Yahoo Sports Partners With NHL to Bring Fans Free, Live Out-of-Market Games & On-Demand Premium Content

No Cable or Authentication Required, Alliance Offers New Opportunities for Advertisers to Connect with Fans

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--()--Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) and the National Hockey League (NHL®) today announced a strategic alliance to deliver premium sports content to Yahoo Sports’ millions of users. Now fans can access live, out-of-market NHL games for free on Yahoo, throughout the week, no cable subscription or authentication required. Yahoo will offer unique advertising opportunities for brands to connect with their audiences, alongside and within this live and on-demand sports contents.

Beginning March 11, Yahoo Sports, in collaboration with the NHL, will live stream an NHL “Game of the Day” to hockey fans in the U.S., up to four days a week, along with delivering in-game highlights for each game. This is in addition to the Wednesday and Sunday national NHL games currently promoted by Yahoo to its fans in partnership with NBC Sports Group. Yahoo will also provide condensed games, “Best of the Day” and “Best of the Week” top plays and postgame highlights. Yahoo Sports also will continue to bring fantasy hockey highlights and our season-long game to fans around the world.

“This alliance brings us one step closer to providing fans a live professional sporting event every day, on Yahoo, completely frictionless and for free – no cable subscription or authentication required,” said Phil Lynch, VP, Media Partnerships at Yahoo. “We remain committed to delivering the best digital content to our users and advertisers, and the NHL’s premium content nicely complements our offering of live and on-demand partner content, including Yahoo/MLB’s Game of the Day, Yahoo/NBC Sports content and our recently announced deal with the PGA TOUR.”

Building on the success of the NFL live stream on Yahoo which drew more than 15 million viewers, Yahoo is introducing new video advertising opportunities that will run within commercial breaks during the live streams of live sporting events, which includes NHL and MLB games. Brands will have new ways to connect directly with an engaged audience of sports fans around this live video programming on Yahoo Sports, while using Yahoo’s audience insights and retargeting capabilities to engage with viewers after a game concludes.

ABOUT THE NHL

The National Hockey League (NHL®), founded in 1917, consists of 30 Member Clubs, with players from more than 20 countries represented across team rosters, competing for the most revered trophy in professional sports – the Stanley Cup®. Each year, the NHL entertains hundreds of millions of fans around the world. The League broadcasts games in more than 160 countries and territories through its rightsholders including NBC/NBCSN in the U.S., Sportsnet and TVA in Canada, and Viasat in the Nordic Region. The NHL reaches fans worldwide with games available online in every country including via its live and on-demand streaming service NHL.TV™. Fans are engaged across the League’s digital assets on mobile devices via the free NHL app; across nine social media platforms; on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio™, and on NHL.com, available in eight languages and featuring an enhanced statistics platform powered by SAP, providing the definitive destination for hockey analytics. A historic media rights partnership between the NHL and MLBAM has transformed the fan experience across the League’s digital and broadcast assets, with an emphasis on deeper access into the game and enhanced storytelling. To celebrate the NHL’s international diversity, the World Cup of Hockey will return in September, 2016, a best-on-best international tournament featuring eight teams comprised of the world’s best hockey players. On Founder’s Day in November 2017, the League will celebrate its Centennial anniversary, commemorating 100 years of NHL hockey. The NHL is committed to giving back to the community through programs including: Hockey is for Everyone™ which supports nonprofit youth hockey organizations across North America; Hockey Fights Cancer™ which raises money and awareness for hockey's most important fight; NHL Green™ which is committed to the pursuit of sustainable business practices; and a partnership with the You Can Play Project, which is committed to supporting the LGBT community and fighting homophobia in sports. For more information, visit NHL.com.

NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All Rights Reserved.

About Yahoo

Yahoo is a guide focused on informing, connecting, and entertaining our users. By creating highly personalized experiences for our users, we keep people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the world. In turn, we create value for advertisers by connecting them with the audiences that build their businesses. Yahoo is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has offices located throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific (APAC) and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.net) or the Company's blog (yahoo.tumblr.com).

Contacts

Yahoo
Sean Hamel, 212-381-6877
shamel@yahoo-inc.com

Contacts

Yahoo
Sean Hamel, 212-381-6877
shamel@yahoo-inc.com