Sky Deutschland will broadcast 300 live matches per season under a new agreement with the NHL.
The broadcaster has secured the ice hockey league from the 2021/22 to 2024/25 seasons.
In addition to Germany, Sky will also offer live broadcasts in Austria, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol via all distribution channels. NHL pay-TV rights were previously held by DAZN with Sport1 showing some games free-to-air. It remains possible that Sport1 might still pick up some FTA rights.
The rights include games from the Regular Season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including the NHL Winter Classic, the NHL All-Star Game and all games of the Stanley Cup Finals. In addition, Sky will regularly show NHL Saturday and NHL Sunday (formerly European NHL Game of the Week), which will feature weekend games at European evening time with international hockey fans in mind.
Charly Classen, Executive Vice President Sport of Sky Deutschland: “With Leon Draisaitl, who was named MVP of the league in 2020, Tim Stützle, who was selected at position three of the draft in the same year, and many more, a golden generation of young German players is currently playing in the NHL.”
David Proper, NHL Senior Executive President of Media & International Strategy addd, “The partnership with Sky is an important part of our ongoing efforts to promote our game around the world and bring the international stars of our sport home to passionate fans in their home countries. Sky has a proven track record of delivering sports broadcasting at the highest level and building brands in Germany. We are very much looking forward to working with them.”
With a few exceptions, the games selected by Sky will be shown exclusively on Sky in Germany. All other NHL matches that Sky does not broadcast live will still be available to fans via nhl.tv. All games will be broadcast with the original English commentary. In addition, selected games, which include NHL Saturday and NHL Sunday games as well as the Stanley Cup Playoffs, will also be accompanied by German commentary.
