The third season under the seven-year agreement between The Walt Disney Company and National Hockey League was a success, with the NHL on ESPN property delivering double-digit viewership increases. For the regular season, NHL broadcasts on ESPN averaged 486,000 total viewers, which is up 25% compared to last season. Within the Persons 18-49 demographic, the property averaged 211,000 viewers, a 20% year-over-year increase.

Regular season games on ESPN networks averaged 666,000 total viewers, a 13% increase from last season. Additionally, the Persons 18-49 demographic came to an average of 230,000 viewers, which is up 4% year-over-year. ESPN also produced digital content that accrued more traffic than last season with 42 million unique viewers and 1.5 billion minutes, up 14% and 11% on the year, respectively.

The network broadcast an opening night tripleheader on Tuesday, Oct. 10 that started with a game between the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning at 5:30 p.m. EST. Following the interconference matchup was a tilt between the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins at 8 p.m. EST. The night concluded with a matchup between the two newest teams in the NHL – the Seattle Kraken against the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. These games averaged 909,000 total viewers, up 40% from the 2022-23 season opening night doubleheader.

Later in the season, the network broadcast both Stadium Series games from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. – which included the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and New York Rangers. The latter matchup between the Islanders and Rangers became the most-viewed regular season game since ESPN reacquired rights to the NHL in 2021, averaging 1.6 million viewers.

ESPN is broadcasting games within the Stanley Cup Playoffs as teams strive to win the league championship at season’s end. Viewership of Round 1 games across ESPN, TBS and truTV have amassed a 51% increase in ratings and 60% rise in viewership from last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, according to a report from Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. The Walt Disney Company will broadcast the Stanley Cup Final on ABC for the second time under the existing deal with the NHL.

Amazon Prime Video will become the exclusive streaming home of Monday night National Hockey League games in Canada, agreeing to a two-year deal in tandem with Rogers Communications and the National Hockey League. Under the agreement, Prime Monday Night Hockey will stream national regular season Monday night NHL games in English for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 NHL seasons. It is the first deal the NHL has struck with an exclusive national broadcast package for a digital-only streaming service. The property will feature a new broadcast team that will include play-by-play commentary and analysis, streaming live to Amazon Prime members in Canada.

“Rogers’ partnership with the NHL has been incredibly successful and integral to Sportsnet’s leadership as the number one sports media brand in Canada,” Colette Watson, president of Rogers Sports & Media, said in a statement. “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.”

“With Prime Monday Night Hockey, we’re offering our customers even more from their Prime membership,” Magda Grace, head of Prime Video, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, said in a statement. “We’re committed to driving more innovation for fans as we bring the NHL into more Canadian homes and across more devices on Monday nights than ever before. We’re thrilled to be offering Prime Monday Night Hockey as part of our one-stop entertainment destination, which includes add-on channels like Sportsnet for even more hockey and sports content, the latest movies to rent or buy, popular and award-winning Amazon Originals to stream with Prime, and so much more.”

Sportsnet became available on Prime Video channels in Canada at the start of the 2023-24 hockey season. The new agreement helps build on the 12-year deal that was announced between Rogers and the NHL in November 2013 to carry games, reportedly worth $5.2 billion. The league has worked with Amazon Web Services (AWS) since 2021 to implement in-game analytics and video highlights meant to enhance the viewing experience.

Akin to the United States, cord cutting in Canada has hastened over the last decade with growing pay television penetration that estimates approximately 9.2 million households as subscribing to pay TV. Rogers Communications’ deal for national television and digital rights with the National Hockey League will expire at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Amazon and Rogers on this project. Amazon has a strong track record of presenting sports on Prime Video in a highly innovative and viewer-friendly manner,” said David Proper, NHL senior executive vice president of media and international strategy, said in a statement. “We are committed to serving hockey fans and reaching new audiences with our robust content distribution strategy that brings viewers exciting NHL content to a multitude of streaming services. With this groundbreaking partnership, we are continuing to stay true to that goal.”

The Seattle Kraken announced two new broadcast partners to increase over-the-air and streaming options for fans. The deal features multi-year partnerships with Tegna and Amazon Prime Video in place for next season. This means a departure from Root Sports, which carried the team’s game during their first three seasons.

All non-nationally televised Kraken games will be broadcast on Tegna-owned KONG with 15 games simulcast on sister station KING 5 in Seattle. Additionally, Amazon Prime members in Washington, Oregon and Alaska, will be able to watch all non-nationally televised Kraken games on Amazon Prime Video at no additional cost. The streaming slate will include preseason, regular season and, potentially, the first round of playoffs.

“Root has been a terrific partner for us; we have appreciated their support as we determined our broadcast plans moving forward,” said Kraken owner, Sam Holloway in a release. “Today’s announcement is a game changer for our fans. Our goal is to increase the ways they can watch our games – whether they’re cheering us on at home or on the go. To have both Tegna and Prime Video as trusted partners is a dream come true. I can’t wait for more fans to fall in love with Kraken hockey.”

“Our collaboration with the Seattle Kraken marks a significant milestone in our commitment to celebrating the essence of local sports on local broadcast television,” said Dave Lougee, president and CEO, Tegna. “We look forward to bringing every thrilling moment of Kraken hockey to all viewers in the Pacific Northwest as we build on our long-standing commitment to the region.”

“Seattle Kraken hockey is synonymous with the Pacific Northwest, and we’re thrilled to bring Prime members in Washington, Oregon and Alaska access to Kraken games on Prime Video,” said Charlie Neiman, head of sports partnerships for Prime Video. “Live Kraken games add to our growing selection of premium live sports and deliver additional value for Prime members throughout the Kraken home footprint.”