The NHL is officially moving to Turner Sports, specifically TNT and TBS.
Turner Sports announced Tuesday that it has reached a seven-year media rights deal with the NHL that includes three Stanley Cup finals, the NHL Winter Classic, and a wealth of other regular season and postseason games. News of Turner’s impending acquisition broke Monday.
Games will air on TNT and TBS, with the former carrying the Cup Final and Winter Classic. HBO Max will have live streaming and simulcast rights, though Turner Sports exec Jeff Zucker said Tuesday that games on that platform are “not imminent” and will not be happening this coming season.
The Turner networks will air as many as 72 exclusive regular season games per year. No network was specified, but given TNT and TBS were the only ones mentioned in the press release, it seems a safe bet that one or both will carry those games. It was unclear whether any eventual game inventory on HBO Max would count toward those 72 windows or separately.
Paired with ESPN/ABC’s 100 exclusive windows per season (25 on linear TV and 75 on ESPN+), the league’s new rights partners are committed to 172 windows per year — all exclusive. NBC Sports airs 100 games under its current contract, many of which are co-exists or subject to local blackout. Only NBC’s Sunday and NBCSN’s Wednesday games are exclusive.
Per the NHL, TNT will have the Stanley Cup Final in 2023, 2025 and 2027. ABC has rights to the championship series next season and in 2024, 2026 and 2028.
It should be noted that Turner’s NHL deal includes more regular season inventory than its deal with the NBA. Its NBA contract includes 64 regular season windows, of which many either are co-exists or subject to local blackout.
