NBC, NBCSN to air zero NHL games during the 2018 Winter Olympics

The NHL will not send their players to the upcoming Winter Olympics for the first time since 1994. Hockey fans have known this bit of information for a handful of months now, but the fact that NHL players will be absent from the upcoming games in Pyeongchang is becoming more real by the day.

Over the weekend, the New York Post broke a crucial piece of information for both Olympic hockey fans and NHL viewers. According to Larry Brooks, no NHL games will be broadcast on any NBC affiliate during the two and a half weeks that the Olympics occupy:

What you probably are not aware of, however, is the NHL nevertheless will go dark across all NBC platforms between Feb. 7-26, during the Games. Last season, NBC and NBCSN combined to telecast 20 NHL games over the comparable period.

This is a network decision that several industry sources in touch with Slap Shots over the past two weeks interpret as nothing less than the league’s U.S. national television rights-holder giving a symbolic middle finger to Gary Bettman and the Board of Governors for withholding its players from one of NBC’s most important properties.

Considering the expansive coverage NBC as a whole rolls out during the Olympics, summer or winter, it’s almost not a surprise to see the NHL go dark on television. NBC’s prime time coverage of the Olympics will go right up against a slate of NHL games every evening for those two weeks, so it makes sense that they are prioritizing the bigger event.

What is interesting is that several industry sources have said that this choice is in direct response to the NHL’s decision to pull their players from NBC’s biggest ratings draw. It remains to be seen exactly how the NHL’s decision will effect ratings across the board, but losing professional players from the biggest sport in the Olympics has no doubt ruffled many feathers at NBC.

Not only will the NHL not get billing on NBC for those few weeks, Brooks’ piece makes it clear that the league will go dark across all platforms. NBCSN, where more than a handful of games are hosted each week, will go dark alongside NBC’s app, which will likely be dedicated to an overload of Olympic feeds instead of NHL ones.

It’s not yet known the status of NBC’s top broadcasters in Mike Emrick and Pierre McGuire, who both have previous Olympic broadcasting experience, as they may be called upon to report in Pyeongchang during this blackout period.

The NHL has already upset their own players, the International Olympic Committee, and fans with their decision to forgo the upcoming Winter Olympics. By the time February rolls around, NBC may not be the last to spurn the NHL due to the league’s decision.