German Sports Network Sport1 Doubles NHL Broadcast Coverage In New Four-Year Deal

German sports network Sport1 has secured NHL media rights for Germany, Austria and Switzerland over the next four season. The deal between Sport1 and IMG, which markets the league's global media rights, will run until the end of the '19-20 season. Sport1's dedicated pay-TV U.S. sports channel, Sport1 US, will show up to 140 live games per season starting with the season opener between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues on Thursday morning at 2am local time. Financial terms of the agreement were not released. As part of the deal, Sport1 becomes the NHL's exclusive rights holder in Germany, while its rights for Austria and Switzerland are on a non-exclusive basis. Sport1 US will broadcast up to four live games per week, as well as the NHL Centennial Classic, NHL Winter Classic, NHL Stadium Series, NHL Heritage Classic, NHL All-Star Game, Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Finals. The new deal with IMG means that Sport1 US will now show more than twice as many NHL games per season as before, Sport1 Management Chair and Constantin Medien COO Sports Olaf Schröder said. The network also has the German Hockey League (DEL), Champions Hockey League, Deutschland Cup, Spengler Cup and 2017 IIHF World Championship in its program. "There's never been so much ice hockey in Germany on one platform ... it's a feast for the fans," Schröder said.

MORE DISTRIBUTION: As part of a recently announced content cooperation between Sport1 and Perform Group, the NHL will also air on Perform's new OTT service DAZN. The games, however, will only be available for streaming in Germany and Austria. DAZN's U.S. sports coverage also includes the NBA, NFL and IndyCar Series.