US Ice hockey Has New Asian TV Home

Hong Kong based All Sports Network (ASN) have acquired the rights to broadcast US hockey throughout Asia.

The deal with The National Hockey League (NHL) gives the company blanket coverage of games on all formats, including HDTV and IPTV, in very large regions of the continent.

There are around 130 games per season, with highlights that include the All-Star game, Stanley Cup Playoffs and Final, as well as NHL highlight shows.

They are hoping that the non-stop action and easy to understand rules will lure new Asian fans to the sport.

Notably excluded countries not involved in the deal are Japan, Australia and New Zealand. But one inclusion that may pay big dividends is the massive untapped Chinese market which will be included under a sub-distribution deal with XFMedia.