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TheNational Hockey League (NHL) is shown on national television in the United States and Canada. With 25 teams in the U.S. and 7 in Canada, the NHL is the only one of the fourmajor professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada that maintains separate national broadcasters in each country, each producing separate telecasts of a slate of regular season games, playoff games, and theStanley Cup Finals.
National broadcasting rights in Canada have includedHockey Night in Canada (HNIC), a long-standing Canadian tradition that debuted onCBC Television in 1952. Since the2014–15 season,Rogers Sportsnet has held the Canadian national contract, sub-licensing a slate of games to the CBC, and sub-licensing the nationalFrench-language rights toTVA Sports.
Historically, the NHL never held a long-term exclusive deal with a U.S. national broadcast network prior to the1994–95 NHL season.NBC andCBS held rights at various times from 1956 to 1981, but neither broadcast network carried anything close to a full schedule. The NHL on a national scale primarily was only available oncable television throughout most of the 1980s and early 1990s untilFox began televising a regular slate of games in 1995. Since then, exclusive U.S. national coverage has been split between broadcast and cable. Since the2021–22 season, the NHL has been shown on theABC network; cable networksESPN,TBS, and TNT; and internet streaming servicesESPN+, Hulu, andHBO Max.
Individual teams in both countries have contracted to air their games on local channels, primarily onregional sports networks.
Broadcasting rights in Canada have historically included theCBC'sHockey Night in Canada (HNIC), a long-standing Canadian tradition dating to 1952,[1][2] and even prior to that on radio since the 1920s. The first NHL game to be broadcast on television occurred on October 11, 1952, a French-language CBC broadcast between the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings. CBC proceeded with its first English-language broadcast a month later on November 1, 1952, televising a game featuring the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins.[3] Other previous Canadian broadcasters have includedCTV,Global,TSN,Sportsnet; and French-language broadcasts onSRC, andRDS.
The current national television and digital rightsholder isRogers Communications, under a 12-year deal valued atC$5.2 billion which began in the2014–15 season. NationalEnglish-language coverage of the NHL is carried primarily by Rogers'Sportsnet group of specialty channels. Sportsnet holds national windows on Monday (Hometown Hockey from 2014 to 2022;Rogers/Prime Monday Night Hockey since 2022) and Wednesday nights (Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey); as of 2024,Monday Night Hockey is being sublicensed toAmazon Prime Video as a streaming-exclusive package.[4]Hockey Night in Canada was maintained and expanded under the deal, airing games nationally on Saturday nights throughout the regular season across CBC, the Sportsnet networks, Rogers-owned television networkCitytv, andFX Canada. While CBC maintains Rogers-produced NHL coverage during the regular season and playoffs through atime-brokerage agreement with the company, Rogers assumes editorial control and the ownership of any advertising revenue from the telecasts.[5] Sportsnet's networks also air occasional games involving all-U.S. matchups.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
Under a sub-licensing agreement with Rogers,Quebecor Media holds nationalFrench-language television rights for the NHL, with all coverage airing on its specialty channelTVA Sports. TVA Sports' flagship broadcasts on Saturday nights focus primarily on theMontreal Canadiens.[12][13]
Games that are not broadcast as part of the national rights deal are broadcast by Sportsnet's regional feeds (though some regional broadcasts may air nationally due to Sportsnet's current status as the NHL's Canadian national TV partner),TSN's regional feeds, andRDS. Sportsnet and TSN split holds regional rights to theToronto Maple Leafs; Sportsnet holds regional rights to theCalgary Flames,Edmonton Oilers, andVancouver Canucks, while TSN holds rights to theMontreal Canadiens (English only),Ottawa Senators andWinnipeg Jets. RDS holds regional French-language rights to the Canadiens and Senators.
From the 1950s to the early 1990s, the league's American broadcast partners remained in flux, airing on various broadcast and cable networks such asCBS,NBC,ABC, theUSA Network,SportsChannel America, andESPN. Hockey broadcasting on a national scale was particularly spotty prior to 1981; NBC and CBS held rights at various times during that period, with each network carrying weekend-afternoon games during the second half of the regular season and the playoffs, along with some (but not all) of theStanley Cup Finals. The NHL primarily was then only available oncable television, with no exclusive coverage of games, untilFox began televising the NHL during the1994–95 season. Since then, exclusive U.S. national coverage has been split between broadcast and cable networks, first with Fox and ESPN from 1995 to 1999, then followed by ABC and ESPN from 1999 to 2004. After the2004–05 NHL lockout, NBC andOLN (later renamedVersus, thenNBCSN) televised the NHL until 2021.
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The2021–22 season marks the first year of seven-year agreements with ESPN andTNT/HBO Max.[14] ESPN's deal includes at least 25 regular season games on ABC or ESPN, and up to 75 exclusive games streamed onESPN+ andHulu (as such, games streamed exclusively on ESPN+ are not available to co-exist on Americanregional sports networks).[15] TNT Sports' coverage includes up to 72 regular season games on TNT or TBS (For the 2021-22 season, TNT aired 50 regular season games).[16][17] The playoffs will be split between ESPN and TNT Sports, with ABC televising the Stanley Cup Finals during even years and TNT televising the championship series during odd years.[14]
As in Canada, games not broadcast nationally are aired regionally within a team's home market and are subject toblackout outside of them. These broadcasters include regional sports network chains such asFanDuel Sports Network,MSG Network,NBC Sports Regional Networks andScripps Sports. Certain national telecasts, such as selected regular season games and first round playoff games, are non-exclusive, and may also air in tandem with telecasts of the game by local broadcasters. However, national telecasts of these games are blacked out in the participating teams' markets to protect the local broadcaster.
Only a handful of regular season games, including theoutdoor games, may be broadcast nationally in both countries. A Saturday nightBruins–Canadiens game, for example, would typically air onHockey Night in Canada across that country but only regionally south of the border in the Boston area. Likewise, a Tuesday night Bruins–Canadiens game may air across the U.S. on ESPN or TNT but only regionally north of the border in the Montreal area.
The league co-owns the NHL Network, a television specialty channel devoted to the NHL. Its signature show isNHL Tonight (formerlyNHL on the Fly), which covers NHL news, highlights, interviews, and analysis. The NHL Network also airs live games, but primarily simulcasts of one of the team's regional broadcasters.
There were originally two versions:one for Canadian viewers and a separate one forthose in the United States. The Canadian version shut down on September 1, 2015, due to Rogers Communications' acquisition of sole national media rights to the NHL in Canada.
The American version of NHL Network was used as an overflow channel for select first round playoff games whenNBC Sports held the U.S. national TV contract from 2012 to 2021.[18][better source needed] In 2021, the network introduced its first original broadcasts, theNHL Network Showcase, airing on weekend afternoons and called byE. J. Hradek andKevin Weekes.[19][20]
NHL Centre Ice in Canada[21] andNHL Center Ice in the United States[22] are the league's subscription-based,out-of-market sports packages that offer access to out-of-market feeds of games through a cable or satellite television provider
The league initially launched NHL GameCenter Live in 2008[23] (later renamedNHL.tv in 2016), allowing thevideo streaming of out-of-market games over the internet, either through the NHL website,smartphones and tablets,digital media players,smart TVs, andvideo game consoles.
Per its exclusive national television and digital rights contract,Rogers Communications took over Canadian distribution and marketing of both the out-of-market TV and the internet services in Canada as of the 2014–15 season. A number of changes were made to the internet service, which was initially re-branded asRogers NHL GameCentre Live. Canadian users access the service using a "MyRogers" login account instead of one directly on NHL.com. As part of the transition, Rogers also issued a free trial of the service, lasting through the start of 2015, to all Rogers cable and mobile internet subscribers.[24] The services offers access to national games, along with in-market streaming of regional games. For the first season, it only offered in-market streaming for teams thatSportsnet held broadcast rights to (excluding theOttawa Senators,Winnipeg Jets, and portions of theToronto Maple Leafs' season, whose broadcast rights are held by TSN) For the 2015–16 season, aTV authentication system was used to allow in-market streaming for TSN-produced regional games as well. Rogers GameCentre Live also offers "GamePlus", a component featuring alternate camera angles, such as net cams, point-of-view cams, and sky cams. The sky cam are currently only available forAir Canada Centre games, but the remaining Canadian arenas will be equipped for it in the future. GamePlus features were only available to GameCentre Live subscribers who are subscribed to Rogers' cable, internet, or wireless services.[25][26] For the 2018–19 season, Rogers discontinued the free trials, subscriptions, and additional GamePlus features to Rogers' cable, internet, and wireless service users, and required all users to pay the regular fees.[27] For the 2019–20 season, the brand name for the service was shortened toNHL Live.
On August 4, 2015, the NHL announced a six-year deal withMLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), in which the company took over the operations of the NHL's digital properties, including websites, apps, andGameCenter Live, beginning in January 2016. MLBAM then distributedGameCenter Live under the new nameNHL.tv in the U.S. and other international markets, except in Scandinavia (due toViasat's right deal mentioned below), nor Canada (due to Rogers' rights deal mentioned above). The NHL also gained an equity stake of up to 10% in a spin-off of MLBAM's streaming media business, whose clients includeMajor League Baseball,WatchESPN, andHBO Now among others.[28][29][30]
As part of ESPN's media deal that began in the 2021–22 season, the NHL's out-of-market internet services in the United States was incorporated into theESPN+ streaming service.[15] That same year,NHL Live in Canada became available at no extra cost to subscribers ofSportsnet Now Premium.[31] Starting in the 2022–23 season, the separateNHL Live service was discontinued and all games were incorporated into Sportsnet Now Premium.[32] Also starting in the 2022–23 season, out-of-market games on ESPN+, which did not carry any specific branding in the inaugural season, were branded as "NHL Power Play on ESPN+".[33]>
Outside of Canada and the United States, NHL games are broadcast across Europe (excluding the UK and Scandinavia) and the Middle East and North Africa onbeIN Sports, which takes feeds from ESPN/ABC, TNT, Rogers, and teams' regional broadcasts. In the UKPremier Sports has the rights to the NHL and show 15 games per week.Fox Sports in Australia,[34] onViasat Hockey in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark,[35] in the Czech Republic and Slovakia onNovaSport orFandaTV and in Portugal onSportTV.[36] In theAmericas, NHL games are broadcast across Mexico, Central America andDominican Republic onSKY México, South America and the Caribbean onDirecTV. Stanley Cup games can also be viewed in New Zealand onSky Sport. In Brazil, the games are broadcast onESPN International.
The aforementioned NHL.tv is also available for people in most countries to watch games online; in July 2025, the over-the-top streaming service DAZN signed a multi-year deal to distribute NHL.tv, either a standalone subscription or an add-on to an existing DAZN package.[37] Blackout restrictions may still apply if a game is being televised in the user's country; for example, in the United Kingdom, NHL.tv is not allowed to show live games broadcast on Premier Sports. Viewers in selected international markets where ESPN also holds the streaming rights must instead access games on the ESPN platform used in that particular country: ESPNPlayer, ESPN Play, the ESPN App, orStar+; those in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Norway, and Sweden must useViaplay.[37][38]
With 25 teams in the U.S. and 7 in Canada, the NHL is the only one of the fourmajor professional sports leagues in the United States that has a national Canadian broadcaster regularly produce separate telecasts of a slate of regular season and playoff games. If a game is televised nationally in both countries, then the separate Canadian and U.S. feeds of the same game may be broadcast on two networks simultaneously in thoseareas in Canada that can receive U.S. stations and thoseregions in the U.S. that can receive Canadian stations.
This is most prominent during each league's respective championship series or game, where the U.S. broadcaster's feed of theNational Football League'sSuper Bowl,Major League Baseball'sWorld Series and theNational Basketball Association Finals is usually simulcast by a Canadian broadcaster (withsimultaneous substitution of the commercials). With the prominence ofHockey Night in Canada since the 1950s, and with Canadian teams like theEdmonton Oilers and theMontreal Canadiens making multiple championship runs during the 1970s and 1980s, theStanley Cup Finals has regularly been produced and aired onbroadcast television in Canada for decades. Meanwhile, U.S. national coverage of the NHL evolved much slower than those of the other three leagues, and long-term coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals remains on U.S. cable television in some form with TNT Sports agreeing to air the series on TNT in 2023, 2025, and 2027.[16]
With the NBA set to make the first round of theNBA playoffs exclusive to its national television partners effective the2025–26 season,[39] MLB having national TV exclusivity for the entireMLB postseason since1984, and the NFL's television coverage being entirely exclusive to national outlets aside from preseason exhibition games, the NHL is now the only North American professional sports league whose preliminary rounds of the playoffs are still televised onregional sports networks. This, however, only applies to playoff games involving teams from the United States, as Canadian TV coverage of theStanley Cup playoffs have long been exclusive to national networks such as CBC, CTV, TSN and Sportsnet.
| Regional network | Team(s) |
|---|---|
| Altitude Sports | Colorado |
| Chicago Sports Network | Chicago |
| FanDuel Sports Network | Carolina, Columbus, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis |
| Fenway Sports Group (incl.NESN andSportsNet Pittsburgh) | Boston, Pittsburgh |
| KONG-TV KING-TV(simulcast of select games) Amazon Prime Video | Seattle |
| Monumental Sports Network | Washington |
| MSG Networks | Buffalo, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers |
| NBC Sports Regional Networks | Philadelphia, San Jose |
| RDS (French-language) | Montreal, Ottawa |
| Scripps Sports | Florida, Tampa Bay, Utah, Vegas |
| Sportsnet | Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto(partial), Vancouver |
| TSN | Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto(partial), Winnipeg |
| Victory+[40] | Anaheim, Dallas |
Media related toNational Hockey League on television at Wikimedia Commons