Amazon expands NHL offering: Prime Video becomes local streaming partner for six U.S. clubs
Starting with the 2026/27 season, Prime Video will become the exclusive streaming platform for local broadcasts of six NHL clubs in their regional markets in the United States. According to a joint announcement by the NHL and Prime Video on September 2, the multi-year agreement covers the current Stanley Cup champions Carolina Hurricanes, as well as the Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues. Through Prime Video, fans within each club's territory will be able to watch games that have not been selected for exclusive national broadcast, while the offering will also include pregame and postgame shows and additional club content. An important distinction here is between exclusive streaming rights and overall television distribution: several clubs will continue or plan to continue offering games through traditional television, cable or satellite channels as well. Prices and access terms will not be the same in all six markets, as they are defined separately by the clubs.
The agreement further strengthens Amazon's position in the distribution of professional sports in the United States while also deepening its relationship with the NHL. Prime Video already broadcasts local Seattle Kraken games in part of the U.S. Northwest, while in Canada it held the exclusive Prime Monday Night Hockey package during the previous two seasons. Beginning with the 2026/27 season, its role in Canada will expand further through a 12-year agreement with Rogers Communications, under which Prime Video will exclusively broadcast national NHL games on Wednesdays in English and French, as well as selected playoff series. The new U.S. local agreement is therefore not an isolated move, but part of a broader strategy in which Amazon is gradually building a portfolio of professional hockey rights at multiple levels.
Six clubs, but different subscription models
The NHL and Prime Video announced the framework agreement for all six clubs, but the details show that there is no single pricing model. Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues announced local packages priced at 19.99 U.S. dollars per month or 99.99 dollars per year. According to information from the clubs, purchasing these separate packages does not require a paid Amazon Prime membership; an Amazon account is sufficient, after which the subscription to the local hockey package is purchased through Prime Video. This approach distinguishes content included in the standard Prime package from additional local sports subscriptions offered within the same application.
Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks took a different approach. Dallas announced that all of its non-national broadcasts within the club's regional area will be available to Amazon Prime members at no additional charge. According to the club's announcement, the Stars' regional territory covers Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas, while viewers outside that area will continue to have separate options for watching games outside the local market. Anaheim also announced that local games that are not part of a national broadcast will be available to Prime members without an additional subscription, at least during the first year of the agreement. The Ducks also stated that their streaming territory includes several counties in Southern California as well as Hawaii.
For the Anaheim Ducks, streaming on Prime Video will not mean the disappearance of free over-the-air television. According to the club's announcement, 65 games in the 2026/27 season will continue to be broadcast on KCOP-13 or FOX 11, allowing the club to maintain broad availability in the large Los Angeles television market. The Ducks emphasized that they want to retain a parallel model in which viewers can choose between streaming and traditional television broadcasts. This demonstrates that the designation "exclusive local streaming partner" does not mean that Prime Video will necessarily be the only way to watch local games.
Carolina launches its own network after winning the Stanley Cup
The situation with the Carolina Hurricanes is particularly interesting, as they enter the new season as the reigning NHL champions. On September 1, the club introduced Hurricanes Hockey Network, a new club platform that will manage the local production and distribution of broadcasts, and one day later it was confirmed that its direct streaming subscription would be available through Prime Video. According to the Hurricanes' announcement, HHN will offer game broadcasts, pregame and postgame shows and additional studio coverage, while details about cable and satellite partners will be announced before the start of the regular season. The monthly subscription will cost 19.99 dollars and the annual subscription 99.99 dollars.
Carolina has also decided to retain its familiar television team. According to the club's official announcement, Mike Maniscalco continues as play-by-play announcer, Tripp Tracy as analyst, Hanna Yates as host and digital reporter, and Shane Willis as analyst for content before, during and after games. The club will manage production, distribution, sales and marketing for the new network in coordination with the NHL. Such a model illustrates a broader trend in U.S. regional sports broadcasting: clubs are increasingly taking greater control over their own production and commercial chain, while technology platforms serve as distribution channels to viewers.
Columbus and St. Louis combine streaming with traditional distribution
Columbus Blue Jackets also introduced the new Blue Jackets Hockey Network, which will distribute all regular-season games that have not been selected for exclusive national broadcast. The club announced that the network will be available through cable and satellite operators, through a separate Prime Video subscription, while some games will also be available on over-the-air television stations. The streaming subscription will cost 19.99 dollars per month or 99.99 dollars per year, while the local television rights territory, according to information from the Blue Jackets, covers most of Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. The club also confirmed the continuation of its existing broadcast team and pregame and postgame shows for every locally produced game.
St. Louis Blues is developing a similar approach, having announced back in July that it would assume greater control over the production of regional broadcasts together with the NHL. According to the club's announcement, around 70 games that are not part of the national package are expected to be distributed through the new club platform using a combination of streaming and traditional television channels. Prime Video will be the exclusive local streaming distributor, and the club confirmed a price of 19.99 dollars per month or 99.99 dollars per year. The Blues are still finalizing details regarding cable and satellite availability, so the final distribution map is expected before the start of the season.
Minnesota includes the first round of the playoffs in the package
Minnesota Wild announced that Prime Video will be the exclusive streaming distributor in the club's local area for all regular-season games that are not nationally televised, as well as for Stanley Cup first-round playoff games that are subject to local rights. The club announced the same price as Carolina, Columbus and St. Louis: 19.99 dollars per month or 99.99 dollars for an annual package. The subscription will be available to all Amazon users, not only Prime members, while additional technical and subscription details are expected to be announced before the start of the regular season.
In practice, the availability of individual games will depend on whether they are selected for a national U.S. broadcast. National NHL rights in the United States remain separate from local packages, and the current multi-year agreements with ESPN/Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes TNT/TBS, run through the end of the 2027/28 season. As a result, the viewing schedule for fans will continue to be divided between national partners and local distributors. Amazon's new package primarily changes where regional broadcasts can be found rather than the structure of national rights.
Dallas and Anaheim after the Victory+ model
Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks offered a large share of their local games through the Victory+ streaming service in previous seasons, with free access within their regional areas. In the 2025/26 season, the Ducks, according to their own data, had 77 regular-season games on Victory+ and 64 games on local over-the-air television, while Dallas also distributed its regional broadcasts through Victory+. Starting with the 2026/27 season, both clubs are moving the streaming component to Prime Video, while retaining their effort to provide local audiences with easy access to non-national games.
For Dallas, this means that local broadcasts for Prime members across the four-state area will not carry an additional monthly sports fee. The club also announced continuity in production: Daryl "Razor" Reaugh and Josh Bogorad remain the main commentary team, while Brien Rea and Brent Severyn will continue working on pregame, intermission and postgame shows. This model gives Amazon attractive local content within the existing membership, while the club gains distribution on a platform already available on televisions, mobile devices, game consoles and the web.
Amazon's NHL portfolio already extends beyond local rights
Prime Video is not a new player in local NHL streaming. Seattle Kraken entered into a multi-year agreement back in 2024 under which the club's non-national games are broadcast on Prime Video for Prime members in the Northwestern United States, alongside parallel distribution through over-the-air television stations. According to current information from the Kraken, the local Prime Video package covers Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska and includes non-national regular-season games as well as certain playoff content. St. Louis Blues stated in its announcement that Prime Video now provides local NHL coverage for more than ten teams, including other regional arrangements available through the platform.
An even bigger step occurred in Canada. Rogers Communications and Prime Video announced a 12-year agreement on July 28 under which Amazon's platform will become the exclusive Canadian home of national NHL games on Wednesdays beginning with the 2026/27 season. The package will include at least 26 regular-season games per year in English and French, and Prime Video will also receive exclusive Canadian rights to two first-round series and one second-round Stanley Cup playoff series each year. According to the announcement by Rogers and Amazon, this content will be included with Prime membership in Canada at no additional charge.
The Canadian agreement continues the two-year Prime Monday Night Hockey project from the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons, through which Amazon first obtained an exclusive national NHL package on a digital platform in Canada. The move from Monday to Wednesday and the extension of the partnership to 12 years show that the relationship between Amazon, Rogers and the NHL has evolved from an experiment into a long-term distribution strategy. The parallel expansion of local rights in the United States further reduces the boundary between a traditional regional sports network and a major global streaming application.
What changes for viewers in the United States
For fans of the six participating clubs, the most important consequence will be a change in the application or subscription through which they access local games. Prime Video states that broadcasts will be available through the web, mobile devices, tablets, set-top devices, game consoles and connected televisions, but access will be verified according to each club's regional territory. In other words, Carolina's local package will not automatically be available to a viewer outside the Hurricanes' television rights area, just as a Minnesota Wild subscription will not replace national or "out-of-market" services for viewers in other parts of the country.
In its viewing information, the NHL states that viewers outside the local market will continue to use appropriate "out-of-market" options, including NHL Center Ice and streaming solutions connected with ESPN platforms, depending on location and the specific game. Nationally selected games remain with the partners that hold national rights, so the Prime Video local package is not a complete replacement for every way of following the season. That is precisely why clubs regularly emphasize the phrase "non-nationally televised games", meaning games that are not part of an exclusive national broadcast.
For the NHL itself, the agreement with Amazon provides an opportunity for more clubs to use the same technology platform without completely abandoning local television models. For Amazon, six new teams increase the frequency of sports content throughout almost the entire NHL season and create opportunities for additional club shows, subscriptions and advertising. For viewers, the actual value will depend on the market: some will receive games as part of their existing Prime membership, while others will have to purchase a separate local package. The common denominator is that beginning in fall 2026, Prime Video will become a significantly more important distribution point for professional hockey in the United States.
Sources:
- NHL / Prime Video - announcement of the multi-year agreement for local streaming of six NHL clubs beginning with the 2026/27 season (link)
- Carolina Hurricanes - details about Hurricanes Hockey Network, subscription prices and distribution methods (link)
- Carolina Hurricanes - broadcast team lineup and organization of the new club network (link)
- Columbus Blue Jackets - details about Blue Jackets Hockey Network, territory, pricing and television availability (link)
- Minnesota Wild - local subscription terms and inclusion of first-round playoff games (link)
- St. Louis Blues - local Prime Video subscription prices and distribution model for the 2026/27 season (link)
- Dallas Stars - local rights territory, access at no additional charge for Prime members and broadcast team (link)
- Anaheim Ducks - streaming on Prime Video, over-the-air broadcasts and the club's regional territory (link)
- Seattle Kraken - existing local distribution model through Prime Video and over-the-air television (link)
- Rogers Communications / Prime Video - 12-year agreement for Canadian national Wednesday games and part of the playoffs (link)
- NHL - current U.S. national agreements with ESPN/Disney and Turner Sports through the 2027/28 season (link)