The NHL is asking ESPN and TNT for a 50% to 100% increase in television rights fees as the league heads into new contract talks.
CNBC reports the league’s exclusive negotiating window with both networks opens early next year, and there is “mutual interest” in keeping the partnerships alive. The NHL plans to lean on recent precedent: both the NFL and NBA locked in substantial fee increases in their latest media deals, and the NHL will argue it deserves the same treatment.
The league also points to rising viewership on ESPN and TNT as evidence it has earned a bigger check.
Not everyone is eager to pay up. TNT’s new owner, Skydance, has said its executives intend to stay “disciplined” when bidding on sports rights. That discipline could get tested fast, since Skydance also owns CBS, which is bracing for a big NFL rights demand of its own. If Skydance has to prioritize the NFL, the NHL could end up squeezed out of a bigger raise.
To maximize revenue, the NHL may bring in a third partner rather than rely solely on ESPN and TNT. Industry insiders have floated Netflix as a potential bidder for marquee one-off events like the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Winter Classic. That would track with how Netflix has operated elsewhere: the company grabbed MLB’s Opening Night, the Home Run Derby and the Field of Dreams game for 2026, and it has also added NFL games, including an opening-week matchup and a Thanksgiving Eve game. Netflix tends to chase big single events rather than a full weekly schedule.
If the NHL instead wants a streaming partner for a regular weekly package, Amazon Prime Video is considered the most likely candidate.
The league’s bargaining position isn’t simple. The NHL doesn’t carry the national weight of the NFL, NBA or MLB, and its regular-season ratings often fall behind marquee UFC, golf, tennis and boxing broadcasts. What it does offer is volume: nearly nine months of live games, running from late September through the Stanley Cup Final in June. There’s also an argument that the league and its broadcast partners haven’t done enough to turn their best players into recognizable names outside hardcore hockey markets.
Expect the NHL to land a real increase in its next deals. Doubling its money, as the league is asking, is a different question.
