Hockey back at the cool kids' table with return to ESPN
ESPN's "SportsCenter" set showcases the NHL logo on Oct. 7, 2015. Credit: ESPN Images/Nick Caito
NBC has spent a decade-and-a-half as the NHL’s dutiful dating partner, always showing up on time, polite and neatly dressed, making Mom and Dad comfortable before evenings out that did not end too late.
And yet, many in and around hockey never could quit the flashier, sexier, more distracted option always lurking at the cool kids’ table.
They pined for a lost era before a messy breakup with "SportsCenter," when it took less than Mathew Barzal scoring from between his legs to make the nightly highlights.
Now, after all these years, ESPN is back in hockey’s life in a big way, with a new seven-year contract that will return the sport to the Worldwide Leader for the first time since Alexis Lafreniere was 2 years old.
The deal, announced on Wednesday, includes four Stanley Cup Finals between 2022 and 2028 – with all Finals games on ABC – a conference final every year and 25 exclusive regular-season games on ABC or ESPN.
But the biggest news is the heavy emphasis on ESPN+, a fast-growing streaming service.
ESPN will produce 75 regular-season games each year exclusively for ESPN+ and Hulu, and it will carry an out-of-market package of more than 1,000 games that will replace the old NHL.TV service.
"Streaming really is at the heart of this deal, and this is a reflection of its critical role as part of our future," ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro said on a joint video news conference with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
The NHL had an existing deal with ESPN+, but this greatly expands it. "If you’re a hockey fan, we believe this is now a must-have package," Pitaro said.
Pitaro said the network is not ready to name announcers. But some of ESPN’s longtime advocates for the sport, including Long Islanders Steve Levy and Linda Cohn, plus John Buccigross, presumably will be part of it.
Bettman said the digital-heavy deal puts the NHL "on the cutting edge of content distribution" as cord-cutting from cable packages continues to reshape the landscape.
But he also was honest about the value of ESPN’s promotional power, which Pitaro said will include more studio programming and other goodies for fans.
"My guess is it’s only human nature there would have been more attention on the properties they had rights to than on us," Bettman said of the ESPN’s prior interest in hockey – or lack thereof.
Bettman praised NBC, which has carried hockey since 2005-06 and has done right by the sport. That became even more true when it consolidated broadcast and cable rights and made the NHL a showcase for its NBCSN cable arm.
But NBC plans to phase out NBCSN later this year, and if it does retain hockey the sport is expected to move to another of the company’s cable outlets, USA Network, and perhaps its Peacock streaming service.
Bettman said the NHL now will engage potential partners for the other part of its media rights – and the other three Finals.
NBC has been paying about $200 million per year for the NHL, a number that will be dwarfed by its new deals.
It all makes sense. The NHL works well as a hybrid product that is big enough to justify an occasional national broadcast television presence and small enough to work well as a gateway to signing up streaming subscribers.
What does all this mean for the local teams? Status quo, probably. ESPN will overexpose the Rangers and other strong national brands, and it will underexpose the ratings-challenged Islanders.
But that’s OK. What matters for NHL fans is that even if ESPN’s eyes forever wander to shinier subjects such as LeBron James interviews, NFL quarterback contracts and Nick Saban rants, hockey is back on its dance card.
Don’t stay out too late, kids!
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
