NHL secures multiyear broadcast deals with Charter for four teams

The NHL has secured multiyear carriage agreements with Charter-owned Spectrum to provide linear television distribution for four teams: the Columbus Blue Jackets, Carolina Hurricanes, Minnesota Wild, and St. Louis Blues. These deals follow the collapse of the Main Street Sports Group, which previously owned FanDuel Sports Networks.

Under this new model, the league is negotiating centrally on behalf of teams rather than leaving them to individual negotiations. Instead of traditional fixed rights fees, these direct-to-distributor deals will pay teams a per-subscriber fee. While Spectrum will provide cable access, the Blue Jackets and Wild will also simulcast select games on free, over-the-air broadcast networks.

All games will also be available for streaming via Amazon’s Prime Video. For the four teams involved in the Spectrum deal, streaming can be accessed through a Prime membership or via a standalone subscription. The NHL is reportedly continuing discussions with other potential distributors to ensure broad carriage as the new season approaches.