ESPN signs 7 year deal with the NHL

[Kane One]

If there’s no blackouts, I can kiss my cable goodbye.

edit - sounds like there’s still blackouts

 

[John Price]

 

[ouendan1]

my main concern is nhl.tv moving to ESPN+

is my subscription to nhl.tv going to carry over to espn/hulu? or am I going to have to start paying monthly for that, which I suspect would be more costly.

Also shoutouts to my first post in probably 5 or 6 years.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

There's my answer!

 

[The Lukeman]

From a viewer’s standpoint that isn’t a good deal. Have to wait for what the other side of the rights deals look like, but only 25 games on traditional tv isn’t a lot. Even for only being part of the packages

In comparison, NBC gets about 100-110 games on NBC and NBCSN (Only about 15% of that is on NBC). Sounds like the deal is about ~300 million per season for ESPN/ABC.

The real money in this deal is the playoffs and streaming. NHL will play on ESPN and ABC for 50% of conference finals games, and 4 of the next 7 Stanley cup finals will be ESPN/ABC.

ESPN+ will be growing from about ~200 NHL games streamed to 1,100+ out of the 1132 games. Sounds like its basically confirmed ESPN+ will be the new NHL tv. ESPN+/Hulu will exclusively stream 75 games (will they produce it themselves? Or nationally stream a local broadcast?)

Expect the other partner to carry the other portion of regular season games on national TV, + rounds 1 and 2 (Not too sure if ESPN will showcase any), 1 Conference finals, and 3 of the next 7 stanley cup finals. Whether its Fox or NBC, Looks like they will be expected to host around 75+ regular season games (if we stay status quo). Thinking Fox is going to push hard and give us a big plate of games to watch on FS1 and Fox national tv.

Curious to see who gets Winter classic and outdoor games. Also, when will we get the Ovechkin commercial of "HULU HAS LIVE SPORTS"

 

[IU Hawks fan]

my main concern is nhl.tv moving to ESPN+

is my subscription to nhl.tv going to carry over to espn/hulu? or am I going to have to start paying monthly for that, which I suspect would be more costly.

Also shoutouts to my first post in probably 5 or 6 years.

ESPN+ is I think $6.99/month on its own, it will be much cheaper than NHL.TV.

 

[Spydey629]

From a viewer’s standpoint that isn’t a good deal. Have to wait for what the other side of the rights deals look like, but only 25 games on traditional tv isn’t a lot. Even for only being part of the packages

Looks like a Game of the Week setup. I’m guessing Sunday nights on ESPN and Wednesday Night Hockey moves to USA.

Personally, getting the Disney Bundle from Verizon is looking like a good decision.

 

[GKJ]

That's my big wonder, too. 1100 games is 157/season, which is basically their current 'Game of the Night'. Currently, you still get those games on NHL.TV, as Disney has the rights to it anyway.

Is Disney going to retain NHL.TV and the whole digital arm? Is the league planning to go back to selling NHL.TV on their own?

If, say, Amazon bought the rest of it would you need both packages to get every market game?

___
EDIT: Or did I completely misread it, and 1,100 is annually, meaning NHL.TV is moving to ESPN+ (what I've longed hoped for)!?!?!?!

I’m looking at everything annually unless it says so. ESPN+ already carries a lot of games.

 

[The Lukeman]

In comparison, NBC gets about 100-110 games on NBC and NBCSN (Only about 15% of that is on NBC). Sounds like the deal is about ~300 million per season for ESPN/ABC.

The real money in this deal is the playoffs and streaming. NHL will play on ESPN and ABC for 50% of conference finals games, and 4 of the next 7 Stanley cup finals will be ESPN/ABC.

ESPN+ will be growing from about ~200 NHL games streamed to 1,100+ out of the 1132 games. Sounds like its basically confirmed ESPN+ will be the new NHL tv. ESPN+/Hulu will exclusively stream 75 games (will they produce it themselves? Or nationally stream a local broadcast?)

Expect the other partner to carry the other portion of regular season games on national TV, + rounds 1 and 2 (Not too sure if ESPN will showcase any), 1 Conference finals, and 3 of the next 7 stanley cup finals. Whether its Fox or NBC, Looks like they will be expected to host around 75+ regular season games (if we stay status quo). Thinking Fox is going to push hard and give us a big plate of games to watch on FS1 and Fox national tv.

Curious to see who gets Winter classic and outdoor games. Also, when will we get the Ovechkin commercial of "HULU HAS LIVE SPORTS"

Looks like more details make it more clear. ESPN/ABC will get 50% of all 1st and 2nd round games. ESPN+/Hulu will be producing their own 75+ games per season. ESPN+ has 12 million subscribers. Hockey just became one of the most accessible sports to watch anywhere.

 

[jkrdevil]

ESPN+ is I think $6.99/month on its own, it will be much cheaper than NHL.TV.

I think the price is set to go up.

The exclusive games on the streaming platforms are not going to go over well. When it finally comes to one of those games there are going to be loud complaints. Also have to imagine the team sponsors are not going to like the decreased exposure.

 

[John Price]

ESPN+ is not staying 7 dollars a month they are going to jack that bad boy up

 

[LadyStanley]

Not having NHLtv blackouts of the games on Disney owned property could happen, though I’d be surprised. That’s only a possible thought because Disney already runs NHLtv.

Only because they bought MLBam

ABC gets a raw deal when it comes to sports. If it were up to ESPN, the NBA Finals would be exclusively on ESPN.

Unclear. Full details suspected, not known.
(IOW, don't panic, yet.)

The NHL should put the entire Cup Finals on broadcast television.

It's about time they fall in line with the other major sports leagues and have their final round exclusively OTA.

There's a reason ESPN isn't part of the Super Bowl rotation despite paying more to air the NFL than CBS, Fox or NBC.

Define "broadcast" TV. OTA? Digital OTA? Cable (only)? Satellite (only)? 4k? 8k? Streaming?

I want Gary Thorne to come back and call one last season. However, I imagine he would just call a few regular season games and stick to the east coast. I can’t imagine Gary travelling to LA or Edmonton to call a regular season game. Steve levy is fine

And I don't. I'm a fan of Pacific Division team and I CRINGED every time Thorne mispronounced a player's name. (Team has always been diverse with players from around the world. IOW, lots of pronunciation guides needed.) I sometimes could not understand what was happening in the game (pre HD) because the name pronunciations were incorrect and/or changing throughout the broadcast. (He was one reason I learned to sync radio and PVR.)

Are you looking for grey hair to promote gravitas? Or do you need to promote someone with 1-2 decades of PXP experience to be the next exciting national voice?

Will broadcasters be unique to one source (IOW ESPN vs whoever else), or might they be "hired" by the NHL and call games anywhere?

Will regional/team broadcasters be utilized on national broadcasts?



Lots of unanswered questions.

 

[46zone]

The ESPN agreement details doesn't mention the Winter Classic, which makes sense given their commitment to the College Football Playoffs. I'd imagine that would be apart of the NBC/FOX package. My gut tells me that it's going to be FOX getting the other half of the package.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

I think the price is set to go up.

The exclusive games on the streaming platforms are not going to go over well. When it finally comes to one of those games there are going to be loud complaints. Also have to imagine the team sponsors are not going to like the decreased exposure.

The Disney Bundle just went up $1 last week to $13.99, I'd have to they knew this was coming and that was factor into it.

 

[S E P H]

25 regular season games? Like wtf?

 

[46zone]

25 regular season games? Like wtf?

Plus half the playoffs and the SCFs every other season, along with All-Star weekend. I'd imagine that whoever gets the other package, whether it be NBC or FOX, you'll see them broadcast at least another 25 exclusive games.

 

[Spydey629]

25 regular season games? Like wtf?

That’s only half of the package. The other side is most likely going to have their own exclusive night, too.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Looks like a Game of the Week setup. I’m guessing Sunday nights on ESPN and Wednesday Night Hockey moves to USA.

Personally, getting the Disney Bundle from Verizon is looking like a good decision.

doubtful, NBC Universal is out from what it sounds like.

 

[S E P H]

Plus half the playoffs and the SCFs every other season, along with All-Star weekend. I'd imagine that whoever gets the other package, whether it be NBC or FOX, you'll see them broadcast at least another 25 exclusive games.

NBCSN and NBC already show like 70+ games a season though.

 

[Spydey629]

doubtful, NBC Universal is out from what it sounds like.

Then Thursdays on Fox or FS1. We’ll know soon enough.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Then Thursdays on Fox or FS1. We’ll know soon enough.

FS2 is also out there.... depends on how many contracts Fox wants to use throughout its network....

 

[eddygee]

25 regular season games? Like wtf?

Yeah I was expecting alot more, but looks likes ESPN is placing emphasis on the Playoffs and using the regular season games to help continue their bulk up of their streaming service. So it looks like the the next partner will pay $200-300m if ESPN is paying $300-400m yr with the bigger package.

 

[Ratatoskr]

I wonder what this means for us European nhl.tv subscribers. I don't think ESPN+ is available over here.

 

[NYRFAN218]

Yeah I was expecting alot more, but looks likes ESPN is placing emphasis on the Playoffs and using the regular season games to help continue their bulk up of their streaming service. So it looks like the the next partner will pay $200-300m if ESPN is paying $300-400m yr with the bigger package.

Yeah, that’s basically what it is. The NHL isn’t the draw the NBA and NFL is where they need to carry as many games as possible to justify their subscription charges to cable carriers. They’ll take the premium games on the main networks and put the rest behind the paywall to bolster that.

At first glance, it seems like it sucks for fans but if you’re into the NHL big time I think it’s awesome. You still get 25 games on national TV and probably more when factoring in the other TV package, you get the ESPN exposure now which is big for the sport, and you just went from paying $150 for NHL.TV to $10 a month or whatever it costs during the season or in some cases completely free (I get the Disney bundle with my Verizon subscription).

I just wonder how it affects the older population who may not be as tech savvy with streaming services in regards to national games exclusively on ESPN+.

 

[46zone]

NBCSN and NBC already show like 70+ games a season though.

Many games on NBCSN are non-exclusive games, usually on Monday & Tuesday nights. The 25 games being carried by ESPN/ABC are exclusive games. I'd imagine the other package will include another chunk of exclusive games and perhaps some non-exclusive games. A lot of those non-exclusive games on NBCSN are pretty low rated, so I wonder how much interest there is in having them? NBCSN needed them for content, but ESPN doesn't. I suspect FOX may, given they broadcast some non-exclusive MLB games.