German sports broadcaster Sport1 has acquired rights to this year’s edition of ice hockey’s World Cup of Hockey national team event.
Sport1 struck the deal with the National Hockey League, which is jointly organising the event alongside the National Hockey League Players’ Association and the International Ice Hockey Federation.
Sport1 has secured platform-neutral distribution rights to all games of the tournament on an exclusive basis in Germany, and on a non-exclusive basis in Austria and Switzerland.
The deal, which was brokered by the IMG Media agency, also includes rights to all pre-tournament games played from September 8-14 in North America and Europe.
The main event will take place in the Canadian city of Toronto from September 17 to October 1, with all games being held at the Air Canada Centre.
German players lining up for Team Europe include Leon Draisaitl (pictured) of the Edmonton Oilers, Tobias Rieder of the Arizona Coyotes and Thomas Greiss of the New York Islanders.