NHL lines up streaming deal in Russia

The NHL has agreed to a multiyear deal with Yandex, the leading internet search provider in Russia, to broadcast all NHL games through its streaming service starting this season.

Yandex, considered the Russian equivalent to Google, will offer regular season and playoff game broadcasts for free, building off the NHL’s previous distribution deal with Eurosport, which broadcast 15 games a week as part of a paid package.

With those rights up this summer, NHL executive vice-president of international and media strategy David Proper said Yandex was the most attractive option because “they were willing to work with us in the way that we wanted to promote the NHL and the game of hockey itself in Russia,” including with original content about Russian NHL stars. Viewers will also be also to watch the games with Russian commentary.

“We want to show the other side of the Russian players to the Russian fan base,” Proper said. “I think that’s always been something that’s been difficult for us to convey because it’s usually just the games that are being distributed. Yandex has certainly expressed a commitment to kind of, for lack of a better way to put it, take the helmets off and let people get to really know (Washington captain Alex) Ovechkin or (Tampa Bay forward Nikita) Kucherov or (Lightning goaltender Andrei) Vasilevskiy or somebody like that.”

The deal continues the league’s push to make NHL games more accessible abroad.

Proper said Russia has consistently rated as the NHL’s top market for European viewership and Russian NHL players rank among the most-searched athletes on Yandex.

“They’re certainly one of the most well-known digital brands in Russia, if not the world, so-so we were pretty flattered when they were interested in the first place,” Proper said.