The NHL package on NBC expires after the 2021 season, and a new report suggests it will not return in its current form, with a significant portion of the league’s national rights going to ESPN. The possibility of a greater NHL presence on ESPN (they currently broadcast some games on ESPN +) has been discussed for quite a while, including in an article we wrote in February 2018, and the chances seem to increase recently with the creation of the World Leader lots of openings for the NHL in recent years and helping to remove some of the comment stains like “it doesn’t translate to television, and where it doesn’t really transfer much to is a national discussion” (from then senior vice president Vince Doria in 2012; Doria retired in 2015). And now, it appears that ESPN is getting an even higher percentage of NHL rights than many have speculated, with a report by Chris Johnston of Sportsnet indicating that it is expected to give ESPN four Stanley Cup finals (these may or may not be) simultaneous broadcast on ABC as well; no indication of that yet). Here is more about the ESPN-NHL deal from Johnston’s article:
Significant murmurs emerged on Tuesday that the NHL had repaired half of its new media rights package in the United States.
ESPN is believed to have reached a seven-year agreement to become one of the league’s media partners starting next season, according to several league and industry sources.
There was no confirmation from the NHL about an agreement that hopes to see ESPN obtain the rights to broadcast the four Stanley Cup finals between 2022 and 2028, as well as streaming rights to Disney.
On many levels, selling “half” of national NHL rights to ESPN seems to make sense for all parties. Despite occasional critical NHL comments from names like Doria and Max Kellerman (and the latter, although it happened last year compared to 2012, it is much less important; First take was established long ago as a place where no one should take anything said there seriously, while Doria was a true decision maker at the time she left the whole NHL), ESPN has long recognized that there is some value in the NHL. They were an NHL broadcaster from 1992-2004, and the last two national deals that didn’t involve them seem to be more a matter of time than anything else.
In 2005, out of a one-year blockade, the NHL made an offer to ESPN to continue as a broadcaster for $ 60 million a year, and ESPN declined. This prompted the league to turn to Comcast’s Outdoor Life Network, which paid about $ 200 million for a large NHL rights package for three years. (This included games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup finals each year; NBC broadcast the rest of these series under a profit sharing agreement and also broadcast some regular season games that year.) OLN eventually turned into Versus, and then became NBCSN after Comcast bought NBC (first announced in 2009 that the deal was completed in January 2011), and that paved the way for the 10-year deal in April 2011 that saw the NBC / NBCSN / Comcast subscribe as the national broadcaster of NHL in the United States for 10 years. At the time, it made a lot of sense; the new combination of transmission and cable under the aegis of NBC / Comcast was a good option for NHL and networks, and at that point, ESPN didn’t have enough channels to really be a chromatic option from NHL, especially due to its focus in the NBA.
Now, however, giving ESPN “half” of US rights seems to make a lot more sense. Since the launch of the ACC Network, ESPN reached the status of “Ocho”, which means they have a lot of channels to fill with programming. And considering that ESPNEWS it’s not news anymore and it’s mainly an overflowing sports channel (just like ESPNU), it makes sense for ESPN and Disney, the corporate controller, to seek all the rights they can. They now have a place to put them, especially considering that they now have ESPN + (which needs drastically programming, despite its large number of subscribers driven by the package, and it is also a way for ESPN to reorganize finances under specific rights agreements).
And the rights of the NHL are not insignificant. The ESPN + only streaming offers that the NHL had previously held for both sides, with the NHL able to make some money from it and ESPN + able to say “Look, we have real games!” (What they actually have doesn’t matter much, although their service is essentially free when bundled with better Disney + and Hulu services, but it’s good for them to be able to say “We have stuff!”) This reported deal would be even more valuable. NHL games are not always great content for broadcast networks (NBC gets mixed up with regular season games, and these broadcasts are good for important demographics, but not always for spectators in general; the playoffs and the final games Stanley Cup are better, however), but they’re solid on cable, especially when it comes to the postseason. And while it is unlikely that it will ever be a prominent property in the United States, they are a good mid-level property, with an advantage above many others in that range.
Therefore, it is quite logical for ESPN to sign “half” of NHL media rights in the USA. And this will also likely give the league a little more exposure, both in terms of regular season games that air on ESPN networks and on ESPN studio programs (especially Sports center) providing NHL studio coverage. Doria said the quiet part aloud in 2012: “I think that if we were rights holders, there would probably be a little more attention paid to this. It is typical for this to happen ”; other ESPN executives have long tried to claim that SC and other studio programs do not favor the properties to which they have rights, but that favoritism has been quite obvious, and it seems that even ESPN’s recent moves toward greater coverage of NHL will probably expand now they really do have some rights. So there is some exposure value here for NHL, and that may be especially true with NBC eliminating NBCSN and switching coverage to the Peacock streaming service. ESPN can then provide them with cable exposure for a high number of subscribers and perhaps more.
An interesting element to keep an eye on here are the ABC simulcasts, especially when it comes to the Stanley Cup finals. The Finals generally had some cable games only (usually games 3 and 4), but not the entire series. If it is just an ESPN deal, it will make the Finals less accessible to the public. But, given how many times ABC has done simulcast appearing to be exclusive to ESPN recently (particularly with Monday night football and NFL playoff games), it certainly seems quite plausible that at least some of the games during the final years of the “ESPN” Cup will end up on ABC as well. (And although ABC also carries the NBA finals, this is not necessarily a major obstacle; in 2019, the normal last year of programming, the Stanley Cup finals and the NBA finals did not have games on the same days, and this was the case for several recent years.)
It is also worth keeping an eye on where the other half of this package will end up. The most likely option still appears to be NBC; there is a long history of NHL coverage there, and even with the extinction of NBCSN, it looks like there are deals to be closed with Peacock. And with ESPN taking action with “half” of those rights, it means that presumably now there is less cost for Comcast, the parent company of NBC, and less obligations; they can take over the games that work for them without feeling the need to broadcast all of that, which may mean that the Golf Channel and CNBC do not need to broadcast the playoff games. And NBC still seems to fit in better than anyone else, including rumors from bidders Fox and Turner. But nothing is guaranteed at this point. It is certainly remarkable to see such a prominent part of the NHL package going to ESPN, however.
[Sportsnet; top image is a NHL/ESPN contract signing in 1998]