ESPN National Hockey Night

Country

United States

How it feels

This series is a sports broadcast of National Hockey League games on ESPN. It shows professional ice hockey matches with commentary and analysis.

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What happens

The NHL on ESPN is an American presentation of the National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by ESPN. They have been shown on its various platforms in the United States, including ESPN itself, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN DTC. Since 2021, games have been broadcast under the ESPN Hockey Night branding or ESPN+ Hockey Night branding. ESPN first televised NHL games in the 1979–80 season by sub-contracting rights from individual franchises. After the NHL shifted to only having one exclusive rights holder, ESPN acquired the NHL's national television rights in 1985 to replace USA Network (which had previously aired NHL games in parallel with ESPN). ESPN lost the rights to SportsChannel America in 1988. ESPN regained the NHL's U.S. television rights from 1992 through the 1999–2000 season, with the coverage branded under the blanket title ESPN National Hockey Night. ESPN also sub-licensed a package of network television broadcasts to ABC (sister via ESPN parent The Walt Disney Company) under the NHL on ABC branding until 1994, when the NHL sold a broadcast television package to Fox Sports. In 1999, ESPN renewed its contract through the 2004–05 NHL season, with ABC replaced Fox as the broadcast television rights holder. The 2004–05 season was canceled due to a lockout of the NHL Players Association. ESPN reached a two-year agreement to serve as the cable rights holder in a reduced capacity following the 2005–06 season alongside new broadcast rights older NBC. This consisted of a smaller package of regular-season games and playoff coverage primarily on ESPN2, along with the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final. After the lockout, ESPN opted out of the contract. They were acquired by Comcast, with telecasts moving to Versus (later renamed NBCSN); it held the cable rights (which were later unified with NBC's broadcast television rights after Comcast's purchase of NBC Universal) through the 2020–21 season. On March 10, 2021, the NHL announced that it would return to ESPN networks under a seven-year contract beginning in the 2021–22 season. ESPN's subscription streaming service, ESPN+, provides the majority of the network's regular-season NHL coverage, carrying a package of exclusive national games, and holding streaming rights to all out-of-market games, replacing the NHL.tv service. ESPN also broadcasts a package of games. ESPN and ESPN2 share coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs with TNT and TBS, which also includes exclusive rights to the Stanley Cup Final for ABC in even-numbered years. Like other U.S. national NHL broadcasts, NHL on ESPN games may be available in Canada on Sportsnet or streamed on Sportsnet+. This is as part of a 12-year agreement with the NHL that lasts to the end of the 2025–26 season, subject to blackout restrictions. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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