The NHL revealed details of its new partnership with MLB Advanced Media. (USATSI)
The NHL revealed details of its new partnership with MLB Advanced Media. (USATSI)

The National Hockey League and Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the interactive media arm of MLB, formally announced what the two sides are terming a “groundbreaking” digital media rights partnership. The two sides have engaged in a six-year agreement.

As part of the deal, MLBAM will be taking over the rights to operate several key NHL platforms including its live game streaming, Center Ice dish/cable package, mobile apps and league websites, while paying a rights fee to the NHL.

Previous reports had the deal valued at $1.2 billion in potential revenue for the NHL, but NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said that the valuation was not as high as reported during a teleconference to announce the deal.

That being said, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported on some of the particulars of the deal:

NHL COO John Collins would not confirm these figures, but word is the league valued the deal at $200 million per year.

The annual breakdown: a $100M rights fee to the NHL, $20M in savings from the league not having to invest in the capital resources/expertise it would take to go on its own, and $80M in equity in MLBAM’s technology business.

The equity portion may not figure in revenue calculations for the purposes of the salary cap. “We were told to expect $120M per year in added revenue… $4M per team,” one governor said.

That's a pretty healthy chunk of change, even if the $1.2 billion valuation does not come to fruition.

1. What will MLBAM be responsible for?

According to the NHL’s release, MLBAM will be taking over the rights to distribute league games in the United States and certain international markets including live streaming via GameCenter Live and NHL Center Ice, which is delivered via cable and satellite providers.

MLBAM will also be taking over the rights to operate the NHL Network, which will have its daily on-air operations moved to MLB Network’s current studio in Secaucus, N.J.

The league will also be turning to MLBAM to operate the NHL’s websites, including individual team websites and existing digital apps. MLBAM and the NHL will also be able to partner on the development of additional apps for the league and member teams.

One important note from the NHL's release is that the league says it and its member clubs will retain editorial control over all of its digital platforms. With so many NHL teams generating mountains of digital content on their own, many of them effectively engage team fans, this shouldn't change a lot on the team level.

2. When will it start?

MLBAM expects to launch its NHL presence in January of 2016.

Bettman said that this will be an evolutionary process as the league transitions to its new platforms.

“It’s fair to say, from the beginning of the season through the calendar year, it will be business as usual,” Bettman said.

3. What will change after everything launches?

In addition to all that was mentioned above, the biggest changes could end up being noticed at NHL Network. The NHL says it plans to build around some of its current original shows.

COO John Collins noted that the content will be robust and that MLBAM will be getting some input on how to improve the network.

“We’re very open and looking forward to [MLB President of Business and Media] Bob Bowman and his guys’ ideas to build the network,” Collins said. “[NHL Network is] something we take pride in, but there are things to improve. We’re going to focus on content.”

Bettman also added that the MLB has been able to add more resources to MLB Network than the NHL has to its own to date. The new deal will allow the league to put more money towards the network to boost the content, while improving production value as well.

Additionally, MLBAM is renowned for their streaming technology. On top of running MLB.tv, MLBAM also runs streaming platforms for ESPN, WWE and HBO. This should be good news for fans who purchase live streaming packages from the league.

We can probably also anticipate the NHL’s and member clubs’ websites and videos to look different from how they appear now, for better or for worse.

The league and MLBAM also confirmed that some of the NHL staff may be affected by these changes. MLBAM said it hopes to transition as many of the current NHL employees as possible, particularly in relation to the new NHL Network.

4. How does this impact the salary cap?

Any time the NHL gets an influx of revenue like they will with this deal, it has an impact on hockey operations. That’s particularly true of the salary cap.

Bettman confirmed that revenue tied to this deal is considered “hockey-related revenue” which the NHL has to share with the players and tied to the salary cap. More revenue means a higher cap.

James Mirtle of the Globe & Mail projected that the cap could see an increase of around $2.5 million once the money from this deal impacts the hockey-related revenue. 

That will be music to any cap-strapped team's ears.

5. Will the NHL’s policies on GIFs, Vines and other independently shared media change?

One big question for anyone that consumes NHL content on the internet was how this partnership with MLBAM will impact sharable content.

Major League Baseball is notoriously hawkish on its media rights, often killing YouTube videos, GIFs, Vines and the like that were not originated by MLB itself, as is their right. The NHL, on the other hand, has turned a relative blind eye to such practices. 

Hockey fans in particular have become accustomed to such content and it has helped the NHL in terms of exposure on social platforms due to how rapidly that content shows up via various twitter feeds and YouTubers.

Bettman was non-committal when asked if this new deal will change the league’s relatively lax policies on this matter.

“We’re constantly reviewing our policies,” he said. “They will be adjusted if that’s appropriate.”

So stay tuned on that one.

All in all, this deal is a win for the NHL in a lot of ways. The financials, the quality of their in-house TV network and the live streaming are all upgraded. Assuming the league sticks to what it's already doing well on the digital side, like allowing individual teams generate original content and have autonomy on social media, as well as allowing fans to distribute viral content independently, it can only grow from here.