NHL Looks to Gain Audience with ESPN, TNT Broadcasts

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by Eric Fulton
The 2021-2022 National Hockey League season kicked off its 105th season on October 12th, and it began in a big way by entering a new era in their television production. The NHL returned to ESPN for the first time since 2004 with the reigning two-time Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ironically, the last time ESPN broadcasted an NHL game was when the Lightning won their first championship in June 2004.

When the NHL canceled the entire 2004-2005 season, ESPN decided not to renew its TV rights to the sport and the sport rarely even got the slightest bit of time on “SportsCenter.” When the NHL returned, the NBC Sports Group brought exclusive television rights of the NHL. For 16 years, NBC introduced sports fans to players such as Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and Connor McDavid as the NHL reintroduced itself to the next generation of great talent.

While it was great to see hockey back on television, NBC lacked much of an audience as hockey became more of a niche sport in America. Whether the games were on the main NBC channel or their 24-hour sports channel, NBCSN, they lacked ratings.  One game a lot of fans would watch is the NHL Winter Classic, a showcase outdoor game that happens every New Year’s Day.  When it was decided that NBCSN was going to shut down as a network in late 2021, the NHL decided it was time to move on and get new television partners.

Once ESPN brought back hockey, the NHL needed at least another TV partner to showcase the excellent talent they already have while hoping to have more people invested in the sport. The NHL also added TNT as another new TV partner to display the NHL like they already display the NBA. It is a solid move for the NHL to have two TV partners. TNT’s first night of covering the NHL was October 13th, one night after ESPN’s debut. They featured a doubleheader between the New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks vs. Colorado Avalanche.

Much of the talent from the NBC and NBCSN days are now with either ESPN or TNT. Brian Boucher joined the ESPN crew alongside familiar faces Steve Levy, John Buccigross and Barry Melrose. Hockey Hall of Famers Chris Chelios and Mark Messier also joined the ESPN crew. On TNT, studio host Liam McHugh, Anson Carter, Keith Jones, and commentators Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyk come over from NBCSN. Also joining the TNT crew is none other than the greatest hockey player ever, Wayne Gretzky. To me, it is huge for a new network like TNT to bring on the greatest player in the sport to give his thoughts on a weekly basis on the sport he dominated.

TNT will air their games on Wednesday nights during the regular season, right between its Tuesday and Thursday night coverage of the NBA. Right now, they are showing one game a week during the late night hours. Starting in January, they will have two games every Wednesday. TNT will also air the two Outdoor Games to be played in 2022. The annual NHL Winter Classic will air on January 1 in Minnesota, while the Stadium Series game will air on February 26th in Nashville. ESPN, along with ABC, ESPN+ and Hulu will carry games multiple times a week throughout the regular season. Seventy-five regular season games will air exclusively on ESPN+ and Hulu. ESPN and TNT will have the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the spring with each network alternating homes for the Stanley Cup Final in June.

Having watched a couple of games on both networks, I will say that each network is heavily invested in bringing new fans to the game of hockey. The broadcast for both networks seem very crisp and the game by game flow is well documented. I know many sports fans will likely watch other things when hockey is on the air, but having multiple networks dedicated to the NHL is very vital for the sport to grow interest among viewers in the United States. Both ESPN and TNT have a golden opportunity to get new fans watching the NHL and I know they will do everything in their power to make the games watchable and fun. 

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