Ice Hockey

The Discovery Networks Finland division of US media company Discovery has struck a sublicensing agreement with Finnish telco Telia for rights to SM-Liiga, the top division of domestic ice hockey.

Russian state-controlled commercial broadcaster Channel One has agreed a six-year deal with the International Ice Hockey Federation for rights to its annual World Championship.

DAZN, the OTT service operated by digital sports-media company Perform, has bolstered its ice hockey content in Germany and Austria by acquiring rights to Russian competition the Kontinental Hockey League.

Swedish media company Modern Times Group has acquired rights in Norway to the 2018 Ice Hockey World Championship.

Pay-television broadcaster O2 TV has acquired rights in the Czech Republic to the country’s top-tier ice hockey league, the Extraliga.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has renewed its National Hockey League sublicensing deal on more favourable terms, TV Sports Markets understands.

Ice hockey’s Spengler Cup will be broadcast in China, the UK, Ireland and Georgia for the first time when its 2017 edition takes place later this month.

Canadian public-service broadcaster CBC has sealed a sublicensing deal with Rogers Media to continue showing the Hockey Night in Canada programme and the Stanley Cup playoffs – the conclusion of the NHL North American ice hockey season.

US OTT streaming service FuboTV has agreed a multi-year deal to carry programming from regional sports network NESN.

Superswiss, which provides pay-television channels in the US, has expanded its partnership with the DEL, the top division of ice hockey in Germany.

Pay-television broadcaster NHL Network has extended a rights partnership with USA Hockey.

Eurosport Gold, a new channel containing programming from the international sports broadcaster’s Eurosport 2 channel, has launched on telecommunications platform Rostelecom in Russia.

The NBC network, rights-holder to the Olympic Games in the United States, has confirmed it won’t broadcast any games from North American ice hockey league the NHL during the 2018 winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.

Swiss pay-television broadcaster Teleclub has acquired rights to the 2017-18 season of the Swiss Ice Hockey Cup.

The Kontinental Hockey League’s new international rights deal with the Lagardère Sports agency marks the beginning of a six-season plan to expand the league across Europe and restructure its revenue streams.

Interview with Sergey Dobrokhvalov, marketing and communications vice president at the Kontinental Hockey League, on the league's recent international rights deal with Lagardère Sports and the league's plans for expansion.