There’s a recently created word that accurately describes how things are just getting a little worse all the time. It perfectly encapsulates what a hockey fan, or just the average person, is experiencing over the years.

Enshittification.

Thank a Canadian for that word, as Cory Doctorow coined it back in 2022 to describe the phenomenon of a product initially being good to its users and then abusing those users so the owners reap all the rewards.

It even has its own Wikipedia page, and the American Dialect Society voted it word of the year in 2023.

Now, in the big 2026, the average hockey fan is dealing with the enshittification of their favourite product, watching their nickels squeezed until the beaver squeals.

This isn’t inherently unique to hockey, obviously.

Whether it’s our tech overlords making apps designed to ruin our attention, the architecture and home decor in our communities being monochromatic and lifeless, or streaming options becoming more expensive, providing less content, and inputting more ads to interrupt our shows — it seems everything is getting a little worse all the time for you, the little guy.

Hockey jerseys were never going to have ads on them until they were. And if you don’t like that, don’t worry, because the manufacturers at Fanatics will make you hate the jersey itself for how bad the quality is.

The beers at Rogers Place get a little more expensive, the fan experience just a tad worse with every passing game, and the exorbitant salaries for grown men playing a child’s game are arrows pointed up.

What’s one more digital ad on the glass or around the boards for the television audience?

All while you get more for less ad infinitum.

Enshittification.

Rogers is now the be-all, end-all in Canadian hockey broadcasting by re-upping their broadcasting rights with the NHL, and they’ve spent little time wielding that power to continue operating.

First, Hockey Night in Canada is over.

A once-proud institution that had grown stale was put out to pasture. After 70 years, the free offering on CBC comes to an end, and a cultural touchstone becomes the past. The romantic connection that made many love the game as a kid comes to a close, and Saturday nights are just another night on the hockey calendar.

Rogers continues with shutting down sports talk stations in Calgary and Vancouver. The routines of many listeners are disrupted as they adjust to the new way of doing things in sports talk. The Calgary Flames, partnered with The Fan 960 as the radio rights holder for the Flames broadcasts, were blindsided. Where fans on the move will listen to those games, no one knows yet.

And now this week, Sportsnet Plus twists the knife another notch. Another email you could find in your spam folder: the standard plan going up from $29.99 a month to $34.99 a month. The Premium plan, which you need to watch every NHL game and avoid blackouts, went from $42.99 per month to $44.99 per month, and from $324.99 per year to $344.99 per year.

“Death by a thousand cuts” was a phrase used by the business owner of GRETA, an Edmonton downtown bar that is closing, citing government red tape and endless construction.

While I have sympathy for business owners today, as the son of a business owner and generally a free-market supporter, the average consumer today feels this same slow death, too. It gets a little bit harder every day to get by with the essentials, never mind our bread and circuses.

The truth is, they have us by the balls, and they know it.

There may be no more pernicious addiction rapidly growing in North America than sports gambling.

While hard drugs, booze, pornography, and weed are landmines for young males, gambling can take everything you have in a moment. It’s never been so easy to lose so much at your fingertips.

Earlier this month, rules were relaxed in Alberta to allow regulated private casinos to operate in the province. Fifty companies registered, and there has been a deluge of new advertising in front of your eyes.

I know it bothers many fans who often see betting included in broadcasts or shoehorned into sports programming, whether it be legacy media or independent. But the truth is, without relaxing the rules on gambling advertising, those outlets already hanging on may have already closed down. Rogers may not have bid on the NHL rights package without the help of [insert casino here].

At the very least, this influx of ad revenue may have held back more aggressive cuts. It has been a lifeline to sports media. One last hurrah.

It’s not just legacy, either. If you’re a regular reader, you’ve seen gambling ads here on this website. There’s a good chance (I bet) that a gambling ad is underneath this very article.

Again, this influx of dollars has allowed new media forms, like us at the Nation Network, to do more. More articles, more shows, more content.

I like to bet on sports, but I would never argue with someone who says that a casino advertisement turns them off from a certain product. We should all understand the ills of gambling in this day and age a lot better than we do now, and Lord knows the impact 10 years from now on men and women.

But that same person who is uncomfortable should know that without this level of advertising, the type of sports coverage you’d receive would be even worse.

Does that make it right? No. That’s just the reality.

Now this type of gambling has also evolved into “prediction markets.” Kalshi and Polymarket are sort of a stock exchange of world events, with sports as a prime category. It functions similarly to “gambling” but instead provides Yes or No “stocks” to questions. This ever-expanding growth rightfully makes a fan wonder if the outcomes are being rigged.

Luckily, it’s harder to rig a hockey game by the nature of the sport. Sure, a ref can screw the game, but it isn’t quite as easy as a basketball or football game to shade a result or outright fix.

But take an event like the suspicious Conor McGregor UFC fight a couple weeks ago. He goes down to “injury” moments in. The whole event looks like a sham. Or the bizarre YouTube event created by the Miami Heat a couple of days ago that purported to “leak” that LeBron was signing there, only then for James to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers.

These are the types of events that are placed under greater scrutiny than ever before because their legitimacy is in question. Were they done to make a few people a lot of money on these sites?

I have hope that this general awareness helps because before this was so mainstream, there were still billions of dollars being bet on live sports. Don’t be naive enough to think this is a new phenomenon.

The mob found out that NBA ref Tim Donaghy was betting on games 20 years ago, and soon, he had to fix outcomes for them. But now the constant drumbeat of gambling is a part of every commercial break.

There’s little alternative. This is our world.

Enshittification.

Perhaps I’m reflecting more than usual. On Saturday, I had my 10th anniversary graduation party during Vermilion Fair (the 120th running of that fair, by the way, the longest in Western Canada).

In 2016, as I entered NAIT Radio & Television, instructors told us it was an “exciting time” to enter the industry (it’s no coincidence they had already left the industry).

And in some ways, they’re right. It is still an exciting time. Individuals can create content on their own and earn, as the playing field is levelled now. There is no barrier to access to spout off about Evan Bouchard, rank free agent targets, or create mock trades.

But at the same time, you squint your eyes and try looking as far down the road as you can — what is the media landscape going to look like in 20 years? Hell, what about five years from now?

No one knows, but it probably won’t be good for those who work in the media, and the enshittification for the user grows.

There’s no saving legacy media. There’s no mechanism to move backwards to the way things used to be, and don’t forget, in the lead-up to this content fracture, legacy media was underserving viewers before the social media boom.

Trust and viewership were already waning pre-Trump and well before COVID. Independent voices are important.

But our dollars are worth less and are being stretched further. While there is greater convenience, with say, an Oilersnation podcast versus a conventional radio show — the accessibility, the ability to listen at your own pace at any time — there are drawbacks, too.

We live in our own fractured little worlds. Sports is one of the few remaining elements of monoculture, but it becomes harder and harder to take part as a fan.

Hockey is an expensive game to play and requires a massive financial commitment if your talented kid wants to advance. Never mind the families who put their kids in house league with no illusions.

It’s pricey.

And enjoying the game as a fan is made harder with each decision. The places to watch or listen to hockey conversation are expanding, but the picture is fractured, and you have to wade through so much noise to find the stuff worth consuming.

Then, to watch the game, the rights holders are going to squeeze, restrict, and require more of your dollar because they don’t have long left. Rogers will increase Sportsnet Plus before this upcoming season with no improvements to the app. And I’m sure the season after, and the year after, and the year after…

I love the game, and I’m guessing you do too. I’m lucky to do what I do.

But at every turn, we’re challenged. Our nightly escape is facing the same problems we see day-to-day at the grocery store.

It’s all getting just a little worse all the time…

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