The NHL has come to an agreement with a company for its second TV rights package. And it’s a surprise.
According to the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand, Turner Sports has agreed to a seven-year deal with the NHL and will pay around $225 million per season for the league’s “B” package. Over the life of the deal, Turner Sports will pay $1.58 billion to the league.
Turner is going to pay in the neighborhood of $225M per season over its seven-year NHL deal, according to sources. That's nearly $1.6B.
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) April 26, 2021
Earlier in the day, the Sports Business Journal reported that NBC Sports, the current national rights holder, bowed out of the bidding, and only offered $100 million per season for the second package – about half of what it was averaging per year in its current deal.
The NHL’s agreement will net Turner Sports three of the next seven Stanley Cup Finals and the Winter Classic.
The NHL will be having a Board of Governors call later today to update the upcoming US TV picture. 4 of next 7 Stanley Cups on @ESPN; 3 on Turner.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 26, 2021
For those asking, the Winter Classic goes to Turner.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) April 26, 2021
The NHL now in total is earning around $655 million per year with its new US broadcast rights deals between ESPN ($430 million) and Turner ($225 million). That is over two times what it was masking previously per year ($300 million).
In comparison, the NBA is making approximately $2.7 billion per season.
