Amazon Prime Video will make a significant move into Canada’s hockey broadcasting landscape under a new 12-year sublicensing agreement with Rogers Communications announced Monday. Starting in the 2026-27 season, Prime Video will exclusively stream Wednesday night National Hockey League games in both English and French, marking an expansion of the streaming service’s role in bringing NHL content to Canadian fans.
The deal represents another milestone in the shift of major sports broadcasting from traditional television to streaming platforms. Prime Video will broadcast at least 26 national regular-season games beginning September 30, available to all Prime subscribers in Canada at no additional cost. The service will also gain exclusive rights to select Stanley Cup playoff series, specifically two first-round matchups and one second-round series annually, establishing it as a player in playoff coverage in the country for the first time.
The sublicensing arrangement runs alongside Rogers’ broader 12-year, $11 billion national media rights deal with the NHL, which extends through the 2037-38 season. Under the playoff allocation system, Prime Video will receive the fourth and fifth selections among the eight first-round series and the third choice among the four second-round matchups. This draft-style arrangement reflects how Rogers divides its extensive playoff holdings.
Prime Video brings several years of Canadian NHL experience to this expanded role, having previously carried Monday night games for the past two seasons. The shift from Monday to Wednesday represents a strategic repositioning that will give the streaming service prime placement in midweek viewing. The move comes as streaming platforms worldwide continue to invest heavily in live sports rights, which remain among the few programming categories that consistently draw large real-time audiences.
Jay Marine, head of global sports at Prime Video, expressed enthusiasm about the deal’s significance. “We’re thrilled to expand our partnership with the NHL and Rogers in this landmark agreement, which brings even more premium live sports to Prime members in Canada,” he said. Rogers President and CEO Tony Staffieri echoed similar sentiment, stating that “our partnership with Prime Video builds on the strong foundation we have established together and reinforces NHL hockey as the most valuable sports content in Canada.”
The agreement also underscores how Canadian hockey broadcasting continues to evolve dramatically. The deal was announced just weeks after Rogers and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation failed to renew their sublicensing agreement, ending Hockey Night in Canada on CBC after nearly 75 years of continuous broadcasting. The program, which became a cultural touchstone for the nation, aired Saturday night games and all Stanley Cup playoff rounds. Rogers-owned Citytv also ended its national game broadcasts, eliminating NHL games from free-to-air television in Canada entirely.
With the CBC partnership ending after the 2025-26 season, Rogers’ Sportsnet retains majority ownership of national NHL broadcasts in Canada. Sportsnet continues to air more than 500 national games annually, including Monday and Saturday night slots as well as most playoff coverage excluding the series sublicensed to Prime Video. By combining its traditional broadcast presence with Prime Video’s streaming service, Rogers has created a structure where different audience segments access games through separate platforms.
The terms of the Prime Video agreement were not disclosed. The announcement comes one year after Rogers and the NHL finalized their original 12-year national media rights renewal, which has fundamentally reshaped how Canadians access professional hockey. That initial deal followed Rogers’ original acquisition of Canadian NHL broadcast rights in 2013 for $5.2 billion.
Details about the on-air talent and production crew for Prime Video’s expanded coverage were not announced alongside the deal. The service previously employed play-by-play announcer John Forslund, color commentators Jody Shelley, Thomas Hickey and Shane Hnidy for its Monday night broadcasts, though no confirmation was provided about whether the same team would continue in expanded roles.
The deal reflects broader trends in professional sports broadcasting globally, with streaming services from Apple, Netflix and Amazon increasingly competing for premium live sports rights. In Canada, the Canadian Football League recently announced a move toward streaming on DAZN beginning in 2027, while Major League Soccer has partnered with Apple TV for broader coverage.
The Prime Video agreement marks a fundamental shift in the structure of Canadian sports media, moving marquee national broadcasts from both free-to-air television and traditional cable networks to subscription streaming services. For Canadian hockey fans, the change means accessing Wednesday night games now requires an Amazon Prime subscription, completing a transition that began with Monday night games but accelerates significantly under this new arrangement.