TORONTO, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Rogers Communications said Tuesday it will pay $5.2 billion for the right to broadcast NHL games in Canada for the next 12 years.
The media conglomerate said the deal will run from 2014 to mid-2026.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. noted the deal is more than twice the $2 billion U.S. broadcaster NBC agreed to pay the NHL for 10 years, starting in 2011.
Rogers signed a side pact to sub-license the rights to the "Hockey Night in Canada" brand to CBC and Quebecor's French-language TVA network.
"Canadians will have more games, more content and more choice than they've ever had before," Rogers Media President Keith Pelley said.
"We have reached out to make sure Canadians will have access the way they have before," Rogers Chief Executive Officer Nadir Mohamed said. "I believe it's great for CBC and great for Canadians."
The deal leaves Bell Media with only a small slice of the NHL pie in the coming years. It will still carry a block of regional pro games, the CBC said.
"We submitted a bid we believed was valuable for the NHL and appropriate for our business, but were ultimately outbid," Bell Media said in response to a query from the CBC.
