Sports Broadcasting Contracts in Canada - Hockey - National Hockey League

National Hockey League

National broadcast rights, including both TV and Internet broadcast rights (current contracts run until 2014) are as follows. Note that in the case of playoff games (particularly in the second and third rounds), CBC and TSN have the flexibility to trade games in case of scheduling conflicts, and therefore the games broadcast during any particular season may not correspond exactly to the contracted rights listed below.

• CBC (Hockey Night in Canada)
  • Regular season: Exclusive rights to Saturday broadcasts (including Saturday night doubleheader and selected Saturday afternoon games), occasional weeknight games
  • Playoffs:
    • Conference quarterfinals: Four series (first, second, fourth, and sixth choice)
    • Conference semifinals: Two series (first and second choice)
    • Conference finals: All games of first-choice series; four games of second-choice series (all games if both series involve a Canadian team)
    • Stanley Cup Finals
• TSN / TSN2 (NHL on TSN)
  • Regular season: most national weeknight and Sunday games, including exclusive rights to Wednesday broadcasts. 70 games per season will involve at least one Canadian team. Some all-U.S. matchups beyond this limit are also aired, primarily on TSN2.
    • Toronto Maple Leafs: 17 games, including 10 "regional" telecasts aired nationally with the consent of the NHL and the other Canadian teams. Due to Molson's title sponsorship of the Leafs' regional broadcasts, these telecasts are branded "NHL on TSN Presented by Molson".
    • Montreal Canadiens: 15 games
    • Winnipeg Jets: 5 games
    • All other Canadian teams: 10 games each
  • Playoffs (primarily on TSN, although in case of conflicts TSN2 is also used)
    • Conference quarterfinals: Four series (third, fifth, seventh, eighth choice)
    • Conference semifinals: Two series (third and fourth choice)
    • Conference finals: Three games of the second-choice series (if no Canadian teams involved)
• NBC (NHL on NBC)
  • Regular season: Exclusive rights to early Sunday broadcasts for U.S. teams near the end of the season.
  • Playoff broadcasts would be shared between NBC and the NBC Sports Network.
• NHL Network: Selected regular season games (currently only all-U.S. matchups), plus live look-ins of regional games
• RDS / RIS: Exclusive French-language rights to NHL games, including all Montreal Canadiens games, several Ottawa Senators games, selected games sourced from TSN or NBC Sports Network that do not conflict with the preceding, and all possible playoff games. No regional restrictions for any games.
• NHL Centre Ice: pay-per-view package available via various cable / satellite providers

The CBC has occasionally shared its rights with ethnic broadcasters to provide simulcast game coverage in languages other than English or French. Presumably TSN has the same rights for its games should it choose to exercise them.

The contracts in effect since the 2008–09 season allow for several weeknight games on CBC each season, but also place limits on the number of CBC regular-season broadcasts featuring a single team. TSN is also now permitted to carry first and second round playoff games involving Canadian teams, which were previously exclusively broadcast by CBC.

Canadian teams also contract with local or regional broadcasters for selected regular season games not covered by the national contracts:

• Vancouver Canucks: Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet Vancouver Hockey
• Edmonton Oilers: Sportsnet West, Sportsnet Oilers
• Calgary Flames: Sportsnet West, Sportsnet Flames
• Winnipeg Jets: TSN (via a regional "TSN Jets" feed)
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Sportsnet Ontario, Leafs TV
• Ottawa Senators: Sportsnet (East or Ontario, games are aired on Ontario in the Ottawa area only), Sportsnet Sens
• Montreal Canadiens: TSN (via a regional "TSN Habs" feed)

No U.S. team holds any regional broadcast territory within Canada. This means that teams such as Detroit Red Wings and the Buffalo Sabres, whose markets border on Windsor and Niagara Region respectively, are unable to sell regional rights to their broadcasts in Canada; both bordering municipalities are within the Maple Leafs' exclusive territory.

WGN Sports has some broadcasts of the Chicago Blackhawks in Canada.