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ESPN National Hockey Night
StarringGary Thorne
Bill Clement
John Davidson
Erin Andrews see below
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons12
Production
Running time180+ minutes
Original release
NetworkESPN (1992–2004)
ESPN2 (1993–2004)
ReleaseOctober 6, 1992 (1992-10-06) –
May 27, 2004 (2004-05-27)
Related
NHL on ABC
NHL 2Night

ESPN National Hockey Night is the brand name of ESPN's weekly television broadcasts of National Hockey League regular season games and coverage of playoff games, broadcast from 1992 to 2004. ESPN had been slated to broadcast games for the 2004–05 NHL season, but the season's cancellation combined with the NHL reaching an agreement with OLN (now NBCSN) to broadcast games for the 2005–06 NHL season effectively ended National Hockey Night after the 2003–04 NHL season. However, on March 9, 2021 reports surfaced[1] that ESPN reached a seven-year deal with the NHL beginning in the 2021–22 season.

Coverage overview

Early years: 1979–1982 and 1985–1988

ESPN initially covered the NHL during the 1979–80, 1980–81[2] and 1981–82[3] seasons by making deals with individual teams.[4][5] This included eleven Hartford Whalers home broadcasts in 1980–81 and 25 the following year.[6] Branded as ESPN Hockey, Barry Landers and Pete Stemkowski[7] were employed as commentators. ESPN meanwhile, used "Hot Lunch Jam" by Irene Cara for its theme music.

During this time, USA also broadcast National Hockey League games. In order to prevent overexposure, the NHL decided to grant only one network exclusive rights. In April 1982, USA outbid ESPN for the NHL's American national television cable package ($8 million for two years).[8][9] In 1984, the NHL asked ESPN for a bid, but then gave USA the right to match it, which it did.[4]

After the 1984–85 season, the NHL Board of Governors chose to have USA Network and ESPN submit sealed bids. ESPN won by bidding nearly $25 million for three years, about twice as much as USA had been paying. The contract called for ESPN to air up to 33 regular season games each season as well as the NHL All-Star Game and the Stanley Cup playoffs.[4][10] The network chose Dan Kelly and Sam Rosen to be the network's first play-by-play announcers, Mickey Redmond and Brad Park were selected to be the analysts, and Tom Mees and Jim Kelly were chosen to serve as studio hosts. ESPN designated Sundays as Hockey Night in America, but also aired select midweek telecasts. ESPN aired its first game, an opening-night matchup between the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers, on October 10, 1985.[11]

At the end of the 1987–88 season, ESPN lose the NHL television rights[12] to SportsChannel America,[13] who paid US$51 million[14][15][16] ($17 million per year[17]) over three years.[18] That's more than double[19][20] what ESPN had paid ($24 million) for the previous three years[21] SportsChannel America managed to get a fourth NHL season[22] for just $5 million.[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]

Unfortunately, SportsChannel America was only available in a few major markets (notably absent though were Detroit, Pittsburgh and St. Louis[30])[31][32][33] and reached only a 1/3 of the households that ESPN[34] did at the time.[35][36] SportsChannel America was seen in fewer than 10 million households.[37][38][39][40] In comparison, by the 1991–92 season,[41] ESPN was available in 60.5 million[42][43] homes whereas SportsChannel America was available in only 25 million. As a matter of fact, in the first year of the deal (1988–89), SportsChannel America was available in only 7 million homes when compared to ESPN's reach of 50 million.[44] When the SportsChannel deal ended in 1992, the league returned to ESPN[45] for another contract that would pay US$80 million over five years.[46]

NHL comes back to ESPN: 1992–2004

From its debut in 1992[47][48][49] until the 2001–02 NHL season, weekly regular-season games were broadcast on Sundays (between NFL and baseball seasons), Wednesdays,[50] and Fridays,[51] and were titled Sunday/Wednesday/Friday Night Hockey. Prior to 1999, these telecasts were non-exclusive, meaning they were blacked out in the regions of the competing teams, and an alternate game was shown in these affected areas. Beginning in 1999–2000 season, ESPN was permitted two exclusive telecasts per team per season. When ESPN started broadcasting NBA games on Wednesday and Friday nights in 2002, the weekly hockey broadcasts were moved to Thursday and the broadcasts renamed to Thursday Night Hockey. Beginning in 1993–94, up to five games per week were also shown on ESPN2[52] (dubbed "Fire on Ice").

During the Stanley Cup playoffs,[53] ESPN and ESPN2 provided almost nightly coverage, often carrying games on both channels concurrently. Games in the first two rounds were non-exclusive, while telecasts in the Conference Finals and Finals[54][55][56] were exclusive (except in 1993[57] and 1994).

NHL leaves ESPN: 2004–2021

Before the 2004–05 lockout, the NHL had reached two separate deals with NBC (who would replace ABC[58][59][60] as the NHL's American national broadcast television partner) and ESPN. ESPN offered the NHL $60 million for about 40 games (only fifteen of which would be during the regular season), all on ESPN2, with presumably, only some midweek playoff games, the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final and the All-Star Game airing on ESPN.[61][62][63][64]

NBC's deal involved a revenue sharing agreement with the NHL as opposed to a traditional rights fee, and included rights to six regular season windows, seven postseason broadcasts and games 3–7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. ESPN had a two-year deal that they opted out of after the lockout, leaving the NHL without a cable partner. In August 2005, Comcast[65] (who owns the Philadelphia Flyers) paid $70 million a year for three years to put games (54 or more games each season under the agreement, generally on Monday[66] and Tuesday nights) on OLN, later known as Versus. Due to the abbreviated off-season, the 2005–06 schedule did not offer OLN exclusivity, which they received in 2006–07. Versus would also cover the playoffs and exclusively air Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

NBC has continued to serve as the NHL's long-term U.S. broadcast partner. Following the purchase of NBC by Comcast and the merger of Versus into NBC Sports as NBC Sports Network, the broadcast and cable rights were unified in the 2011-12 season and renewed through 2020–21 season.

Although it has not held rights since, ESPN was the U.S. broadcaster of the NHL-backed 2016 World Cup of Hockey as NBC declined due to programming conflicts,[67][68] while ESPN's subscription platform ESPN+ (which launched 2018) added an NHL studio program, a free daily regular season game courtesy of NHL.tv (which is operated by Disney subsidiary BAMTech), and a Stanley Cup Playoffs documentary series (replacing one produced as part of Showtime's All Access franchise).[69]

NHL returns to ESPN: 2021–present

On March 9, 2021, reports surfaced[70][71][72][73][74][75][76] that ESPN reached a seven-year deal with the NHL beginning in the 2021–22 season. The agreement would see ESPN broadcast four Stanley Cup Finals between 2022 and 2028, plus streaming rights for Disney.

Personalities

References

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  3. ^ Clark, Cammy (September 3, 1992). "NHL okays ESPN deal". Tampa Bay Times.
  4. ^ a b c Strachan, Al (July 30, 1985). "ESPN acquires NHL games Backroom bickering in TV deal". The Globe and Mail.
  5. ^ Craig, Jack (June 27, 1982). "CABLE TIGHTROPE FOR SOX, BRUINS; TEAMS MUST BALANCE BROADCASTS TO KEEP AUDIENCE BUT MAKE MONEY". Boston Globe. p. 1.
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Preceded byUSA Network NHL pay television carrier in the United States 1985 - 1988 Succeeded bySportsChannel America Preceded bySportsChannel America NHL pay television carrier in the United States 1992 - 2004 Succeeded byOLN/Versus/NBCSN
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