WME-IMG won a shootout to represent the NHL’s global media rights as part of a multiyear deal signed last week.
The deal is structured as two separate contracts: one for the World Cup of Hockey tournament next September, in which the NHL Players’ Association receives a 50 percent revenue split; and another for regular-season and postseason NHL games. WME-IMG will represent all global rights on all media platforms outside of Scandinavia and North America.
“IMG stood out because of their breadth, scale and reach, along with their capabilities, which obviously could go far beyond TV,” said David Proper, the NHL’s executive vice president for media strategy and distribution. “This is not a rights buyout. We’ll be working with them side by side, as we look to grow the game in Europe and elsewhere.”
The NHL picked WME-IMG’s bid over competing bids from ESPN and MP & Silva, sources said. The agency already has a relationship with the NHL, producing media around the Winter Classic and the end-of-season NHL Awards show.
Financial terms of the arrangement between WME-IMG and the NHL could not be determined.
Medge Consulting and Advisers Media International represented the league’s European rights previously.
Given the growing number of international players in the NHL (about 33 percent are from outside of North America) and the popularity of hockey in Europe, in particular, the overseas opportunities have long been considered a huge revenue opportunity for the NHL. Currently, though, the league has no overseas offices.
WME-IMG convinced the league that it was best suited to help it expand its international business. A main part of its pitch was its ability to have “boots on the ground” in several markets that will help the league grow internationally, said Hillary Mandel, senior vice president of IMG Media. “That’s what we do — we grow properties around the world.”
The league’s international business appears primed for growth, given the World Cup’s revival and talk of a Ryder Cup-style hockey tournament. Plus, the 2022 Winter Olympic opportunities offer an opening to expand the game in the huge yet untapped market of China.
“We’ve built up our internal capabilities to the point where we now feel like we can pursue some of the larger global opportunities,” said NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins.
Mandel called the deal “a strategic consultancy and sales relationship,” which means the agency will do more than television, such as setting up additional tournaments and merchandising.
Mandel led negotiations for WME-IMG. Collins headed up negotiations for the league.
WME-IMG also handles global media rights in select territories for NASCAR and MLS.
