NHL schedules 11 European Monday broadcasts for 2026-27

By James Calloway

The NHL will deliver 11 live Monday Night Hockey broadcasts across seven named European countries from November 30, with games scheduled for the evening across European time zones and the afternoon in North America.

The league announced the initiative on October 27, 2026. The schedule covers the 2026-27 regular season and contains 11 games featuring 16 different clubs. It establishes a recurring Monday-evening viewing option in Europe while supplying North American viewers with a weekday matinee. The announcement does not identify the teams for each game or provide a full fixture-by-fixture calendar.

The named distribution lineup spans seven European countries and eight media brands:

• Czechia: NovaAction
• Finland: STAR
• Germany: Sky Sport
• Slovakia: Dajto
• Sweden: TV6
• Switzerland: MySports
• United Kingdom: Premier Sport and ITV

In the UK, the announcement specifically says Monday Night Hockey will reach viewers through ITV, while the partner list also includes Premier Sport. It does not explain how games or rights divide between the two services. That detail matters for viewers deciding where to watch and for any assessment of national reach.

Julie Yufe, NHL Executive Vice President and Managing Director, International, said: “NHL Monday Night Hockey was created to provide international fans the opportunity to watch live NHL hockey and the world’s best players compete in a weeknight primetime broadcast window.”

She added: “It’s an important step in our ongoing efforts to provide fans access to our great game and continue to grow the game of ice hockey across key European markets.”

Those statements define both the viewing proposition and the growth objective. The first offers live hockey in a weeknight primetime slot; the second presents the schedule as a step toward wider access and continued expansion of ice hockey in key European markets. The expansion language is a strategic claim, not a measured commercial result.

The elements stated concretely are the 11-game inventory, November 30 start, game timing, club count and partner roster. The announcement offers no ratings forecast, subscriber target, rights fee, carriage agreement or streaming plan, so any quantified claim about audience or revenue growth would go beyond the available evidence.

For media and distribution businesses, this functions as a programming announcement rather than a documented network upgrade. The release names no channel packages, technical feed specifications, online services or capacity arrangements. The measurable claim therefore remains the eight-brand distribution footprint, not a quantified expansion in carriage or viewing.

What does this change for European television viewers?

The practical change is the addition of a live, recurring Monday-evening NHL window, with local broadcast partners in seven countries. UK viewers gain access through ITV, and the announcement also names Premier Sport as a UK partner.

For European viewers, the league is changing when and where games appear rather than altering the competition itself. The selected slate contains 11 games across the regular season, with face-offs set for European evenings and North American afternoons.

For North American viewers, the afternoon start creates what the NHL calls a “weekday matinee experience.” The schedule is designed for live viewing within European Monday prime-time windows rather than requiring a delayed presentation.

The offering complements the established NHL Saturday and NHL Sunday European primetime games presented by Fastenal. It adds Monday coverage to an existing weekend schedule and extends live NHL programming into a North American weekday afternoon. The announcement gives no game-level distribution or production details beyond broadcaster names and timing.

The next concrete checkpoint is the November 30 opening broadcast, followed by the remaining games through the 2026-27 regular season. The current schedule fixes the league’s European footprint for one season but commits no wider partner, country or platform expansion; any such move would require a later announcement.