Rogers just moved a chunk of NHL hockey behind Sportsnet+, and Blue Jays fans have every reason to wonder if their team is next.

The backlash started Monday. Fans in Ottawa and Winnipeg were the first asked to pay for games that once came with their cable package.

The Maple Leafs join the Monday Night Hockey package on Oct. 19 against the San Jose Sharks. It's the first of 13 Leafs games carried exclusively on the streaming service.

For non-subscribers, it's a $12.99 monthly add-on. Rogers Infinity customers get it at no added cost, which looks an awful lot like a nudge to switch providers.

Add six Amazon Prime games, and 23% of the Leafs' regular season will be streaming-only. That's the template Jays fans should be watching closely.

Rogers hasn't announced anything for baseball. But with the company now controlling the Jays, MLSE, Sportsnet and national NHL rights, the question is fair game.

Mark Shapiro's Blue Jays sold out 61 games in a last-place season

The Jays already know their audience pays. They sold out 61 games during a last-place season, and the other 20 drew near-full houses, according to the Toronto Sun.

Those fans paid ticket prices that went up after the 2025 AL championship. Team president Mark Shapiro's front office has rarely struggled to find new revenue.

Streaming is already part of the picture, too. Toronto appeared five times on Apple TV's Friday Night Baseball in 2026.

The Sun reported, citing sources, that the Jays are a favourite of Apple marketers because of the new subscribers each game brings in. Rogers executives can read that math as well as anyone.

So why wouldn't Rogers peel off a slice of the 162-game schedule for Sportsnet+? An $11-billion US hockey rights deal has to get paid somehow, and cord-cutting keeps shrinking cable revenue.

Doing it after this season would be a terrible look. Fans packed Rogers Centre for a last-place club, and the reward shouldn't be another monthly bill.

It's the landlord who raises rent on the tenant who never misses a payment. He does it precisely because the tenant never misses a payment.

The labour fight could change the timeline. If a work stoppage erases a good chunk of next season, it might delay any baseball streaming push for a year.

Fans will grumble, and some will drift toward illegal streams. History says most will keep paying, and that's exactly the bet Rogers keeps winning.