NHL, Rogers announce landmark 12-year deal
The National Hockey League announced a landmark 12-year deal with Rogers Communications for broadcast and multimedia rights, the longest in league history and reportedly worth $5.2 billion Canadian.
Rogers will have all of the national NHL rights in Canada on all platforms and in all languages from the 2014-15 season through 2025-26, with TSN no longer carrying national NHL rights following the conclusion of this season.
"It's a game-changer for hockey broadcasting in Canada," said Rogers President & CEO Nadir Mohamed. "We're proud to bring more games, more content and more in-depth coverage. We've been looking to build on our sports portfolio for some time and have now substantially built our Sportsnet brand."
According to the Globe & Mail, Rogers will make annual payments of $300 million Canadian to the NHL, which increase incrementally until reaching $500 million Canadian in the final year of the deal.
Rogers also announced a sublicensing deal in which CBC will continue to air nationally-televised regular season games on Saturday night and playoff games, and that "Hockey Night in Canada" will continue on CBC and be used across all Rogers channels and platforms on Saturday nights. However, CBC will no longer have an exclusive lock on Saturday nights, with additional games available to be aired.
The level of financial committment Rogers made to the NHL prevented CBC from making a run at a national licensing package.
"The NHL set very high standards, and very high financial expectations, in these negotiations," CBC President & CEO Hubert Lacroix said, per the Sports Business Daily. "While we thought we brought something very special to broadcasting, CBC was not, candidly, in position to spend taxpayers' money in this game of high stakes."
A separate multi-year deal with TVA Sports includes exclusive French-language multiplatform rights for national NHL games.
For TSN, Monday's announcement means it will lose 70 regular-season games and playoff broadcasts, although it does have a regional deal with the Winnipeg Jets.
"A little biased, but I'm stunned the NHL not only cut out an NHL owner on TV rights, but also the best hockey broadcaster on the planet," The Montreal Gazette's Dave Stubbs wrote on his Twitter feed.
The NHL said the Rogers agreement will end regionalization of national games and prevent local blackouts.
"Sports content is a key strategic asset and we've been investing significantly to strengthen our sports offering to Canadians," said Mohamed.
"Canadians are passionate about hockey, and through this landmark partnership with the NHL we'll be able to bring hockey fans more games and more content on their platform of choice."
As part of the deal Rogers plans to provide multiple game coverage on up to nine TV channels plus digital and radio on any given night. The agreement also calls for Rogers to operate NHL Centre Ice and NHL Game Centre Live, sponsorship rights to the NHL shield and Canadian representation of ad sales for NHL.com.
"Our fans always want to explore deeper and more emotional connections to NHL hockey, and that is precisely what Rogers has promised to deliver over the next 12 years - channeling the reach of its platforms and the intensity of its passion for the game into an unparalleled viewing experience," said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. "The NHL is extremely excited about the power and potential of this groundbreaking partnership."
The agreement is subject to approval by the NHL Board of Governors at a meeting in Pebble Beach from Dec. 9-10.
