The National Hockey League has renewed its broadcast rights deal for hockey in Canada with Rogers Communications for another 12 years as part of an CAN$11 billion (US$7.7 billion) agreement.In 2013, Rogers signed an initial landmark $4.94 billion deal to secure the exclusive English-language rights to TV hockey on all platforms for 12 years. In the latest deal unveiled on Wednesday, Rogers unveiled a second 12-year agreement for the national media rights to NHL games on all platforms in Canada, this time to run to the 2037-38 season. The latest agreement will start in 2026-27 after the current 12-year deal ends.“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,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement about the agreement that has Rogers continuing to bring live hockey games to Canadians.Rogers had an exclusive negotiating period with the NHL ahead of its current deal with the NHL expiring in two years. The extended deal includes all national TV, digital and streaming rights for all regular season games and all playoff Stanley Cup Final games.The agreement also covers all special NHL events programming and out-of-market rights for all regional games. As with the first deal, Rogers will be able to sub-license live game rights to offset the steep costs of the NHL agreement.A potential partner could be Amazon, which in Oct. 2024 started streaming NHL games in Canada on Prime Video ahead of the current NHL broadcast rights with Rogers expiring in 2026. The new extension deal resembles the current media rights agreement in seeing annual costs to Rogers escalate through to the final year of the contract term.The Canadian media rights deal also sees a major American sports league continue to give all national rights in one country to one broadcaster for a prolonged period. With NHL games a big draw in hockey-mad Canada, both for primetime audiences and advertisers, Rogers will continue to drive live hockey games to Sportsnet, its cable and digital sports channel, which competes domestically with TSN, a division of rival Bell Media.“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,” Tony Staffieri, President and CEO at Rogers, said in his own statement.
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