One World Sports has obtained exclusive, multiplatform rights in North America to Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.
The global sports proponent, which has carriage deals with Dish Network, Cablevision, Mediacom and Google Fiber, will begin offering high-definition presentations of the puck circuit with four regular-season Kontinental Hockey League games in February, immediately following the Olympic Winter Games.
Coverage continues in April with live or same-day coverage of the league’s two conference finals and championship series. KHL content will be distributed across all the network’s platforms, spanning the linear channel and broadband and mobile via the network’s “Watch One World Sports” app.
Deal terms were not disclosed.
The KHL has 28 teams—21 based in Russia with the others in Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia and Ukraine. Teams play in all eight nations, crossing nine time zones from Central Europe to Asia. Sixteen squads make the playoffs with the winner awarded the Gagarin Cup, the KHL’s equivalent of the Stanley Cup.
“The addition of the KHL provides some of the best hockey the world has to offer to the ONE World Sports’ line-up” said Alexander “Sandy” Brown, president and CEO of One World Sports in announcing the pact. “With a significant number of NHL alumni in the KHL, we anticipate that our coverage will attract hockey fans across North America. Additionally, our multiplatform rights give those fans the opportunity to watch the games and highlights on the screen of their choice.”
