Sportsnet to charge extra fee to watch Monday NHL games through TV provider

Canadian hockey fans who want to watch Sportsnet’s Monday night national NHL broadcasts this season will have to pay an extra $13 a month if they subscribe to the channel through their TV provider rather than the Sportsnet+ streaming service, the company announced Wednesday.

But that new fee could be waived by their TV provider, Sportsnet added.

The news came as the company announced plans for the first season of its new $11-billion, 12-year contract with the NHL, which kicks off later this month.

After speculation last week that analysts Kevin Bieksa and Elliotte Friedman might not return to the network, Sportsnet confirmed the two will be back on Saturday night broadcasts, renamed Saturday Night Hockey after Sportsnet and CBC, which owns the Hockey Night in Canada brand, ended their 12-year broadcast partnership at the end of last season.

But Jennifer Botterill, a popular member of Sportsnet’s broadcast panel who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last year, will not be back this season, leaving the channel without any woman hockey analyst appearing regularly. Colby Armstrong will take Botterill’s place alongside Bieksa and Friedman, with host Ron MacLean.

The Saturday night double-header broadcasts will feature at least one Canadian team in each matchup.

“Saturday Night Hockey will put Canadian teams front-and-centre, where the compelling games and world’s best players will be the focus of the show, with a studio team that brings unmatched personality and unique perspectives,” Greg Sansone, the president of Sportsnet, said in a statement.

Monday Night Hockey, which returns to Sportsnet after NHL broadcasts on that night were carried by Amazon’s Prime streaming service for the past two seasons, will be hosted by David Amber, with analysts Luke Gazdic and Justin Williams. The broadcasts will feature at least one Canadian team. (Amazon struck a 12-year deal over the summer to sub-license national rights for Wednesday night’s national NHL broadcasts.)

That weekly Monday broadcast will be carried exclusively on the Sportsnet+ streaming service. Over the summer, Rogers Sports & Media announced it was raising the annual price of that service beginning this fall, to $270 from $250 for its standard service, and $345 from $325 for its premium service, which includes out-of-market NHL games.

The regular Sportsnet TV channels will carry other content on Monday nights.

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Fans who get Sportsnet through their TV provider will need to log in to the Sportsnet+ service online using their TV subscription credentials – and then, if they wish to watch the Monday night games, pay an additional $13 a month. Subscribers who pay the extra fee will also have access to what the company described as “more than 100 additional U.S. team matchups” over the course of the season.

A Sportsnet spokesperson told The Globe and Mail that the Monday night national games will also be available on a new Sportsnet channel through cable and other providers that choose to carry it. There was no information immediately available on whether any cable providers had yet agreed to carry the new channel.

The $13-a-month Monday night package will be available for purchase beginning Sept. 15.

Sportsnet also announced it has eliminated the regional blackouts on 150 games and will carry them nationally. The company holds the regional rights for Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, and shares Toronto Maple Leafs regional rights with Bell Media’s TSN.

“Sportsnet will showcase more games than ever before with 35 per cent more national broadcasts than last year and fewer blackouts, giving fans unprecedented access to the NHL’s biggest stars and best moments,” Sansone said.