ESPN to broadcast World Cup of Hockey in 2016

By Cory Buck | Feb 4, 2015

Dec 3, 2014; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers running back Melvin Gordon (right) prepares for an interview on ESPN Sports Center with ESPN anchor John Buccigross after the Wisconsin Badgers basketball game with the Duke Blue Devils at the Kohl Center. Duke defeated Wisconsin 80-70. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports /

ESPN won the rights to broadcast the World Cup of Hockey, which is slated to begin before the 2016 NHL regular season.

Beyond the Frozen Four and the occasional SportsCenter clip, ESPN hasn’t had a whole lot to do with broadcasting hockey since they lost the broadcasting rights to NBC after the NHL’s season-long lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 season. Now it appears the network is making baby steps toward rectifying that gap in coverage starting in 2016, when the NHL brings back the World Cup of Hockey.

Breaking - TSN has learned ESPN has won the U.S. broadcast rights for the World Cup of Hockey, beating out NBC and Fox.
— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) February 4, 2015

More from NHL

The NHL first announced the World Cup of Hockey during its recent All-Star weekend in Columbus, Ohio. The tournament was last played in 2004 before the lockout that changed the game for the sport and its fans. Now with increasing pressure from the owners to do away with Olympic participation, the league is hoping to have an international tournament of its own set into place so they can start making some money off their players embarking in such a venture.

The Olympics have been a source of contention for owners since the NHL began to allow its player to participate in 1998. Owners get no compensation when players participate and they typically shutter their doors for two to three weeks in the middle of hockey season. Of course, they do so in order to see their sport grow, which it does every four years when the best hockey players in the world square off in the Olympic tournament.

Now the NHL wants to capture that magic on its own terms with the World Cup of Hockey, which was first played in 1996 and won by the United States of America.

Before 2004 and that lost lockout season, the NHL was a staple on ESPN. NHL 2Night was one of the best sports shows on the air and the network’s coverage helped launch the sport’s popularity in the States. Once the network lost out on the rights to air the NHL after 2004-05 though, its coverage slipped dramatically to point where you’d be lucky to see anyone on ESPN discuss hockey beyond star players like Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.

All it takes is an inciting incident though, and the return of the World Cup could signal just that. If all goes well with the World Up of Hockey, you could see ESPN trying to become bigger players in the NHL broadcast market next time the league looks to renew its contract.

More from FanSided