After a report surfaced yesterday that ESPN had signed a deal with the NHL to return as a broadcast partner, the league officially announced the agreement today. The Walt Disney Company, ESPN, and the NHL have reached a seven-year deal beginning in the 2021-22 season that covers U.S. television, streaming and media rights. The agreement will include coverage of the Stanley Cup Final on ABC in four of seven years, 25 exclusive national regular season broadcasts per season on ABC or ESPN, 75 national regular season games streaming exclusively on both ESPN+ and Hulu, half of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on ABC or ESPN each season and coverage of events like the All-Star game each season. The NHL’s out-of-market streaming package, formerly on NHL.tv, will also be available on ESPN+.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman released this statement:
This partnership of the world’s top hockey league and the platforms of The Walt Disney Company is a big win for our fans and our game. Not only will this groundbreaking, seven-year deal enable the NHL to benefit from the incomparable power, reach and influence of The Walt Disney Company and ABC/ESPN, it sets a new standard in delivering our game to the most passionate and tech-savvy fans in sports in the ways they now demand and on the platforms they use.
The deal does not cover the entire broadcast rights and another company will be involved at some point. NBC’s current 10-year contract with the league is set to expire at the end of the season and Joe Reedy of the Associated Press reports they will be included in the bidding for the other part of the deal moving forward. Reedy also reports that Fox Sports and CBS are likely to put in bids as well.
Importantly, broadcast deals have a huge impact on the finances of professional sports. The NHL is facing a flattened salary cap thanks to the COVID crisis that halted last season and removed ticket revenue for so long, meaning a partnership of this magnitude is a positive step in the right direction financially. Unfortunately, the league did not include the financial details in the release, so it’s not clear yet exactly how much it will help move the needle on hockey-related-revenue. Sean Shapiro of The Athletic however reports that the deal will pay more than $400MM per year to the NHL. Previously, NBC had paid $200MM annually in their 10-year deal.
Still, there is considerable excitement around the deal, which also helps the NHL further move into the streaming realm where so many hockey fans are consuming content. With the power of Disney behind them, it should only attract more eyes and excitement in the U.S.
Photos courtesy of ESPN Images
BARRY BRING BACK THE MULLET!!
All kidding aside,the sport needs Mad Mike and JR. I like Jones but the rest are a snooze fest. In game I like Boucher and Kenny Albert & John Forslund but the rest need to go. Anson Carter? Do you know why he played on so many teams? He’s like Castaway-no one around him.
The rest need to go? I don’t agree, I would definitely keep Joe Micheletti as well. He is one of the most knowledgeable commentators out there.
We shall see how much coverage other than the games they carry will give to hockey moving forward. They have buried it very deep for the last several years.
Its time for a change..not saying i dont like NBC..its time..
I haven’t watched ABC since 2004. Forgot it existed, really.
John Buccigross is back in my life?
Hate this deal.
Might not have been enough money for Gary’s liking, but the NBC deal gave me everything I needed as a fan.
For those guys who are fans of Kenny, you can catch him on many Rangers games on WEPN (TuneIn, iHeart, or NHL GameCenter). Naturally, the NFL stuff takes him away, as well as national games.
Love this forward looking deal. I just hope disney will execute it well.
Great-new influx of lefty wokeness. ESPN hasn’t been a sports network in almost 2 decades.
The ONLY good thing would be if we get Gary Thorne back…from an Athletic article…
“So, the big question. How interested would Thorne be in connecting with ESPN again to call games?
“I’d love to talk to them about it,” Thorne said.”
@forwhomjoshbelltolled – I heard that, as well, during the Ducks game tonight. Dan Wood mentioned it during “Ducks Q’s.” There may be hope, yet.
I don’t like this. When has ESPN ever respected hockey or given it coverage? They are heavily invested in the NBA and the NHL will be an afterthought.
When has any US televised medium respected hockey? A bigger potential audience is far better than the status quo. NHL needs to grow the US market. Getting on something regularly is a huge step.
@Black Ace57 – It’s definitely been about 30 years since ESPN/ESPN2 did right by hockey fans. Losing good people has cost them reputation points with many of us. Will they treat the NHL as an afterthought, as you suspect? Based on their track record over the last few years, it’s hard to imagine any other outcome.
ESPN + is an extra paid service in my area.
Why would I like this?
@tucsontoro1 ESPN+ is that way for everyone. Just because you get ESPN doesn’t mean you get ESPN+… it’s an add on. We have it in a bundle with Disney+ and Hulu and frankly it’s working out pretty well for us. Well worth the price.
So ESPN treats you so well they dump you and force you to run to a channel like OLN or whatever the hell it was called and then the league goes backs to them?
The reality is, throughout the last few years ESPN has done a tremendous job in alienating NHL hockey fans and the league.
Completely buried under 15-20 other sport lists in their scores. No articles on a front page full of political garbage. I quit ESPN years ago. Hockey fans will not forget this and will not soon return to ESPN.
They have empowered themselves like mass media, in glorifying only events and opinions they want to force feed us. I caught this quite early on, but these days many people just ignore.
It’s a business, you promote product that makes you money. But you don’t bury complimentary products that completely overlap with your customers.
@Jim1234 2 – Ditto!
Hey NHL, Bring back Barry Melrose and Mike MILLBURY
One thing I need to know is the status of NHL.tv. I’ve been watching many games on there since it was NHL Game Center. So much better than Center Ice. I hope it’s still part of the plan. I’d hate to have to settle for only the games ESPN telecasts. Though I still get to watch games on CBC here in Michigan and on Fox Sports Detroit.