from Nicklas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com,
"This is a win-win-win," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.
The NHL will still be in places fans expect. The Stanley Cup Final will be on ABC in four of the seven years of the deal. ABC and ESPN will carry one conference final series and half of the first- and second-round games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs each season, plus 25 regular-season games.
(Remember that the remainder of the media rights are to be negotiated, and NBC, in the last year of a 10-year deal as the NHL's current U.S. partner, is in the bidding. This is only part of the picture.)
But ESPN will also produce 75 national games each regular season and stream them on ESPN+ and Hulu, and it will stream more than 1,000 out-of-market games each regular season on ESPN+, replacing NHL.TV.
"Streaming really is at the heart of this deal, and this is a reflection of its role as a critical part of our future," ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said.
More than that, Pitaro said it will be a model for sports media rights deals. As the late Walter Gretzky once told his son Wayne, "Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been."
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