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NHL Returns To ESPN For Seven-Year TV Broadcast Rights Deal Starting In 2022

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman during visit in Las Vegas. Photo credit: Daniel Clark/LVSportsBiz.com

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By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com

Thirsty for non-game day arena revenue, the National Hockey League has a new seven-year TV deal with ABC, ESPN, ESPN+ and Hulu

Deal highlights:

  • The Stanley Cup Final and Stanley Cup Playoffs coming to ABC and ESPN; 100 exclusive regular-season games per season across ESPN’s networks and streaming platforms
  • Streaming is a key element in the landmark agreement; exclusive national games stream live on both ESPN+ and Hulu; more than 1,000 out-of-market games available to all ESPN+ subscribers
  • Deal also includes digital, highlight and international rights

The Stanley Cup Final will be on ABC in four of the seven years of the agreement, with the ability to simulcast/megacast on ESPN+ and additional ESPN networks;

Raiders owner Mark Davis (right) with raiders coach Jon Gruden (left) and former Raiders player Marcus Allen (center) at a Golden Knights-Blues game in February. Photo credit: J; Tyge O’Donnell/LVSportsBiz.com

It also marks he return of live NHL action to ESPN, with 25 exclusive national regular-season games on ABC or ESPN.

The deal includes 75 national regular-season games per season produced by ESPN that will stream exclusively on both ESPN+ and Hulu, with half of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on ABC and ESPN each season.

Additionally, the NHL’s out-of-market streaming package will have more than 1,000 games (formerly on NHL.TV), will now be available for fans to stream only as part of an ESPN+ subscription.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman did not say how much the TV deal is worth.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and VGK team president Kerry Bubolz. Photo credit: Daniel Clark/LVSportsBiz.com

This is a return to ESPN for the National Hockey League, which had a deal with the Connecticut-based sports network in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The agreement includes extensive highlight rights and coverage on the ESPN App and social media. International media rights – including in Latin America, the Caribbean and parts of Europe – are also part of the agreement.


 

Alan Snel: Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.
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