The NHL is returning to ESPN…
…kinda.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA head President Don Fehr announced that ESPN won the rights to air the 2016 Word Cup of Hockey. Rogers and TVA have been awarded the rights for Canada.
“We are confident that all three of these broadcasters will provide the type of coverage our fans expect and deserve for an event of this magnitude,” Commissioner Bettman said. “We are excited and looking forward to a spectacular World Cup.”
“We are thrilled to be back with the NHL in the United States,” ESPN President John Skipper said. “I’ll tell you, the place [ESPN] is electric with excitement about getting back into hockey. We’ve got a lot of hockey fans and we’re very excited.”
Why ESPN over NBC? Scheduling conflicts including the Ryder Cup, NASCAR, F1, Notre Dame Football and the Paralympics.
“As the home of hockey in the U.S., which includes rights to the NHL through 2021, the World Championships through 2017 and the Winter Olympics through 2030, we were interested in working with our partners again, but this event proved challenging due to programming commitments.”
It’s been a decade since ESPN gave a shit about hockey, so this is a good thing.
“I’m not so sure – with my tongue in my cheek – that I’ve noticed much of a difference in their SportsCenter coverage when we were with them and after,” quipped Bettman.
“We kind of view this as an opportunity to rekindle the SportsCenter interest,” he said. “To the extent that the people on SportsCenter are more focused on hockey in September, maybe that carries over to the regular season.”
The 2016 World Cup of Hockey will take place Sept. 17-Oct. 1, 2016, at Air Canada Centre in Toronto
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
