The NHL and Rogers have agreed to a new 12-year Canadian broadcasting deal worth $7.7 billion US, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on Monday on condition of anonymity because it had not been announced.
The NHL contracted with ESPN and Turner Sports in 2021 for the current U.S. TV and streaming rights deal for $4.5 billion over seven years combined.
Sportico was first to report the deal and said owners would vote on it this week.
The news comes as Rogers’ current $5.2-billion, 12-year rights deal is set to conclude after the 2025-26 NHL season.
Representatives from Rogers and the NHL declined comment when reached by The Canadian Press.
Rogers, which owns the Sportsnet network, was expected to face stiff competition from tech giant Amazon for the next NHL rights deal.
Amazon is in the first year of a two-year deal to stream Monday night NHL games in Canada on its Prime service.
Rogers president and chief executive officer Tony Staffieri said at a lunch hosted by Canadian Club Toronto in May that Rogers would pursue a renewal of its rights deal with the NHL.
The contract is the latest source of revenue for the league as the salary cap continues to climb.
The NHL contracted with ESPN and Turner Sports in 2021 for the current U.S. TV and streaming rights deal for $4.5 billion over seven years combined.
The contract helps the NHL’s revenue forecast for the near future, even if the Canadian dollar is weakened by U.S. tariffs that are set to come into force Wednesday.
Commissioner Gary Bettman expressed concern about the current economic situation at the general managers’ annual spring meeting in mid-March.
“If the Canadian economy is impacted to the extent that the dollar declines, the Canadian dollar, vis a vis the U.S. dollar, we do everything in U.S. dollars, so that’ll have an impact potentially on our Canadian clubs and (hockey-related revenue),” Bettman said. “But we’re hoping this is a moment in time and we get through this. I’m not weighing in politically.”
