto Raptors, and various NBA fixtures, including playoffs and Finals.

TVA Sports has also dedicated programming to specific teams, airing select Montreal Canadiens matches in collaboration with its sister channel TVA Sports 2 through the popular Saturday night broadcast, “La super soirée LNH”.

Furthermore, the channel covered the UEFA Champions League and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) from its launch until 2015, when it lost these broadcasting rights to Bell Media and RDS. TVA Sports held the rights to CF Montréal's Major League Soccer (MLS) matches since its inception and broadly to MLS from 2017; however, these rights were relinquished in 2023 following the launch of Apple's MLS Season Pass.

During its partnership with Sportsnet, TVA Sports, which is available in standard definition and HD, also covered events from the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). However, this arrangement concluded in 2021.

Viewers can access TVA Sports through various third-party cable, satellite, and IPTV providers, having been carried by Bell Fibe TV, Bell Satellite TV, Vidéotron, Shaw Direct, and Optik TV since its launch. However, availability may vary depending on agreements between TVA Sports and these providers.

In addition to traditional broadcasting, TVA Sports offers digital access through its own streaming services, TVA+ and TVA Sports en Direct (also known as "TVA Sports Direct" in English), which allow subscribers to watch their favorite sports programming on demand.