NHL And IOC Fail To Agree On Media Rights For 2022 Olympics

Talks have been ongoing since the start of the 2021 season, but according to a new report the NHL and the IOC have failed to reach an agreement over media and streaming rights for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. This marks just the newest speedbump in the NHL's road back to the global stage.

Enshrined in the newest CBA agreement, settled upon last summer as a result of the Covid-19 shutdown, was a clause that stated the NHL's players would attend Beijing's Winter Olympics in 2022. However, just because it was written in the CBA does not guarantee a deal with the IOC will get done. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman cast doubt on the possibility just over a month ago, citing the difficulty in insuring and protecting the NHL's top players from the ongoing pandemic. The NHL has reportedly resolved this issue, and the current public draft of the NHL's 2021-2022 season schedule includes an Olympic break in February, directly after the All-Star break. 

This new obstacle involves television rights and sponsorships. The NHL recently moved away from NBC as one of its main rightsholders, and NBC is a primary broadcaster of the Olympic Games. The result is that the NHL may be unable to advertise its games and have its logo displayed at the Olympics, greatly reducing the advertising the league would otherwise receive from a worldwide audience. This also means that while the NHL's players are lighting up the ice around the world, the league itself does not own the rights to video highlights of the events. This stipulation is a big part of why the NHL has been absent from the Winter Olympics since 2014.

While the NHL still withholds full authority to decline to participate in the 2022 Olympics should the situation surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic worsen, all senses are that the league is still going ahead with its plans to attend.

Would you like to see NHL players at the 2022 Beijing Olympics?

Photo credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports