SVG Sit-Down: NHL's Steve Mayer on Building a Centralized Production Operation From Scratch

With an emphasis on local, the league is looking beyond the initial four teams to the rest of the league, even other sports

When the RSN business model started collapsing, the assumption was that local hockey broadcasts would get smaller. The NHL is betting the opposite. This week, the league and its in-house media/content arm, NHL Productions, announced the launch of a centralized-production model for club local broadcasts. The new outfit will supply comprehensive production services: studio and show programming, game production, graphics and replay capabilities, and technical and engineering support.

Starting with the 2026-27 NHL regular season, NHL Productions will provide centralized production services for the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, and St. Louis Blues. Additional clubs are expected to come aboard in the coming weeks. The move follows closure of the Main Street Sports Group-operated FanDuel Sports Network RSNs that previously carried their games.

Overseeing the buildout is NHL President, Content and Events, Steve Mayer, who has spent years contingency-planning for this type of scenario. SVG sat down with the 10-year league veteran to talk staffing buildout, headlined by former MLB Network President Rob McGlarry; the plans for an East Coast production hub and from-scratch graphics and music package; the added cameras and resources meant to push these productions past their pre-cutback peak; deeper integration of NHL Edge data, and the longer-term plan to build NHL Productions into a live-production powerhouse.

NHL's Steve Mayer: We believe we're also building something that could be useful when other organizations are looking for someone to produce their live events. We think it could be a real revenue-generator. Let's start with the basics. The league knew it needed a solution for teams coming off the shutdown of Main Street Sports. What were the key steps that led to launching this centralized production system?

As everyone is well aware by now, we've been contemplating and preparing a plan for years in terms of what to do and how to serve our teams. We first prepared for a stopgap situation, and we did that successfully in Arizona, where we had to come in and produce the games for [the Coyotes and Scripps Sports in 2023].

It became obvious toward the end of last season that it was just going to be a matter of time [before Main Street Sports shut down], so we started talking to the individual teams that were going to be affected. We also knew it could be anywhere from two teams to six teams to start out. Thankfully, because of all that preparation, we already had a rough blueprint and a basic idea of what we would need to do. We knew we could be the solution, so we made our pitch, and one by one, these four teams have come on board. We expect a couple more to join as well.

What have you had to do - and what will you be doing in the coming months - to provide the capabilities for this? Are you building new studio facilities, leveraging the space NHL Network uses at MLB Network's broadcast center, or approaching it region by region?

We're taking a walk-before-we-run approach. Right now, we're putting people and facilities in position to take over production for the upcoming season. For the four teams we've announced, we're working directly with them to make sure they have everything they need.

What about staffing?

At the league level, we've added to what was already a very healthy NHL Productions team of more than 75 people. Most notably, we're bringing in Rob McGlarry, who at one point oversaw NHL Network [in his role] as president of MLB Network. He's going to run the business side of this effort. We are also in the process of hiring an executive producer to handle the day-to-day production side and work with the teams on storylines and the overall look and feel of their broadcasts. That will be announced very soon. And we're going to bring on additional people: coordinating producers, production assistants, and a team of producer-editors that will be building out daily teases, bumpers, and sponsored items - with everything originating from a production hub in New York.

In each market, we're hiring local, on-the-ground producers and directors as well as local crews wherever possible, with help from PPI [Program Productions Inc.]. Mobile TV Group is going to work with us on trucks and equipment, and they obviously know this side of the business better than anyone.

In terms of the [on-air] faces, I would say 90% of the personnel who worked on each team's broadcasts last year are coming back.

Will these teams' broadcasts all have a similar design, or will each be different?

We are already in the process of developing a graphics package and theme music from scratch that will [serve] all the teams that are joining. We want these teams to have a consistent look and feel - from graphics to music to the way we're cutting pieces - while also maintaining their own identities and brands. The integration of technology is also going to be key, especially our NHL Edge puck- and player-tracking system.

What can viewers expect in terms of studio shows?

Pregame, postgame, and intermission [shows] will primarily originate from site [at the teams' arenas], with direction from us. Eventually, we're going to build a studio operation that will serve as the league's hub, and, from there, we'll go out to the various sites.

We'll have a pregame show that covers the full NHL while keeping the focus on that market's team. We're trying to grow the game and expand it beyond an exclusively local experience. We understand a Minnesota Wild fan wants to watch Minnesota Wild hockey, but we feel we can give them a lot more information and highlights from other teams so

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/07/31/svg-sit-down-nhls-steve-mayer-o...
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