Since NBC regained the rights to the NHL in 2006, they often show Sunday games on NBC’s broadcast. They started by choosing regional broadcasts in 2006-07, then started showing exclusive national games in 2007-08. And that will lead to an interesting turnaround in the 2021 season; while that season has been shortened to 56 games out of the normal 82, the NBC broadcast will take 16 exclusive games, more than ever. This was included in NBC’s launch on Tuesday in its exclusive game schedule:
- Once a week – NBC Sports will air the NHL 16 times on NBC – once a week, on average, during the 2020-21 season – starting on Sunday, January 17, featuring the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. It is the largest number of NHL regular season games on NBC.
- Favorite fan rivalries – The NHL on NBC’s schedule features a number of rivalries, including a Valentine’s Day encounter between Capitals and Penguins, as well as Blackhawks-Red Wings, Bruins-Rangers and Blues-Avalanche fights.
- “Final flex Saturday” – the final NHL game on NBC’s schedule on Saturday, May 8, is currently defined and will feature the most attractive game with implications in the playoffs.
It is quite remarkable to see a record level of NHL games on the NBC broadcast network in a significantly shortened season. But with that, it is important to keep in mind that many networks have less other programming in general at the moment, thanks to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even so, however, this is a considerable level of exposure on NHL open TV. This is the schedule so far:
NHL AT NBC 2020-21 SCHEDULE
| Meeting | Far | House |
| Sun, January 17 | Washington | Pittsburgh |
| Sun, January 24 | Detroit | Chicago |
| Sun, February 7 | Philadelphia | Washington |
| Sun, February 14 | Washington | Pittsburgh |
| Saturday, February 20 | Vegas | Colorado |
| Sun, February 21 | Philadelphia | Boston |
| Sun, February 28 | Boston | NY Rangers |
| Sun, March 7 | Buffalo | Ny Islanders |
| Sun, March 28 | NY Rangers | Washington |
| Sun, April 4 | Detroit | Tampa Bay |
| Saturday, April 17 | Pittsburgh | Buffalo |
| Sun, April 18 | Washington | Boston |
| Saturday, April 24 | Colorado | St. Louis |
| Sun, April 25 | Boston | Pittsburgh |
| Sun, May 2 | Tampa Bay | Detroit |
| Saturday, May 8 | TBD | TBD |
This is a significant level of exposure at the broadcast level, which comes with about 40 million extra homes or more of potential viewers compared to NBCSN (based on the 2020 Nielsen TV universe estimates of 121 million households) TV for NBCSN’s reported transportation estimate of 79.9 million households in January). And NBCSN will also have many games on Wednesday night and Sunday night, as detailed in the NBC launch. And this is remarkable considering that the 2020-21 season is the last under NBC’s current national TV contract. NBC will likely try to retain at least some rights in the next round, but there have been rumors that ESPN or others may try to get some national games. But this winter and spring, at least, NBC will be showing off many national NHL games.
[NBC Sports Group Pressbox]