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TORONTO – Bell Media last month let the National Hockey League rights for Canada go to rival Rogers Media.
Now the Canadian broadcaster has bounced back by expanding and extending its Canadian TV rights deal with the National Football League to include more Sunday afternoon games and digital rights.
Financial terms of the new deal between the U.S. pro football league and Bell Media were not disclosed, but the latest multiyear rights deal will see more games on Bell Media channels, including the cable sports service TSN.
The new deal gets Sunday afternoon NFL games at 4 p.m. ET for the first time on TSN and CTV, Bell Media’s flagship conventional channel, with two games at both 1 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. ET. That will be followed on Sundays with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET, Sunday Night Football at 8:30 p.m. ET and SportsCenter at 11 p.m. ET. TSN previously had the rights to Sunday night NFL games and the 1 p.m. league matchups.
CTV will continue to air the Super Bowl game and NHL playoff games.
Additionally, the new agreement hands Bell Media digital media rights to allow Internet and mobile phone subscribers to watch NFL games and content on TV Everywhere platforms, including CTV GO and TSN GO.
“The National Football League is a brand synonymous with excellence and leadership to both fans and advertisers alike. We look forward to elevating the NFL in Canada to even higher peaks,” Phil King, president, CTV programming and sports, said in a statement Monday.
The NFL deal extension follows TSN losing access to popular NHL games from next season after Rogers Media outbid Bell Media for the broadcast rights to hockey for the next 12 years. The CA$5.2 billion ($4.94 billion U.S.) NHL deal will see Canadian cable sports channel Sportsnet secure the exclusive English-language rights to TV hockey on all platforms.
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