Why Amazon's Prime Video Will Broadcast National Monday Night NHL Games in Canada
The two-year deal, starting in 2024-25, will feature a new broadcast team and will be the NHL's first national broadcast package with a digital-only streaming service in Canada.
Monday night national NHL broadcasts are going elsewhere in 2024-25.
On Thursday, the NHL, Rogers and Amazon announced a two-year agreement in Canada to stream national Monday broadcasts on Prime Video in English.
It will be the league's first national broadcast package with a digital-only streaming service in Canada – the United States has already had select national games broadcast on ESPN's digital streaming service, ESPN+, and Hulu since 2021-22.
Prime Video will produce the broadcasts as well with a new team that will bring the action exclusively to Amazon Prime members in Canada.
“Today’s content ecosystem is evolving, and we’re really pleased to work with Amazon to continue to grow the game and help hockey fans watch games when and where they want,” Colette Watson, president of Rogers Sports and Media, said in a press release.
Rogers had been exclusively broadcasting national games in Canada since negotiating a 12-year contract with the NHL back in 2013. That $5.2-billion deal expires after the 2025-26 season. With two years remaining, it's off-loading one part of its national broadcast package after reports over the years suggest the deal hasn't panned out as well as it may have hoped.
Their Monday broadcasts have differed over the years. They first had Hometown Hockey, which aired for eight years. The on-air talent of Ron MacLean and Tara Slone visited cities across Canada to profile players and communities while broadcasting an NHL game. In 2021-22, they changed the show schedule to Mondays. Then, in 2022-23, they ended the season-long tours and changed the show to Monday Night Hockey, hosted by David Amber. That show focused on analytics and technology, including a virtual studio with green screens that allowed for more immersive graphics.
Sportsnet had already launched on Prime Video channels in Canada this season, and the NHL partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2021 to bring advanced in-game analytics to broadcasts. But Thursday's announcement takes it one step further.
“With Prime Monday Night Hockey, we’re offering our customers even more from their Prime membership,” Magda Grace, head of Prime Video in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, said in the press release.
Prime Video also broadcasts Thursday Night Football in the NFL and partnered with YES Network to carry select New York Yankees games exclusively throughout the season. NASCAR also reached a seven-year agreement with Amazon to broadcast five Cup Series races exclusively on Prime Video in the U.S., beginning in 2025.