Rogers signs 12-yr deal to broadcast NHL games in Canada

TORONTO, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Rogers Communications Inc (NYSE: RCI - news) said on Tuesday it signed a landmark C$5.2 billion ($4.9 billion) deal to broadcast National Hockey League games in Canada for the next 12 years.

The broadcast rights are a major coup for Rogers in Canada, where hockey has a huge fan base, as it will likely lead to some lucrative advertising deals.

The deal, pending approval from the NHL's Board of Governors at its meeting on Dec. 9-10, will give Rogers a leg up in its battle against rival BCE Inc (Toronto: BCE.TO - news) with whom it shares ownership of Toronto's professional hockey and basketball teams.

Rogers, Canada's largest wireless phone company and a major cable television operator, also said it reached sub-licensing deals with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) for English-language broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada and Quebecor (Other OTC: QBCRF - news) 's TVA for French-language multimedia rights. The terms of the sub-licensing deals were not disclosed.

"Canadians are passionate about hockey, and through this landmark partnership with the NHL we'll be able to bring hockey fans more games and more content on their platform of choice," said Nadir Mohamed, the departing chief executive at Rogers.

The NHL deal begins with the 2014-2015 season and continues through 2025-2026 season. The deal includes national rights for television, wireless and mobile tablets, Internet streaming, and terrestrial and satellite radio.

Rogers said as part of the multiyear agreement, CBC, the country's taxpayer-funded public broadcaster, will continue to air nationally televised regular season games on Saturday (Shenzhen: 002291.SZ - news) night, as well as playoff games and the Stanley Cup final.

In addition, the popular Hockey Night in Canada brand will continue on CBC and be used across all Rogers channels and platforms on Saturday nights. Rogers and CBC said they plan to expand their sports alliance.

Rogers said its broadcast deal is expected to boost the operating profit of its media division from the outset and also yield benefits to its cable and wireless operations.

Earlier this month, more than 1.5 billion pounds ($2.42 billion) was wiped off British broadcaster BSkyB's stock market value after it lost the rights to Champions League soccer games.

Shares in Rogers and BCE were largely flat in early trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday.