- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,207,148
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Despite strong viewership in the 2026 Stanley Cup Final, a media rights analyst is casting doubt on the NHL’s ability to achieve significantly higher rights fees in its next media rights deal.
The six-game 2026 Stanley Cup Final between the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights averaged 5.2 million viewers according to Nielsen, the most-watched SCF since the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins in 2019 on NBC (5.5 million viewers). Viewership was up 106% from 2025 and up 26% from 2024.
With such large increases in viewership, one might think it is a given that media rights partners will pay up for NHL rights. ESPN and TNT Sports signed a 7-year, $4.5 billion deal with the NHL that began with the 2021–22 season.
While the current contract is expensive, it pales in comparison to the NBA’s 11-year agreements with ESPN, NBC, and Prime Video, which are worth $76 billion.
Notably, ESPN also pays slightly more per year for its recently signed three-year Major League Baseball agreement. In that deal, ESPN pays $500 million per year compared to the NHL’s $400 million. The MLB contract also does not include rights to the postseason or All-Star competitions, which ESPN holds for the NHL.
Despite all these signs pointing toward an increase in media rights, William Mao, a senior vice president of global media rights at Octagon, told Sports Business Journal that the NFL going to market at the same time could significantly hurt the NHL’s market.
“On the one hand, the substantial rights fee increases secured by other Tier 1 U.S. sports properties, such as the NBA, are encouraging for the NHL’s prospects of achieving a similar outcome, particularly given the league’s strong growth narrative,” Mao said. “However, ongoing market uncertainty and disruption, the continued erosion of the traditional cable television ecosystem, and more constrained spending by media companies raise questions about whether sufficient capital will remain available when the NHL’s current media rights agreements come to term.”
“These challenges are compounded by the NFL’s active pursuit of early extensions to its broadcast agreements,” Mao added. “Given the NFL’s outsized influence on our sports media landscape, any movement by the NFL is likely to have significant ripple effects across the industry, potentially forcing even premier properties such as the NHL to reassess their media rights strategies.”
A reassessment for the NHL could mean any number of things. A report in February suggested that the NHL could try to go to market earlier to head off competition. The NFL, however, has also already begun its negotiation process.
Even with the NHL’s recent growth, the NFL is still far and away the most valuable sports property in the United States. MLB will also go to market at a similar time, which could create even more competition and potentially reduce the value of media rights for both leagues.
That could result in expanded interest for less traditional sports bidders. Versant’s USA Sports division has already expressed interest in these kinds of rights.
Still, the recent growth of the NHL and the media rights market at large suggests it would be surprising for the league not to see any increase in media rights, even if better timing might have resulted in higher gains.
The post Analyst: NHL may struggle to maximize next media rights deal despite ratings surge appeared first on Awful Announcing.
Continue reading...
