Amazon’s Prime Video will exclusively broadcast Wednesday night national NHL regular-season games in Canada in English and French beginning next season, as part of a new 12-year sub-licensing agreement with Rogers Communications Inc.
The streaming service will also carry select Stanley Cup playoff series, including two first-round series and one second-round matchup annually, under the deal announced on Tuesday.
A Rogers spokesperson said the playoff allocation will follow a draft format. Prime Video will receive the fourth and fifth selections among the eight first-round series and the third choice among the four second-round matchups.
Prime Video’s lineup will include at least 26 national regular-season games, starting Sept. 30, and will be available to Prime members in Canada at no additional cost, while Rogers-owned Sportsnet retains the majority of national NHL games.
The agreement spans the full length of Rogers’s 12-year deal with the NHL for the national media rights on all platforms in Canada through the 2037-38 season.
“We’re thrilled to expand our partnership with the NHL and Rogers in this landmark agreement, which brings even more premium live sports to Prime members in Canada,” said Jay Marine, head of global sports at Prime Video, in a statement.
No more NHL on free-to-air television
The deal follows last month’s announcement that Rogers and CBC would not renew their sub-licensing agreement, ending Hockey Night in Canada on the public broadcaster after the 2025-26 season. Rogers-owned Citytv will also no longer carry national games, ending NHL broadcasts on free-to-air television.
The CBC will stop showing NHL games after the broadcaster and national rights holder Rogers Sportsnet were unable to come to agreement on a new sublicensing deal. In its place, CBC is launching a new Saturday night primetime show on television and streaming on CBC Gem, featuring Canadian athletes competing at home and at the biggest events around the world.
The CBC previously aired national games on Saturdays, along with all four rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“Our partnership with Prime Video builds on the strong foundation we have established together and reinforces NHL hockey as the most valuable sports content in Canada,” Rogers president and CEO Tony Staffieri said in a statement.
The agreement continues the NHL’s move toward streaming platforms after Prime Video began carrying Monday night games in Canada over the past two NHL seasons. That deal did not include playoff games or French-language broadcasts.
John Shannon, a longtime sportscaster and TV producer in Canada, called the shift toward streaming platforms an “inevitability,” pointing to the CFL’s recent deal to stream Saturday night games on DAZN beginning in…
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