NHL Inks 12-year, $7.7B Deal With Rogers Communications to Tie Up Media Rights in Canada Through 2038

NHL Inks 12-year, $7.7B Deal With Rogers Communications to Tie Up Media Rights in Canada Through 2038 By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.

Wednesday, April 2, 2025 - 10:33 am

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In a move that solidifies the NHL's national media rights through 2038, the league has agreed to a 12-year, $7.7 billion USD deal with Rogers Communications. The agreement starts in 2026-27 following the conclusion of the current landmark 12-year deal and runs through the 2037-38 season, extending the strategic partnership to over two decades.

The NHL has been a terrific partner for over a decade, and we're proud to continue our partnership and bring more great fan experiences and best-in-class broadcasts to Canadians, says Tony Staffieri, President and CEO, Rogers. Hockey is Canada's game and we're proud to be the home of hockey. Sports are core to our company, and these rights are the most valuable sports rights in Canada.

For more than a decade, Rogers has done an incredible job of conveying what NHL hockey, our players and our teams mean to hockey fans and their communities from coast to coast to coast, says NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. We're thrilled to continue our landmark partnership for an additional 12 years. The NHL and Rogers have a shared commitment to best serving Canadian fans and the unmatched passion that they have for our game, and we are particularly excited that through this agreement, we'll bring more live games to more fans across Canada.

The deal includes more live national games than ever before and fewer regional blackouts. Under terms of the agreement, Rogers' NHL rights portfolio will include all national regular season games (in all languages) across all platforms, including TV, digital, and streaming, as well as national rights to all playoff games, the Stanley Cup Final, and all special events, and tentpole events (also in all languages). The deal also includes out-of-market rights for all regional games.

The agreement allows for the possibility of strategic sub-licensing for a subset of these rights, including national French-language and a single-night exclusive national package. Rogers currently sublicenses a package of Monday night games to Amazon Prime Video.

The deal, which also includes an exclusive category sponsor for the NHL and all NHL tentpole events held in Canada, more than doubles the league's 12-year, $5.2 billion CAD deal inked in November 2013. In the U.S., the NHL is in the midst of seven-year deals with ESPN and Turner Sports that began in 2021 and are worth a combined $4.5 billion USD. The financial terms are comprised of escalating annual payments that will total $11 billion CDN (roughly $7.7 billion USD) paid to the NHL over the 12-year term.

Hockey is part of the fabric of Canadian culture and our long-term relationship with the NHL helped make Sportsnet Canada's #1 sports media brand, says Colette Watson, President, Rogers Sports & Media. Canadians overwhelmingly choose Sportsnet, and we are investing in this partnership, so fans have access to more games, more content and more choice from their favorite teams across the league.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/04/02/nhl-inks-12-year-7-7-billion-us...
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