TV sports Estimate of HS sources: Yle paid well over € 1 million for the NHL contract

Yle recently acquired rights to 25 NHL matches and Stanley Cup finals for two seasons from the Swedish Nent Group. The agreement also includes extended news rights. According to HS estimates, the total price is over EUR 1 million.

The coverage of the matches on Yle TV2 and Arena will start in January. The Nent Group still shows all NHL matches.

The deal has sparked a lot of debate and question about how much Yle spent on NHL hockey.

Yle has not disclosed the value of the contract, as the seller of the contract is Yle’s CEO Merja Ylä-Anttilan wanted to keep the information confidential.

“I understand it is a common practice,” said Ylä-Anttila In his Twitter post.

Yle’s sports manager Joose Palonen Yle responded to the criticism by saying that Yle does not waste taxpayers’ money, but the contract is responsible and very cost-effective.

“Yle does not waste taxpayers’ money, especially not recklessly,” Palonen wrote On Twitter.

Received by HS It is estimated that Yle paid the Nent Group well over EUR 1 million for the contract.

The value of one season, the 25 regular season matches and the Stanley Cup finals, is estimated to be “closer to one million euros”. Estimates are based on sources familiar with making TV contracts.

In addition, Yle not only stepped into the Nent Group and entered into an agreement. According to HS, at least one commercial television company, possibly several, was interested in the agreement. There are practically three options: Discovery, MTV and Nelonen media.

Head of Sports and Events Panu Pokkinen notes On Twitter, however, that there was no tender.

“It was not a tender but part of a wider partnership with Nenti,” Pokkinen writes.

Correction 30.12.2021 at 13.05: It was previously mentioned in the story that there would have been a tender for the NHL contract. The comment of Yle’s director Panu Pokkinen that Yle has agreed on an extensive partnership with the Nent Group has now been added.