German sports broadcaster Sport1 has extended a rights deal for North American ice hockey league the NHL.
The four-year deal with the IMG agency, which markets media rights outside of North America on behalf of the NHL, covers the 2016-17 to 2019-20 seasons.
The agreement grants Sport1 comprehensive platform-neutral media rights on an exclusive basis in Germany, and non-exclusively in Austria and Switzerland.
The deal was first reported by TV Sports Markets on September 16.
Sport1 will broadcast up to 140 games per season as of the 2016-17 campaign, which gets underway later today (Wednesday).
Sport1 will air up to four live regular-season games per week, and many games from the post-season Stanley Cup playoffs.
Sport1’s coverage of the NHL commences with the game between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, which gets underway at 2am tomorrow (Thursday) in Germany.