Gary Bettman discusses cost management and the future of the league with the season starting Wednesday.
The NHL will be on ESPN again.
On Wednesday, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro announced that the network would regain the rights to broadcast NHL games.
The self-proclaimed ‘world sports leader’ and the NHL have announced a seven-year deal, which includes extensive streamlining rights. The last time ESPN aired NHL games was in 2004. According to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, conversations with the network have begun to escalate over the past few months.
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‘It’s a transformative time in the media, especially sports media. This puts us at the forefront of content distribution with an excellent linear package as well as a forward-looking strategy that focuses on the impact of streaming, ‘Bettman said. “It’s a win, win, win. A win for ESPN and The Walt Disney Company, a win for the NHL, and most importantly, a win for fans. ‘
Over four of the seven years, the Stanley Cup final will be broadcast on ABC. The All-Star game and 25 games in the regular season, with an expected distribution of 15 on ESPN and 10 on ABC, will also take place.
The games aired on ABC are likely to air on Saturdays with ESPN games airing on Thursdays. When playoffs lapse, ESPN and ABC have the first chance to determine which final conference series they want on their network, as well as half of the first and second round matches.
“The NHL has a young demographic and one of our top priorities is expanding the audience,” Pitaro said. “While we want to attract the younger generation, we think NHL content and live games will help us significantly.”
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ESPN is expected to deliver 75 national matches each season, streaming only on ESPN + and Hulu. The NHL TV package – which has more than 1,000 games off the market – will move to ESPN + and be part of the base package.
In addition to the exclusive games, ESPN + also hosts 1100 out-of-market games that were previously on NHL.TV.
Bettman said the new agreement with ESPN gives the NHL the best of both worlds – a strong linear package and a forward-thinking digital strategy.
‘This agreement reflects the reality of what the media world looks like right now. Everyone knows that the cutting and streaming platforms are growing dramatically. It’s an opportunity for our younger fans to give them what they want in the places they go to content, ‘Bettman said.
Yet Bettman is not done with “shopping” yet. The NHL has another three years of Stanley Cup finals to sell, as well as a second package of games. According to the New York Post, Fox Sports and NBC Sports, owned by Fox Corp, and NBC Sports are running for these games.
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