Rogers Media, CBC extend NHL deal

The newly inked seven-year agreement will keep Hockey Night in Canada and the Stanley Cup playoffs on the pubcaster until 2026.

Rogers Media and CBC have signed a new seven-year sub-licensing agreement for English-language broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada and the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The deal, which begins in the 2019/20 season, follows the companies’ four-year contract first signed in 2013, that was later extended an additional year.

Under the terms of the agreement, Hockey Night in Canada will be available on Saturday nights on CBC, as well as Rogers’ Sportsnet and City. It will also be available to stream on CBC Sports and TV apps, Rogers NHL Live and Sportsnet Now. The pubcaster will also air all four rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Sportsnet will continue to produce the games from its studio at the CBC building. Rogers Media retains editorial control and all advertising revenues. CBC can promote its own programming throughout the broadcast, with its window increasing 30 seconds per hour/per game under the new deal, according to a CBC spokesperson.

The new agreement runs through the 2025/26 seasons, when Rogers’ $5.2-billion, 12-year national broadcast rights deal with the NHL is due to expire.

Since first signing their broadcast deal in 2014, NHL games have averaged 7.5 million Canadians each week, according to data from Rogers Media. Throughout this NHL season, Hockey Night In Canada has been the most-watched program in Canada on Saturday nights, reaching 18 million Canadians.

“Our priority in coming to this new agreement was to ensure Canadians continue to have access to Saturday night hockey on CBC and an overwhelming majority of our audience told us they want it to be on CBC,” said Greg Stremlaw, executive director, CBC Sports and General Manager, Olympics, in a release.

In addition to Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet will continue to produce and televise national games on Sundays during Rogers Hometown Hockey and on Wednesday evenings with Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey.