Various NHL arenas(game telecasts and some pregame, intermission segments, and occasional postgame) ESPN'sBristol, CT studios(pregame, intermission segments, and occasional postgame)
TheNHL on ABC is an American presentation ofNational Hockey League (NHL) games produced byESPN, and televised onABC in the United States.
ABC first broadcast NHL games during the1993 Stanley Cup playoffs on April 18, 1993, under a two-yeartime-buy agreement with ESPN. After two years, the NHL left ABC for newcomerFox, while remaining with ESPN.
As part of a joint contract with ESPN, which was reached right before the1998–99 season, the NHL returned to ABC on February 6, 2000, with their coverage of the2000 NHL All-Star Game inToronto. Regular season game telecasts returned to ABC on March 18,2000. ABC also gained the rights to select weekend games from each round of theStanley Cup playoffs and the last five games of theStanley Cup Finals, including any if-needed ones.[1] After the2004 Stanley Cup Finals, the NHL left ABC again, this time forNBC becauseDisney executives admitted that they overpaid for the 1999–2004 deal. ESPN, who was set to continue with the NHL, later dropped it from their schedules after the2004–05 lockout.
On March 10, 2021, ESPN announced a new contract to hold half of the NHL's media rights beginning in the2021–22 season. In this deal, ABC will broadcast up to 10 regular season games per season, primarily late-season games of the week (branded as ABC Hockey Saturday presented byHotels.com (formerlyExpedia) for sponsorship purposes), and the All-Star Game. ABC exclusively televises the Stanley Cup Finals in even-numbered years. All games carried by ABC are streamed onESPN+ and, since 2025,Disney+.
Like other U.S. national NHL broadcasts, games may be available in Canada onSportsnet or streamed onSportsnet+ as part of a 12-year agreement with the NHL that lasts to the end of the 2025–26 season (it was later extended another 12 years to 2037–38 season),[2] subject to blackout restrictions.
Games typically aired on Monday nights[12] (beginning at 8 p.m.Eastern Time) or Saturday afternoons. The package was offered to local stations without a rights fee.[13] Profits would instead be derived from the advertising, which was about evenly split between the network and the local station. The Monday night games were often billed as "The NHL Game of the Week."[14]
Initially, the Monday night package was marketed toABC affiliates; the idea being that ABC carriedNFL football games on Monday nights in the fall and (starting in May1976)Major League Baseball games on Monday nights in the spring and summer, stations would want the hockey telecasts to create a year-round Monday night sports block, rather than taking a night of programming that struggled to establish itself with traditional programming outside of football season. In practice, only a few ABC stations chose to pick up the NHL package.
Four years later, at the1980 Winter Olympics inLake Placid, ABC was on hand for a medal-round men'sice hockey game that would soon become known the "Miracle on Ice." On February 22, 1980, theUnited States team, made up ofamateur andcollegiate players and led by coachHerb Brooks, defeated the heavily-favoredSoviet team, which consisted of veteran professional players with significant experience in international play. The rest of the United States (except those who watched the game live on Canadian television) had to wait to see the game, as ABC decided to broadcast the late-afternoon game on tape delay in prime time.[19] SportscasterAl Michaels, who was calling the game on ABC along with formerMontreal Canadiens goalieKen Dryden, picked up on the countdown in his broadcast and delivered his famous call:[20][21]
Eleven seconds, you've got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now!Morrow, up toSilk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? YES!
Al Michaels continued serving as ABC's lead play-by-play announcer for their ice hockey coverage for their next two Winter Olympics, both with lead color commentator Ken Dryden. For their coverage of theice hockey events at the1984 Winter Olympics inSarajevo,Mike Eruzione (thecaptain of the gold medal-winning United States ice hockey team from 1980) worked withDon Chevrier.Four years later, for ABC's final Winter Olympics, Eruzione was this time paired withJiggs McDonald.
In 1989,[22] the NHL signed a two-year contract (lasting through the1990–91 season) withABC Radio for the broadcast rights to the All-Star Game and Stanley Cup Finals.[23][24] ABC Radio namedDon Chevrier andPhil Esposito as their main commentating crew.[25][26][27]
The logo for ABC's regular season coverage in the1993–94 season.
In the1992–93 season, ABC televised five weekly playoff telecasts[28][29][30] (the first three weeks were regional coverage of various games and two national games)[31][32] on Sunday afternoons starting on April 18 and ending on May 16.[33][34][35] This marked the first time that playoff National Hockey League games were broadcast on American network television[36][37] since1975 (whenNBC was the NHL's American broadcast television partner[38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46]).
In the1993–94 season, ABC televised six[30] weekly regional telecasts[31][32] on the last three Sunday afternoons beginning on March 27, 1994, marking the first time that regular season National Hockey League games were broadcast on American network television[37] since NBC did it in1974–75.[47][48][49] This marked the first time that regular season National Hockey League games were broadcast on American network television[37] since1974–75 (again when NBC was the NHL's American broadcast television partner). ABC then televised three weeks worth of playoff games on first three Sundays[50][46] – the final game was Game 1 of theEastern Conference Semifinals between theBoston Bruins and theNew Jersey Devils, a game that was aired nationally. The network did not televise theStanley Cup Finals, which instead, were televised nationally byESPN and byPrime Ticket inLos Angeles (1993) andMSG Network inNew York (1994). Games televised on ABC were not subject toblackout.
These broadcasts (just as was the case with the2000–2004 package) were essentially,time-buys[51] by ESPN.[52][53] In other words, ABC would sell three-hour blocks of airtime to ESPN,[54] who in return, would produce and distribute the telecasts.[37] Overall, ABC averaged a 1.7rating for those two seasons.[55][56][57]
When the NHL television contract went up for negotiation in early 1994,Fox (which was in the process of launching itssports division after acquiring the rights to theNational Football Conference of theNFL) andCBS (which was hoping to land a major sports contract to replace theNFL rights that they lost toFox andMajor League Baseball rights that they lost toABC and NBC) competed heavily for the package. On September 9, 1994, the National Hockey League reached a five-year, US$155 million contract withFox[58] for the broadcast television rights to the league's games, beginning with the1994–95 season.[59]
In August 1998, ABC, ESPN, andESPN2 signed a five-year television deal with the NHL, worth a total of approximately US$600 million[60][61][62][63][64][65][66] (or $120 million per year), beginning with the league's1999–2000 season. The $120 million per year that ABC and ESPN paid for rights dwarfed the $5.5 million that the NHL received from American national broadcasts in the1991–92 season.[67] ABC's terms of this deal included: rights to theNHL All-Star Game, 4 to 5 weeks of regular season action,[68] with three games a week, weekend Stanley Cup Playoff games, and Games 3 to 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
As previously noted, much like ABC's initial contract with the NHL in the1992–93 and1993–94 seasons, ESPN essentiallypurchased time on ABC to air selected NHL games on the broadcast network. This was noted incopyright tags after the telecasts (i.e.,"The preceding program has been paid for by ESPN, Inc."). ESPN later signed a similar television rights contract with theNational Basketball Association in2002, allowing it to produce and broadcastNBA games on ABC under a similar time buy arrangement on the broadcast network.[69]
As previously mentioned, ABC televised four to five weeks' worth of regional games on Saturday afternoons,[72] typically beginning in January or March for the first two seasons.
On March 10, 2021, ESPN announced a new, seven-year broadcast deal with the NHL, which included games on ESPN, ABC, andESPN+ beginning in the2021–22 season.[73] At least 25 regular-season games will be scheduled to air on ESPN or ABC, along with half of the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and one conference final each year. Not only does ESPN/ABC have the first choice of which conference final series to air,[74] but also ABC will exclusively broadcast fourStanley Cup Finals[75] over the life of the contract, with the option tosimulcast each game on ESPN+, as well as producealternate broadcasts to air on other ESPN platforms.
The2022 Stanley Cup Finals marked the first to be broadcast in their entirety on over-the-air television since1980, as the Finals had since either been partially or exclusively carried on cable.[76][77][78] Due to the current arrangement of ABC's sports programming beingproduced and co-branded by ESPN, the broadcasts carry theNHL on ESPN production and branding.
ABC's first game back featured theNew York Rangers and theBoston Bruins in the annual Thanksgiving Showdown on November 26, 2021.[79] After ABC aired the2022 NHL All-Star Game, the network aired a weekly game under theABC Hockey Saturday branding, which began on February 26.[80] The package primarily aired on Saturday afternoons, with one primetime game on March 19 to accommodate afternoon coverage of the2022 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. All games broadcast by ABC are simulcast on ESPN+.[81]
ABC did not air a full 30-minute or hour-long pregame show before their games in 2021, instead opting for an abbreviated 15-minute pregame show presented byVerizon. However, ABC aired a full 30-minute pregame show on April 23, as a lead-out of theirBundesliga soccer coverage. They will air a 30-minute pregame show for games outside of the primetime slot (which airs for 20-minutes ). If time permits, ABC will also air a short postgame show until 6 or 11 p.m.ET respectfully, so mostABC affiliates on theEast Coast can show their local news orABC World News Tonight. For the Stanley Cup Finals, all broadcasts began at 8 p.m. ET, allowing for a short pre-game show before puck drop; this is in contrast to the NBA Finals, which had historically preferred a later, 9 p.m. ET window for games on weeknights, with ABC leading into the game with half-hourJimmy Kimmel Live! specials followed byNBA Countdown (from the 2023 Finals and on, it will move weeknight games ahead by 30 minutes to an 8:30 p.m. window).[82][83]
In the 2022–23 season, ABC aired 15 games, including four double-headers, theNHL Stadium Series game,[84][85] and a triple-header on April 8; the Thanksgiving Showdown moved to TNT, which also covered this season's Stanley Cup Finals.[86]
For the 2023–24 season, ABC's coverage included 19 regular season games (the largest number of games on a broadcast network in NHL history), featuring four double-headers, bothNHL Stadium Series games, and two triple-headers on February 17 and April 13. ABC also aired the2024 Stanley Cup Finals.ABC Hockey Saturday for this season began on January 13, precedingSuper Wild Card Saturday of theNFL playoffs, unlike past years when its slate began after the NHL All-Star Game.[87][88]
The 2024–25 season will again have ABC air 19 games. ABC's schedule will begin during the last week of the2024 NFL regular season, with a game on Saturday, January 4 that will precede ABC/ESPN's NFL doubleheader, and another on January 5 that will directly compete with NFL afternoon games. This will mark the earliest date that a over-the-air broadcast network began airing its NHL schedule (outside of the All Star Game or holiday games). ABC will have another game on January 11 that precedes the Wild Card weekend of the NFL playoffs. There are also six Saturday doubleheaders from February though April, and two primetime games on March 22 and 29. However, ABC will not have any tripleheaders, and the2025 Stadium Series will be on ESPN instead of ABC. With theNHL 4 Nations Face-Off tournament replacing the All-Star Game this season, the NHL decided to split it between TNT/truTV, ESPN, ABC, and ESPN+: TNT will have the Canada–Sweden game on February 12 and a Presidents' Day round-robin doubleheader on February 17, ABC/ESPN+ will air the February 15 round-robin doubleheader, and ESPN will air the United States–Finland game on February 13 and the final on February 20.[89][90]
A 16-game schedule was slated for ABC this 2025–26 season. ABC's schedule would begin during the last week of the2025 NFL regular season, with a game on Saturday, January 3 preceding ABC/ESPN's NFL doubleheader. This includes doubleheaders on January 31, February 28, March 7 and April 4, and a tripleheader on April 11. ABC will also have a game on January 10 that precedes the Wild Card Weekend of the NFL playoffs, and two primetime games on March 21 and 28. The2026 Stanley Cup Finals is slated to air on ABC. Like the previous season, the2026 NHL Stadium Series will air on ESPN instead of ABC.[91]
