GKJ
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NHL and Rogers in agreement on new 12 year, $11 billion CAD Canadian TV deal
- Thread starter MMC
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From the Rogers/NHL statement on the deal:
www.nhl.com
NHL, Rogers announce 12-year national rights media deal | NHL.com
TORONTO, ON – Rogers Communications and the National Hockey League (NHL) today announced a 12-year agreement for the national media rights to NHL games on all platforms in Canada through the 2037-38 season. The $11 billion CDN agreement starts in 2026-27 following the conclusion of the current...
www.nhl.com
It's possible that the deal was reached in the exclusive window but finalizing it and getting everything written up and and approved be the lawyers on both sides may have taken awhile.
Wouldn't a clause like the exclusive negotiating window (or perhaps contract law in general) require the NHL to bargain in good faith?
LadyStanley
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Golden_Jet
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Masked
(Super/star)
French language / an exclusive night could be the next shoe to drop. I wonder if Bell is interested in exclusive French rights, which would make them the only home to the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators, plus some left over hockey, ideally featuring American teams on the west coast.
Golden_Jet
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Well doesn’t seem to be quite wrong, as press release says,
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.
It’s exactly as he described it, except this is described as a subset vs on top of, or needs to still be negotiated as he said.
So we’ll see how it plays out, over the next while.
Chileiceman
Registered User
What’s at Stake in the NHL: Playoff clinch night for Leafs and Hurricanes?
Plus: Ovechkin in action again, four goals away from breaking Gretzky’s career record.
www.dailyfaceoff.com
Some interesting tidbits there. On the one hand it says Rogers could turn up to 10 regional games per team (Oilers, Canucks, Flames and half of Leafs regional games) on their Sportsnet channels into national gams, and then it says they might have the chance to turn every of those regional games into national games.
Sounds like Rogers would be the ones to sublicense the extra national window instead of the NHL selling it off. The way the executive is quoted it sounds like it's almost certainly going to be Amazon.
Golden_Jet
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Those Canadian teams listed, have Sportsnet as their regional provider as well.What’s at Stake in the NHL: Playoff clinch night for Leafs and Hurricanes?
Plus: Ovechkin in action again, four goals away from breaking Gretzky’s career record.
Some interesting tidbits there. On the one hand it says Rogers could turn up to 10 regional games per team (Oilers, Canucks, Flames and half of Leafs regional games) on their Sportsnet channels into national gams, and then it says they might have the chance to turn every of those regional games into national games.
Sounds like Rogers would be the ones to sublicense the extra national window instead of the NHL selling it off. The way the executive is quoted it sounds like it's almost certainly going to be Amazon.
So no one loses any money.
The other teams have TSN as their regional provider, so they aren’t listed, as they couldn’t make them national games.
A couple of things:
1) when have you ever seen a sports media rights deal for any league be lower than the one its replacing? NBA ratings are down and look at how big the deal the league is getting to replace to the old one
2) If you're only going to measure the media rights fees vs the ad revenue from the telecasts then you're not going to show a profit. However, you can't accurately measure the secondary impact and spillover from having the broadcast rights. Like how many people wouldn't pay for the sports tier on their cable packages if you didn't have it or how many people watch other broadcasts on your network as a result of seeing a promo during a hockey broadcast. Like go back 30+ years and look at what getting the NFL did for the Fox Network. Before that all they had was the Simpsons and Married with Children. If they hadn't gotten the NFL they might have wound up like UPN or CW etc.
Look what happened to NBC after they lost the NFL. Once the established sitcom Thursday night shows ended their runs the network slid into oblivion.
GKJ
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Apparently the deal also gives Sportsnet 10 more national games a year for the Sens and Jets.
voyageur
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It will be interesting to see how Rogers deals with Bell. Shutting them out of Ontario (minus the Ottawa Valley) with both the Raptors and Leafs in their control is a significant hit for the network.
Bell is still a shareholder in the Canadiens, but is Quebec/Ottawa/Maritimes a large enough market to sustain cable sports?
How many subscribers outside of these markets do they get?
The earlier rumours of Bell getting out of cable sports and investing in fiber optics seem to be more real than ever. Especially if they get shut out of French hockey rights on a national basis.
Maybe both the NHL and Rogers get money from the sub-licensing deals. For example, Rogers might get 70% of what the sub-licensee pays while the NHL gets 30%.What’s at Stake in the NHL: Playoff clinch night for Leafs and Hurricanes?
Plus: Ovechkin in action again, four goals away from breaking Gretzky’s career record.
Some interesting tidbits there. On the one hand it says Rogers could turn up to 10 regional games per team (Oilers, Canucks, Flames and half of Leafs regional games) on their Sportsnet channels into national gams, and then it says they might have the chance to turn every of those regional games into national games.
Sounds like Rogers would be the ones to sublicense the extra national window instead of the NHL selling it off. The way the executive is quoted it sounds like it's almost certainly going to be Amazon.
Pompeius Magnus
Registered User
I'm more worried about Rogers staying in the cable business at this point. There's no way they'll be coming anywhere close to breaking even on that deal. It's going to be a massive money loser, even if they somehow find a way to boost the ratings and sell more sponsorship than they already do. I don't get that business model at all.
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My understanding is that as part of selling their share of MLSE, Bell keeps their share of Leafs and Raptors regional rights for 20 years.
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voyageur
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Exclusively owning the Leafs now, I expect them to show the Leafs nationally more than ever. Eventually it will be the Leafs with Mc David.
They can sell some of that investment to Amazon or whoever they want. To divest.
Sportsnet was absolutely nothing before the NHL. I don't see how TSN survives. CFL is small potatoes, NFL/golf is that enough? World Juniors is 2 weeks. NHL playoffs were bringing in up to 4 million viewers.
voyageur
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Pompeius Magnus
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It's still nowhere near 11+B worth of revenue generating, unless they find a whole bunch of new ways to make money with hockey. Time will tell I guess, but I just don't see it.
12 years ago, PKP was betting that the Habs would have several long runs in the playoffs but they only got 1 (2021). Now, the future looks good for Montreal.
Sportsnet avoids negative coverage of the NHL, but TSN would stir the pot (concussions, for example)
I can see RDS getting the national French rights if Bell is willing to pay for exclusive Habs coverage. I expect CBC will continue to air Sportsnet produced games.
I think we are headed to a 36 team league and possibly 2 more teams in Canada ( Toronto II and Quebec ) along with Houston and Atlanta.
I don't think the Rogers deal with the NHL hurts TSN's long term viability though. Local NHL Rights, International hockey, the CFL, and Monday Night football are likely enough for people to want to buy TSN subscriptions. At the end of the day profitability is a important metric than revenue and it wouldn't surprise me if 10 years from now, TSN is more profitable.
