NHL to be screened live in Russia via VGTRK | RTR

The All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK | RTR) has signed an agreement giving it the rights to telecast live NHL games. The plan is to show multiple games each week, which will be shared between the free-to-air channel Rossiya 2 and the sports channel Sport 1. Rossiya 2 is received by a potential 80 million viewers and Sport 1 by 3.5 million, making this deal a significant addition to the League’s International TV distribution.

“Providing NHL games on television in Russia is important given that some of the League’s biggest stars such as Alex Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Evgeni Malkin were born, grew up and began their hockey careers there,” said John Collins, NHL chief operating officer. “This agreement is one way we are providing fans throughout Russia with the NHL content that they demand and the ability to follow their hometown heroes throughout their NHL careers.”

The addition of VGTRK | RTR as a broadcast partner follows a number of distribution agreements reached this season with international broadcasters throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as the landmark distribution partnership between the NHL and MTG to provide live
coverage of all 1,230 regular-season games and every Stanley Cup Playoffs game throughout the Nordic region, including Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway.