from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail,

Rogers Media isn’t the only struggling partner in the NHL’s $5.2-billion, 12-year Canadian broadcast deal. The league itself is hurting, too.

The contract with Rogers is paid in Canadian dollars, which sharply declined in value against the U.S. dollar after the deal was announced on Nov. 26, 2013. As a result, the NHL is taking a large hit in the contract’s first season: One NHL governor, who spoke anonymously because league officials are forbidden to publicly discuss NHL business, said the currency hit for the 2014-2015 season was pegged at about 17 per cent, which, based on the annual average rights fee of $433-million, works out to a $73.61-million loss for the league.

This comes in addition to the revenue declines that all seven Canadian-based NHL teams are experiencing. They generate about 35 per cent of the league’s revenue, which hit a record total of $3.66-billion (U.S.) for the 2013-14 season. The NHL tracks its revenue in U.S. dollars.

When Rogers and the NHL first announced the deal, the Canadian dollar was worth 94 cents U.S. On Monday, after a week-long roller-coaster ride, the Canadian dollar closed at 81.71 cents U.S., an improvement from the March low of 78.2 cents.

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