The NHL final is no longer free to watch. This group wants to pass a law to change that

Next year, for the first time in decades, Canadians won't be able to watch the NHL Stanley Cup final for free on television — unless a media lobby group gets its way.

As a new NHL season kicks off, Friends of Canadian Media is asking the federal government to enact legislation that would compel private media companies to license sports events of national importance to TV stations that will air them free of charge. 

"We're suggesting that the government ask a simple question: Are there certain moments that are so important to Canada's cultural life that every Canadian should have affordable and broad access to them?" Raj Shoan, the group's executive director, told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal.

"Quite often, a shared national identity is tied to sporting events."

CBC has reached out to the Department of Canadian Heritage for comment.

Shoan says the campaign is a direct response to news that NHL games are no longer airing on CBC, Canada's public broadcaster. 

CBC and Rogers Sportsnet, the national rights holder of Hockey Night in Canada, announced in July that they weren't able to reach a new sublicensing deal that would have allowed CBC to air the program.

CBC recently announced it will bring back Hockey Night by airing eight Professional Women's Hockey League games on Saturday nights starting in December. But as it stands, NHL games are only available on cable channels or streaming platforms Sportsnet+ and Amazon Prime. 

Prime Video to exclusively stream Wednesday NHL games in Canada

Shortly after the CBC-Rogers deal broke down, Sportsnet announced it's raising the cost of its annual premium subscription by $20.

"When we looked at that in totality we thought, wow, that's really problematic and worrisome because the end