BT Sport to show two NHL matches per week

[kylerlawrence]

Thought I'd post this as it wasn't advertised very well, but BT Sports are now showing a couple of NHL games a week. It's a direct broadcast from the USA but it's good coverage.

Perfect for me as I've never been able to get FreeSports.

Here's hoping it takes off and eventually leads to wider coverage of UK Hockey too!!

UK pay-TV broadcaster BT Sport has secured a rights deal with the National Hockey League (NHL) to show up to two matches per week from the North American competition through the 2020/21 season.

UK NHL rights had been exclusively held by Premier Sports, which secured a five-year extension in 2016, but now the pay-TV broadcaster has struck a sub-licensing agreement with BT for that smaller package to broaden the league's reach.

Premier Sports will continue to air its allotted 15 NHL live matches per week during the regular season, and also has the rights to a large portion of play-off matches and the Stanley Cup finals. SportsPro understands that BT will show one live Stanley Cup finals match exclusively, while showing the others in full on a delayed basis.

Despite the addition of two more weekly televised matches in the UK, British subscribers to NHL.tv over-the-top (OTT) service will not see any impact on the number of live games available on the platform.

Agency giant IMG advises the NHL on its international rights sales as part of its partnership that runs through 2021.

Source: http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/nhl-bt-sport-uk