The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that when Rogers Communications swooped in to buy all of the NHL's Canadian national broadcast rights in 2013, the $5.2-billion, 12-year deal was seen as a tremendous bet on the rising value of live sports as content. The Globe's Scott Stinson writes that the contract -- which transformed Canadian media by putting Rogers Sportsnet on equal footing with its older rival, BCE's TSN, and by starving the CBC of its biggest revenue generator outside the government -- now seems quaint by comparison. On Wednesday, Rogers announced its $4.7-billion agreement to purchase BCE's 37.5-per-cent ownership stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which would give Rogers 75-per-cent ownership of the company that controls all of Toronto's major sports franchises. Rogers is buying out Bell at an even higher valuation, $12.5-billion. This is a wager on the ever-increasing value of sports broadcast rights. Mr. Stinson wonders if the bubble will ever burst. According to Rogers: never, and the telco is in good company. Amazon's Prime Video broadcasts NFL games and is part of the new NBA deal. Apple spent $2.5-billion (U.S.) for a 10-year global rights deal with Major League Soccer.