Amazon’s Prime Video in Canada has struck a deal to become the exclusive home on Monday nights for National Hockey League games as the entertainment industry’s sports arms race crosses the U.S.-Canadian border.Terms of the two-year deal were not disclosed, but the U.S.-based streamer reached the deal with the NHL and Rogers Communications, the longtime rights holder to league games in Canada. Prime Monday Night Hockey will stream all national regular season Monday night NHL games for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 NHL seasons exclusively for Prime members north of the border.Rogers Communications first signed a 12-year agreement with the NHL to carry league games in late 2013. And at the beginning of the 2023/24 hockey season, Rogers’ Sportsnet sports channel launched on Prime Video Channels in Canada. But after years of cord-cutting and as Canadians increasingly opt for streaming platforms to watch TV, over traditional linear TV channels, the NHL has made the leap to Prime Video in Canada.Live TV sports was the glue holding together the Canadian cable bundle is proving far less strong as it once was. “Today’s content ecosystem is evolving, and we’re really pleased to work with Amazon to continue to grow the game and help hockey fans watch games when and where they want,” Colette Watson, president of Rogers Sports & Media, the media arm of cable and telecom giant Rogers Communications, said in a statement.In the U.S., NHL games already stream on the Max online platform as the relationship of live sports and streaming video continues to grow.Magda Grace, head of Prime Video in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, added in her own statement: “We’re thrilled to be offering Prime Monday Night Hockey as part of our one-stop entertainment destination, which includes add-on channels like Sportsnet for even more hockey and sports content, the latest movies to rent or buy, popular and award-winning Amazon originals to stream with Prime, and so much more.”Prime Video in Canada, where the NHL represents popular TV viewing, has already launched Amazon original series like Saving Sakic, All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs and Chosen One: Alexandre Daigle on its service.
© 2024 The Hollywood Reporter.