Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston is reporting that ESPN is returning as a media rights partner of the NHL for the first time in 17 years.
ESPN has entered into a seven-year agreement with the league which will allow it air games and four Stanley Cup Finals between 2022 and 2028. ESPN will also get streaming rights for Disney+.
ESPN will share the rights with another, yet-to-be-named media partner that could be NBC Sports.
Sources: ESPN is signing a seven-year deal with the NHL as part of the league's new U.S. media rights package.https://t.co/R7VeixXYq7
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 9, 2021
According to Johnston, NBC was paying $200 million a year to the NHL for media rights in the United States. It’s unclear what ESPN offered to land the deal.
For many Generation X and millenials, ESPN is where they first fell in love with the sport. ESPN and ESPN2 routinely aired games nationally from 1992-2004 with Gary Thorne and Bill Clement leading the play-by-play and Darren Pang behind the glass.
Now hit the theme song.
ESPN logo courtesy of ESPN
