Latest news with #Mitchell
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
As 2026 FIFA World Cup looms, CRTC dispute between OneSoccer and Rogers drags on
As the one-year countdown to the 2026 FIFA World Cup looms, a fight to open the door to a wider TV audience for Canadian soccer drags on. On one side is OneSoccer, the subscription streaming service that carries Canadian national team games as well as the Canadian Premier League and Canadian Championship. On the other is telecom giant Rogers Communications Canada Inc., which has refused to carry OneSoccer. In March 2023, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC) ruled in favour of OneSoccer, saying that Rogers, by refusing to carry OneSoccer, 'has given an undue preference to itself and to other services comparable to OneSoccer, and has subjected OneSoccer to a disadvantage.' The CRTC directed the two parties to submit 'by no later than 11 April 2023, proposed remedies for resolving the finding of undue preference and disadvantage.' Two years later, nothing has changed other than the case's paper trail has grown exponentially. 'Delays such as these are devastating for new independent programming services, such as ours,' OneSoccer said in a February submission to the CRTC. 'OneSoccer is spending millions of dollars this year to produce our channel, and we have very little revenue coming in.' OneSoccer remains available as a streaming service and as one of the channels provided by Fubo, also a subscription service. Telus cable subscribers in the West can also access it. Scott Mitchell, owner of OneSoccer's parent company Timeless Inc., as well as chairman of both the Canadian Premier League and Canadian Soccer Business, is 'perplexed' at the delay, saying the ruling was 'very clear.' 'Clearly Rogers has being doing what they can to delay that … It's been with the CRTC for several years now and clearly it's taken far too long,' he said in an interview. 'We have a home World Cup on the horizon and we clearly have a growing soccer audience and ecosystem. And this issue should be dealt with quickly.' Rogers declined to make a spokesperson available, issuing a brief statement while referring a reporter to past company filings. 'We offer our customers a wide variety of popular and premium sports programming from multiple leading content providers,' the statement said. 'For those who want even more soccer content, they have the option to subscribe to OneSoccer as a stand-alone streaming service.' As a result, Sunday's high-profile CONCACAF Champions Cup final between the Vancouver Whitecaps and Mexican powerhouse Cruz Azul is available only to OneSoccer and Fubo subscribers in Canada. 'It's disappointing that not as many Canadians are going to be able to watch the match as there should be,' said Mitchell. 'Because clearly there is an audience for it.' Mitchell reports OneSoccer subscriptions are up 40 per cent this year. But a larger audience is out there. Rogers, in the wake of its merger with Shaw, controls about half the linear TV audience in Canada, Mitchell points out. Rogers says there are 'valid commercial reasons' for refusing to distribute OneSoccer, saying the channel has 'limited appeal to Canadian consumers.' OneSoccer's audience is small other than for Canadian national team games, it argues. Rogers also notes that other major cable providers — including Bell, Cogeco, Videotron, Eastlink, and Sasktel — do not currently carry OneSoccer's linear television channel. Rogers has offered to show some of OneSoccer's programming on Rogers On Demand and on the OneSoccer app on Ignite TV. The two have partnered in the past. In 2021, Rogers Sportsnet carried OneSoccer's broadcasts of Canadian men's World Cup qualifying games, agreeing to split advertising revenue with the proviso there be no OneSoccer branding on the programming. In its submissions, Rogers has also argued that Timeless was 'under the control of a non-Canadian entity' when it filed its CRTC complaint, referencing foreign-owned Mediapro. It argues 'Canadian ownership and control' is a 'foundational tenet of the Canadian broadcasting system.' Mediapro was OneSoccer's production partner until the two parted in a legal dispute, since resolved. OneSoccer argues that while Mediapro 'ran day-to-day operations and provided other services for OneSoccer, this was done on behalf of and under the direction of Timeless. 'At all times Timeless retained the authority to make strategic or organizational changes. Therefore, the service was always controlled by Timeless.' Canada's upcoming games at the Canadian Shield Tournament are being shown on TSN as well as OneSoccer. While Mitchell's group owns the rights, he said it was happy to work with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which organized the event. But such deals are rare. 'To this day, we've not been offered a single penny of investment for any of the media companies in Canada to carry any of the matches,' said Mitchell. Canada's games in March at the CONCACAF Nations League Finals were carried by both TSN and OneSoccer. Michell said OneSoccer, which produced the games itself, did not get a rights fee. 'Unfortunately we've been pushed into, at times, doing deals that are very economically harmful to us. But we do feel a responsibility, particularly on the national team games, to get the games distributed as far and as wide as we can. Unfortunately giving away the content for free is just not economically feasible in the long term.' 'We appreciate TSN's willing to work with us on it but those arrangements are economically not feasible in the least.' While companies like Rogers don't like being told what to do, OneSoccer consultant Laura Mellanby believes Rogers' resistance is down to the bottom line. Cable providers are primarily willing to launch their own channels and work with inexpensive options, she argues. In contrast, One Soccer is a live sports channel with an expensive production budget. Mellanby, who has worked for both Rogers and Bell, points to Willow, a cricket-themed channel carried by Rogers, that takes feeds from others rather than produce games themselves. 'Production is very expensive, especially sports production. And you can only simplify it so much. You can't do a single-camera coverage of a soccer game.' If Rogers were to carry OneSoccer, it would pay the service a monthly fee negotiated on the basis of the number of subscribers. Rogers would then mark their fees up, to recover its investment. 'Cost is always a problem,' said Mellanby. But she argues that the shared risk of carrying a sports channel with high production costs also comes with a shared reward — especially with a channel featuring a sport 'that is in a pivotal moment in its history in this country.' 'A good investment, if you ask me,' she said. Mellanby says OneSoccer has had 'really productive conversations' with Bell about distributing the channel. But she says the rest of the industry is waiting to see what happens with the CRTC case. 'Nobody wants to spend any money … This is not a charity, it's a business,' she said. 'There needs to be a revenue stream.' Canada Soccer, which clearly wants to expands its audience, is understandably watching with interest, although CEO and general secretary Kevin Blue declined comment citing the ongoing CRTC case. —- This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
As 2026 FIFA World Cup looms, CRTC dispute between OneSoccer and Rogers drags on
As the one-year countdown to the 2026 FIFA World Cup looms, a fight to open the door to a wider TV audience for Canadian soccer drags on. On one side is OneSoccer, the subscription streaming service that carries Canadian national team games as well as the Canadian Premier League and Canadian Championship. On the other is telecom giant Rogers Communications Canada Inc., which has refused to carry OneSoccer. In March 2023, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC) ruled in favour of OneSoccer, saying that Rogers, by refusing to carry OneSoccer, 'has given an undue preference to itself and to other services comparable to OneSoccer, and has subjected OneSoccer to a disadvantage.' The CRTC directed the two parties to submit 'by no later than 11 April 2023, proposed remedies for resolving the finding of undue preference and disadvantage.' Two years later, nothing has changed other than the case's paper trail has grown exponentially. 'Delays such as these are devastating for new independent programming services, such as ours,' OneSoccer said in a February submission to the CRTC. 'OneSoccer is spending millions of dollars this year to produce our channel, and we have very little revenue coming in.' OneSoccer remains available as a streaming service and as one of the channels provided by Fubo, also a subscription service. Telus cable subscribers in the West can also access it. Scott Mitchell, owner of OneSoccer's parent company Timeless Inc., as well as chairman of both the Canadian Premier League and Canadian Soccer Business, is 'perplexed' at the delay, saying the ruling was 'very clear.' 'Clearly Rogers has being doing what they can to delay that … It's been with the CRTC for several years now and clearly it's taken far too long,' he said in an interview. 'We have a home World Cup on the horizon and we clearly have a growing soccer audience and ecosystem. And this issue should be dealt with quickly.' Rogers declined to make a spokesperson available, issuing a brief statement while referring a reporter to past company filings. 'We offer our customers a wide variety of popular and premium sports programming from multiple leading content providers,' the statement said. 'For those who want even more soccer content, they have the option to subscribe to OneSoccer as a stand-alone streaming service.' As a result, Sunday's high-profile CONCACAF Champions Cup final between the Vancouver Whitecaps and Mexican powerhouse Cruz Azul is available only to OneSoccer and Fubo subscribers in Canada. 'It's disappointing that not as many Canadians are going to be able to watch the match as there should be,' said Mitchell. 'Because clearly there is an audience for it.' Mitchell reports OneSoccer subscriptions are up 40 per cent this year. But a larger audience is out there. Rogers, in the wake of its merger with Shaw, controls about half the linear TV audience in Canada, Mitchell points out. Rogers says there are 'valid commercial reasons' for refusing to distribute OneSoccer, saying the channel has 'limited appeal to Canadian consumers.' OneSoccer's audience is small other than for Canadian national team games, it argues. Rogers also notes that other major cable providers — including Bell, Cogeco, Videotron, Eastlink, and Sasktel — do not currently carry OneSoccer's linear television channel. Rogers has offered to show some of OneSoccer's programming on Rogers On Demand and on the OneSoccer app on Ignite TV. The two have partnered in the past. In 2021, Rogers Sportsnet carried OneSoccer's broadcasts of Canadian men's World Cup qualifying games, agreeing to split advertising revenue with the proviso there be no OneSoccer branding on the programming. In its submissions, Rogers has also argued that Timeless was 'under the control of a non-Canadian entity' when it filed its CRTC complaint, referencing foreign-owned Mediapro. It argues 'Canadian ownership and control' is a 'foundational tenet of the Canadian broadcasting system.' Mediapro was OneSoccer's production partner until the two parted in a legal dispute, since resolved. OneSoccer argues that while Mediapro 'ran day-to-day operations and provided other services for OneSoccer, this was done on behalf of and under the direction of Timeless. 'At all times Timeless retained the authority to make strategic or organizational changes. Therefore, the service was always controlled by Timeless.' Canada's upcoming games at the Canadian Shield Tournament are being shown on TSN as well as OneSoccer. While Mitchell's group owns the rights, he said it was happy to work with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which organized the event. But such deals are rare. 'To this day, we've not been offered a single penny of investment for any of the media companies in Canada to carry any of the matches,' said Mitchell. Canada's games in March at the CONCACAF Nations League Finals were carried by both TSN and OneSoccer. Michell said OneSoccer, which produced the games itself, did not get a rights fee. 'Unfortunately we've been pushed into, at times, doing deals that are very economically harmful to us. But we do feel a responsibility, particularly on the national team games, to get the games distributed as far and as wide as we can. Unfortunately giving away the content for free is just not economically feasible in the long term.' 'We appreciate TSN's willing to work with us on it but those arrangements are economically not feasible in the least.' While companies like Rogers don't like being told what to do, OneSoccer consultant Laura Mellanby believes Rogers' resistance is down to the bottom line. Cable providers are primarily willing to launch their own channels and work with inexpensive options, she argues. In contrast, One Soccer is a live sports channel with an expensive production budget. Mellanby, who has worked for both Rogers and Bell, points to Willow, a cricket-themed channel carried by Rogers, that takes feeds from others rather than produce games themselves. 'Production is very expensive, especially sports production. And you can only simplify it so much. You can't do a single-camera coverage of a soccer game.' If Rogers were to carry OneSoccer, it would pay the service a monthly fee negotiated on the basis of the number of subscribers. Rogers would then mark their fees up, to recover its investment. 'Cost is always a problem,' said Mellanby. But she argues that the shared risk of carrying a sports channel with high production costs also comes with a shared reward — especially with a channel featuring a sport 'that is in a pivotal moment in its history in this country.' 'A good investment, if you ask me,' she said. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. Mellanby says OneSoccer has had 'really productive conversations' with Bell about distributing the channel. But she says the rest of the industry is waiting to see what happens with the CRTC case. 'Nobody wants to spend any money … This is not a charity, it's a business,' she said. 'There needs to be a revenue stream.' Canada Soccer, which clearly wants to expands its audience, is understandably watching with interest, although CEO and general secretary Kevin Blue declined comment citing the ongoing CRTC case. — This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2025.
Hindustan Times
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Sun finally enter win column while injuries pile up for Fever
Marina Mabrey scored a season-high 26 points, fueling the Connecticut Sun to their first win of the season in an 85-83 victory over the Indiana Fever on Friday in Indianapolis. Mabrey made 10 of 17 shots from the floor for the Sun , who overcame squandering a late 15-point lead to hand the Fever their third straight loss and second without Caitlin Clark. The reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year is expected to sit out at least two more games due to a strained left quad. Connecticut's Tina Charles scored 18 points to offset 11 turnovers and Saniya Rivers collected 12 points and six assists. Olivia Nelson-Ododa collected eight points and nine rebounds for the Sun, who shot 51.7 percent from the floor. Indiana's Aliyah Boston scored 17 points while dealing with foul trouble, while Kelsey Mitchell and former Sun star DeWanna Bonner each had 13. Mitchell, however, was unable to make an off-balance 3-point attempt as time expired to end the game. Sophie Cunningham scored 10 points off the bench before sustaining an apparent ankle injury with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. She did not return. Sydney Colson, who replaced Clark in the starting lineup for the last two games, injured her left leg after getting tangled up with Sun guard Jacy Sheldon while vying for a loose ball with 1:17 remaining in the first quarter. Colson did not return to the game. Bria Hartley sank a 3-pointer and Haley Peters converted a three-point play to extend Connecticut's lead to 74-59 early in the fourth quarter before Indiana ignited a 16-0 run. Bonner drained a pair of 3-pointers before Boston converted in the paint to give the Fever a 75-74 lead with 3:16 to play. The Sun regained their composure, as Rivers sank a pair of free throws and joined Hartley on back-to-back 3-pointers before Mabrey made a long jumper to stake their team to an 84-81 lead with 1:15 to play. Mitchell made a layup with eight seconds to go, but her attempt to win the game was off target. Field Level Media
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Jamaican national busted in Cleveland with 150 pounds of ecstasy sentenced to prison
CLEVELAND (WJW) — A Jamaican national living in Cleveland who was busted with 150 pounds of a popular party drug intended for distribution is now headed to prison. Tonie Neno Mitchell, 34, previously pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, according to a news release from Carol Skutnik, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. I-TEAM: New development in unsolved Cleveland Metroparks double murder A federal judge on Thursday, May 29, sentenced Mitchell to 100 months, or a little more than eight years, in prison. U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency investigators raided Mitchell's Cleveland residence in July 2024. It was the result of a money laundering investigation into Mitchell and others through which investigators had already seized more than $350,000 in suspected drug money, according to the release. Mitchell tried to flee when authorities came in, but was arrested. Inside a closet, investigators found about 70 vacuum-sealed bags containing a total of 70 kilograms of methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA. The Schedule I drug, otherwise known as ecstasy or molly, is a popular party drug, since it reduces inhibitions and makes users feel euphoric, according to the DEA. Cat abandoned in Garfield Heights home went weeks without food, water; ate insulation to 'stay alive,' police say Investigators also found a loaded 9-millimeter handgun, ammunition, a ledger for drug purchases, $50,000 in cash and eight cell phones, according to the release. Authorities determined he had been in the country illegally since about August 2023, according to the release. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
New Iberia woman accused of murder in Wednesday stabbing
IBERIA PARISH, La. () — A New Iberia woman is accused of stabbing a man to death Wednesday evening, authorities said. Brittany Mitchell, 34, of New Iberia is charged with second degree murder in connection with the death of an unidentified 45-year-old man. Deputies with the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office responded at approximately 6 p.m. Wednesday to a medical complaint in the 4600 block of Old La. 25 in Iberia Parish, where deputies found a 45-year-old man unresponsive. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Autopsy results revealed the man died from a stab wound, officials said. No other details were released. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Mitchell, who is currently being held in the St. Mary Parish Jail, authorities said. Bond has not been set at this time. The investigation remains ongoing. Todd Chrisley maintains innocence, vows to fight for prisoners Stephen Miller on report of Musk drug use: We're worried about drugs crossing the border New Iberia woman accused of murder in Wednesday stabbing Labor Department suspends Job Corps centers operations, drawing bipartisan pushback State Department restructuring scraps office dedicated to relocating Afghan allies Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
