Amazon Prime Video, Rogers Communications Reach 12-Year Deal For Exclusive NHL Broadcasts

Amazon Prime Video is stepping up its presence on hockey’s home ice in Canada, inking a 12-year deal for exclusive Wednesday night NHL broadcasts.

The sublicensing arrangement with Canadian telecom and media giant Rogers Communications will put 26 regular season games in English and French on Prime in Canada, starting on September 30. The streamer also will carry playoff series in the first and second rounds. It already had been streaming NHL games and studio programming prior to gaining the weekly exclusive.

Rogers, which operates pay-TV network Sportsnet, last year clinched an $11 billion rights deal with the NHL through the 2037-38 season. Terms of the Amazon agreement were not disclosed.

The shift to streaming comes after the end of a public broadcasting institution on Canada’s public airwaves. Rogers and the CBC said recently that they had not would not renew their sublicensing deal, marking the end of Hockey Night in Canada as a public broadcast after nearly 75 years. Citytv, which is owned by Rogers, also is opting out of the national game telecasts.

The state of free, over-the-air TV broadcasts of live sports has been a hot topic in many countries in recent years, as Netflix, YouTube and Apple have jockeyed with Prime Video for major rights.

“We’re thrilled to expand our partnership with the NHL and Rogers in this landmark agreement, which brings even more premium live sports to Prime members in Canada,” said Jay Marine, Head of Global Sports at Prime Video.

“Our partnership with Prime Video builds on the strong foundation we have established together and reinforces NHL hockey as the most valuable sports content in Canada,” Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Prime Video has been “a valuable addition to the NHL’s media lineup in Canada.”