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    Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

    NHL on Fox
    The general NHL on Fox logo.
    Also known asFox NHL Saturday
    GenreSports
    Directed by
    • Sandy Grossman (Stanley Cup Finals)
    • Bob Levy (Stanley Cup Finals studio show)
    • Artie Kemper (NHL on Fox)
    • Peter Bleckner (NHL on Fox)
    • Michael Frank (NHL on Fox)
    Presented bySee "personalities" section
    Theme music composerScott Schreer
    Country of originUnited States
    Original languageEnglish
    No. of seasons5
    Production
    Executive producers
    • David Hill
    • Ed Goren[1]
    Producers
    • Richard Zyontz (Stanley Cup Finals)
    • Nancy Bernstein (Stanley Cup Finals studio show)
    • Mike Burks (NHL on Fox)
    • Peter Macheska (NHL on Fox)
    • Rich Russo (NHL on Fox)
    Production locations
    Cinematography
    • Robert Lawton
    • Pete Chavelrus
    • David Geller
    • Don Cornelli
    • Al Mountford
    • Martin Miller
    • Andy Mitchell
    • James Lytle
    • Mark Stacey
    Editors
    • Andy Boyle
    • Mitch Fehr
    • David Millar
    • Thimmiah Snyder
    Camera setupMulti-camera
    Running time150 minutes or until the game ends
    Production companyFox Sports
    Original release
    Network
    ReleaseApril 2, 1995 (1995-04-02) –
    June 17, 1999 (1999-06-17)
    Related
    NHL on ABC

    The NHL on Fox is the branding used for broadcasts of National Hockey League (NHL) games that were produced by Fox Sports and televised on the Fox network from the 1994–1995 NHL season until the 1998–1999 NHL season. NHL games continued to air on the Fox Sports Networks in the form of regional game telecasts until the 2021 rebrand to Bally Sports. As of 2025, only one Fox station airs hockey broadcasts.

    History

    On the heels of its surprise acquisition of the television rights to the National Football League (NFL) in December 1993, Fox sought deals with other major sports leagues to expand its newly created sports division, opting to go after the rights to broadcast National Hockey League (NHL) games.[2] CBS, which had just lost its NFL package (which primarily included the rights to regular season and playoff games from the National Football Conference) to Fox and had also lost its Major League Baseball and college football rights to other networks, was Fox's primary competitor for the NHL package, hoping to replace some of the sports programming it had lost to Fox.

    Nevertheless, in a serious blow to CBS, Fox outbid CBS for the NHL package as well.[3] On September 9, 1994, the NHL reached a five-year contract with Fox for the broadcast television rights to the league's games, beginning with the 1994–95 season.[4] Fox paid $155 million ($31 million annually) to televise NHL regular season and postseason games, considerably less than the $1.58 billion Fox paid for the NFL television rights.[5][6]

    The NHL's initial deal with Fox was significant, as a U.S. network television contract was long thought unattainable for the league during the presidency of John Ziegler.[7] For 17 years after the 1975 Finals were broadcast on NBC, there would be no national over-the-air network coverage of the NHL in the United States (except for the 1979 Challenge Cup and Game 6 of the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals on CBS, and NBC's coverage of the NHL All-Star Game from 1990 to 1994) and only spotty coverage on regional networks. This was because no network was willing to commit to carrying a large number of games, in turn providing low ratings for NHL telecasts. ABC would eventually resume the network broadcasting of regular NHL games (on a time buy basis through ESPN) for the 1992–93 season. This continued through the 1993–94 season before Fox took over for the next five seasons.

    Fox inaugurated its NHL coverage on April 2, 1995, toward the end of the 1994–95 regular season, with six games (between the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers; St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings; Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals; Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars; Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning; and the San Jose Sharks and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim).[8][9] Mike Emrick and John Davidson were the lead broadcast team, and Joe Micheletti served as the reporter for national game broadcasts on Fox, while regionally-distributed games were handled by a variety of announcers, in addition to the trio.[10][11] For the first four years of the deal, James Brown hosted the show and Dave Maloney was the studio analyst from the Fox Network Center studios in Los Angeles. For the fifth and final season, Suzy Kolber served as the studio host and Terry Crisp served as the studio analyst. Occasionally, active NHL players such as Mike Modano would serve as guest analysts.[9][12][13]

    FoxTrax

    Fox's NHL broadcasts are perhaps best remembered for its use of FoxTrax (colloquially called the "glow puck," "smart puck," or "super puck"), a specialized ice hockey puck designed for the network's NHL telecasts which featured internal electronics that allowed its position to be tracked.[14][15] It was primarily used to visually highlight the puck on-screen and display a trail when the puck was moving rapidly. The FoxTrax puck, while considered to be generally popular according to Fox Sports, generated a great deal of controversy and criticism, especially in Canada, from longtime fans of the game, and was ridiculed by comedians on both sides of the border.[16][17]

    Stanley Cup playoff coverage

    During the first two rounds of the playoffs, at least two games were aired each round and were distributed regionally, unless other series involving other scheduled games were already finished, in which case the telecast was broadcast nationally. Canadian viewers were upset over the apparent preference that the NHL had for Fox ahead of CBC Television in regards to the scheduling of playoff games; Montreal Gazette sports journalist Pat Hickey wrote that the schedule was "just another example of how the N.H.L. snubs its nose at the country that invented hockey and its fans."[18]

    All-Star Game, Conference Finals, and Stanley Cup Finals

    For the All-Star Game, Conference Finals, and Stanley Cup Finals, the games (which were national telecasts) were hosted from the arena. The 1996 and 1997 All-Star Games were televised in prime time.

    Stanley Cup Finals

    Fox split coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals with ESPN. Game 1 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals was the first Finals game shown on network television since 1980 and the first in prime time since 1973. Games 1, 5, and 7 were usually scheduled to be televised by Fox; and Games 2, 3, 4, and 6 were set to air on ESPN. However, from 1995 to 1998, the Finals matches were all four game sweeps; the 1999 Finals ended in six games.[19] The consequence was that – except for 1995 when Fox did televise Game 4 – the decisive game was never shown on network television. Perhaps in recognition of this, Games 3–7 were always televised by ABC in the succeeding broadcast agreement between the NHL and ABC Sports/ESPN.

    Game 4 of the 1995 Finals was notable because not only did the New Jersey Devils win the Stanley Cup, but also the team's main television play-by-play announcer, Mike Emrick, announced it.

    KTVU, the Fox affiliate in the San Francisco Bay Area, dropped Game 4 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals (June 24) for a San Francisco Giants game. The game between the Giants and Florida Marlins in Miami had a long rain delay. This allowed KTVU to broadcast the hockey game after all. However, the baseball game finally started before the hockey game ended. KTVU got a lot of complaints, so they re-aired the end of the hockey game the following Saturday (July 1).

    The end of NHL on Fox

    Things ended badly between Fox and the league in 1999, when the NHL announced a new television deal with ESPN that also called for sister broadcast network ABC to become the new network television partner (as previously mentioned).[20][21][22][23][24] Fox challenged that it had not been given a chance to match the network component of the deal, but ABC ultimately prevailed.

    Fox placed a bid for NHL broadcast rights when they came up for renewal in 2011 but dropped out of the running as a result of a bidding war between NBCUniversal and ESPN.[25] The bid made by NBCUniversal (which owns NBC, Versus and USA Network and, through its ownership of the Philadelphia Flyers, a stake in the league itself) was selected by the league, in a ten-year extension of its existing broadcast contract.

    After Disney acquired the entertainment unit 21st Century Fox (excluding the main network and sports units) in 2019, it resold the regional Fox Sports Networks to Sinclair Broadcast Group, which maintained the rights on some NHL teams. In 2021, Sinclair rebranded the channels as Bally Sports.

    In August 2019, Fox Sports SVP/sales Mark Evans told The Big Lead that Fox would be interested in pursuing NHL media rights when they became available.[26]

    In April 2021, Fox Sports was reportedly considered a front-runner to acquire the NHL's "B" package after ABC and ESPN acquired the "A" package from NBC; the rights would ultimately go to Turner Sports.[27]

    After the bankruptcy of Bally Sports in 2023, Bally Sports SoCal (the former Fox Sports Prime Ticket) lost the rights to the Anaheim Ducks broadcasts and its local games moved to the Fox-owned station, KCOP-TV, starting the 2024–25 season.[28]

    Coverage overview

    Regular season

    Fox's logo for their regular season broadcasts.

    Fox televised between 5 and 11 regionally distributed games on Saturday or Sunday[29] afternoons during the regular season, where anywhere from 2 to 6 games ran concurrently. All times below are Eastern, please note that the 6pm ET games were aired on FOX stations on the West Coast only.

    Personnel

    Play-by-play

    Color commentators

    Studio commentators

    Reporters

    Ratings

    Stanley Cup Finals

    Year Teams Games Carried Rating
    1995 New Jersey-Detroit 1, 4 3.4
    1996 Colorado-Florida 1, 3 3.6
    1997 Detroit-Philadelphia 1 4.0
    1998 Detroit-Washington 1 3.3
    1999 Dallas-Buffalo 1, 2, 5 3.4[30]

    Game 4 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals drew a 4.7 rating and a 10 share.[31] In the New York City market (on Fox owned-and-operated station WNYW), the game drew a 10.6 rating and 21 share; in Detroit (on Fox affiliate, now owned-and-operated station, WJBK), it drew a 14.1 rating and 26 share.[31]

    Regular season

    Season Number of Dates Rating
    1994–95 5 2.0
    1995–96 6 2.1
    1996–97 6 1.9
    1997–98 11 1.4
    1998–99 11 1.4

    All-Star Game

    Year Rating
    1995 No game due to lockout
    1996 4.1
    1997 2.8
    1998 2.7
    1999 2.2

    NHL coverage on other Fox-owned outlets

    Fox owned-and-operated television stations

    Main articles: Fox Television Stations, Owned-and-operated television stations in the United States, and Historical NHL over-the-air television broadcasters
    Team Station Years of broadcast rights
    Anaheim Ducks KCOP 13 2024–present
    Dallas Stars KDFI 27[a] 2000
    Philadelphia Flyers WTXF 29 1973–1985

    Fox Sports Networks owned-and-operated affiliates

    Network Region served NHL team rights Notes
    Fox Sports Arizona[b] Arizona
    New Mexico
    Utah
    southern Nevada     		Arizona Coyotes The network was later renamed as Bally Sports Arizona on March 31, 2021, before it was dissolved on October 21, 2023.[32]
    Fox Sports Carolinas[c] North Carolina
    South Carolina     		Carolina Hurricanes The network was later renamed as Bally Sports South and Bally Sports Southeast on March 31, 2021, before they were rebranded under the FanDuel Sports Network branding in the fall of 2024.[32]
    Fox Sports Detroit Michigan (statewide)
    northwestern Ohio
    northeastern Indiana
    northeast Wisconsin     		Detroit Red Wings FSN Detroit produces a pre-game/post-game show titled Red Wings Live. Fox Sports Net Detroit acquired the local television rights to Red Wings games (as well as those from the Detroit Pistons and Detroit Tigers) from PASS Sports, which subsequently ceased operations in 1997. The network was later named as Bally Sports Detroit on March 31, 2021, before it was rebranded under the FanDuel Sports Network branding in the fall of 2024.[32]
    Fox Sports Florida[d] Florida (statewide)
    southern Alabama
    southern Georgia     		Florida Panthers Shares broadcast rights to the Panthers with co-owned SunSports. The network was later renamed Bally Sports Florida on March 31, 2021, before it was rebranded under the FanDuel Sports Network branding in the fall of 2024.[32]
    Fox Sports Midwest[e] Missouri
    southern Illinois
    southern Indiana
    eastern Nebraska
    eastern Kansas
    western Kentucky
    northern Arkansas     		St. Louis Blues Fox Sports Midwest's telecasts of Blues games are also available on Fox Sports Kansas City. The networks were later renamed as Bally Sports Kansas City and Bally Sports Midwest on March 31, 2021, before they were rebranded under the FanDuel Sports Network branding in the fall of 2024.[32]
    Fox Sports North[f] Minnesota
    Wisconsin
    Iowa
    North Dakota
    South Dakota     		Minnesota Wild The network was later renamed Bally Sports North on March 31, 2021, before it was rebranded under the FanDuel Sports Network branding in the fall of 2024.[32]
    Fox Sports Ohio[g] Ohio
    eastern Indiana
    Kentucky
    northwestern Pennsylvania, southwestern New York     		Columbus Blue Jackets Fox Sports Ohio carries the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets in southern Ohio, Kentucky, and eastern Indiana, while the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers are carried in northern Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania, and southwestern New York. The network was later renamed as Bally Sports Ohio on March 31, 2021, before it was rebranded under the FanDuel Sports Network branding in the fall of 2024.[32]
    Fox Sports Southwest[h] Texas
    northern Louisiana
    New Mexico
    Arkansas     		Dallas Stars Stars telecasts are sometimes broadcast on Fox Sports Oklahoma, a sub-feed of Fox Sports Southwest, whenever an Oklahoma City Thunder, Oklahoma Sooners or Oklahoma State Cowboys game telecast is not scheduled. The network was later renamed as Bally Sports Southwest on March 31, 2021, before it was rebranded under the FanDuel Sports Network branding in the fall of 2024.[32]
    Fox Sports Tennessee/Fox Sports Tennessee[i] Tennessee
    northern Alabama     		Nashville Predators The networks were later renamed Bally Sports South and Bally Sports Southeast on March 31, 2021, before they were rebranded under the FanDuel Sports Network branding in the fall of 2024.[32]
    Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket[j] Southern and Central California, southern Nevada, and Hawaii Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks The network was later renamed Bally Sports West on March 31, 2021, before it was rebranded under the FanDuel Sports Network branding in the fall of 2024.
    Sun Sports[k] Florida Tampa Bay Lightning The network changed its name to Fox Sports Sun on October 4, 2015,[33] then Bally Sports Sun on March 31, 2021, and eventually rebranded the FanDuel Sports Network branding in the fall of 2024.[32]
    SportSouth/SportSouth[l] Georgia
    Alabama
    Mississippi
    Tennessee
    South Carolina
    North Carolina     		Nashville Predators SportSouth and Fox Sports South previously held the regional television rights to Atlanta Thrashers games until the team's relocation to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 2011, when it became the Winnipeg Jets. The network was later renamed as Bally Sports South and Bally Sports Southeast on March 31, 2021, before they were rebranded under the FanDuel Sports Network branding in the fall of 2024.[32]
    Former regional rightsholders
    Network Region served NHL team rights Notes
    FSN Bay Area[m] Northern and central California, northwestern Nevada and parts of southern Oregon. San Jose Sharks Cablevision sold its 60% interest in FSN Bay Area in April 2007 to Comcast, which relaunched the network as NBC Sports California on March 31, 2008 (the channel continued to carry select FSN programming until August 2012); Fox Sports retains a 25% ownership stake in the network.
    FSN Chicago[n] Northern Illinois, northern Indiana, and eastern Iowa Chicago Blackhawks FSN Chicago lost the regional cable rights to the Blackhawks to NBC Sports Chicago; FSN Chicago ceased operations on June 23, 2006.
    FSN New York[o] New York, northern New Jersey, northeast Pennsylvania, southern Connecticut. New Jersey Devils
    New York Islanders     		Now co-owned with MSG Network, which also broadcasts NHL games from the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers.

    Notes

    1. ^ Was an independent station at the time KDFI held Stars broadcast rights, now a MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated station.
    2. ^ Formerly known as Prime Sports Arizona until 1996.
    3. ^ Formerly part of Fox Sports South, became a sub-feed in 2008.
    4. ^ Formerly known as SportsChannel Florida until 2000, and was the last FSN-acquired network acquired through the SportsChannel purchase to retire the name.
    5. ^ Formerly known as Prime Sports Midwest until 1996.
    6. ^ Originated as WCCO II in 1986, later known as Midwest Sports Channel from 1989 to 1996. Regional subfields exist for the Minnesota/Dakotas region, and portions of Wisconsin not part of the Minneapolis–St. Paul market. The Wisconsin feed (which originally operated as a separate Wisconsin Sports Network from 1996 to 1998, before being absorbed into the then Midwest Sports Channel) became a separate Fox Sports Wisconsin in April 2007.
    7. ^ Formerly known as SportsChannel Ohio until 1998. Separate subfields also exist for the Cincinnati and Cleveland markets.
    8. ^ Formerly known as Home Sports Entertainment from 1984 to 1994, and as Prime Sports Southwest until 1996.
    9. ^ Formerly part of Fox Sports South, became a sub-feed in 2008.
    10. ^ Fox Sports West was formerly known as (the original) Prime Ticket from 1987 to 1993 and Prime Sports West until 1996; Fox Sports Prime Ticket was formerly known as FSN West 2 until 2007.
    11. ^ Formerly known as Sunshine Network (originally serving as a Prime Network affiliate) until 2009; was acquired by Fox Sports Networks in 1996.
    12. ^ Formerly known as Turner South from 1996 to October 13, 2006, when it adopted its current name following its sale by Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary to then Fox Sports Networks parent News Corporation (now 21st Century Fox).
    13. ^ Formerly known as Pacific Sports Network (PSN) until 1990, SportsChannel Bay Area until 1993, and SportsChannel Pacific until 1998.
    14. ^ Originally known as Sportsvision Chicago from 1979 to 1984, Hawkvision/ONTV until 1987 and SportsChannel Chicago until 1998.
    15. ^ Formerly SportsChannel New York from 1982 to 1998 and FSN New York from 1998 to March 10, 2008.[34][35]

    References

    1. ^ Kent, Milton (June 8, 1999). "Final meltdown of relationship between Fox, NHL begins today". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
    2. ^ "CBS, NBC Battle for AFC Rights // Fox Steals NFC Package". Chicago Sun-Times (via HighBeam Research). December 18, 1993. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012.
    3. ^ New York Times News Service (September 10, 1994). "Fox checks CBS to win TV rights to NHL". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
    4. ^ "Fox, ESPN ink deals with NHL". UPI. September 13, 1994.
    5. ^ Sandomir, Richard (September 10, 1994). "HOCKEY; Fox Outbids CBS for N.H.L. Games". The New York Times. p. 31, Section 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
    6. ^ Elliott, Helene (September 14, 1994). "NHL All-Star Game Will Be First Under New Deal With Fox Network". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
    7. ^ Steve Simmons (September 30, 1994). "The Commish is not to blame". Calgary Sun.
    8. ^ Gatehouse, Jonathon (October 2012). The Instigator: How Gary Bettman Remade the NHL and Changed the Game Forever. Triumph Books. p. 161. ISBN 9781623686567.
    9. ^ a b Sandomir, Richard (April 2, 1995). "TV SPORTS; Maloney Takes Stock of Hockey for Fox From Seat in a Hollywood Studio". The New York Times. p. 4, Section 8. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
    10. ^ Kent, Milton (March 8, 1995). "Packer alone says Terps have a shot at No. 1 seed". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
    11. ^ Nidetz, Steve (March 13, 1995). "CBS' PACKER CONFOUNDED BY BIG 10 BONANZA". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
    12. ^ "FOX IS READY TO TAKE THE ICE". Hartford Courant. April 2, 1995. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
    13. ^ Hooper, Ernest (May 21, 1999). "WQYK warming up to sports talk". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
    14. ^ Fang, Ken (January 24, 2017). "LOOKING BACK AT THE NHL ON FOX'S GLOWING PUCK". Awful Announcing.
    15. ^ Casselberry, Ian (October 20, 2017). "Maybe Fox's glow puck was ahead of its time and should be brought back". Awful Announcing.
    16. ^ Gatehouse, Jonathon (October 2012). The Instigator: How Gary Bettman Remade the NHL and Changed the Game Forever. Triumph Books. p. 347. ISBN 9781623686567.
    17. ^ Jonah Keri (November 30, 2006). "Gear through the years". ESPN. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
    18. ^ Sandomir, Richard (April 30, 1996). "TV SPORTS;Fox Is Playing It Safe With N.H.L." The New York Times. p. B13. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
    19. ^ Shaprio, Leonard (June 13, 1998). "In Stanley Cup Faceoff, Fox, ESPN Play to a Draw". The Washington Post.
    20. ^ Gatehouse, Jonathon (October 2012). The Instigator: How Gary Bettman Remade the NHL and Changed the Game Forever. Triumph Books. p. 165. ISBN 9781623686567.
    21. ^ John Walters (January 10, 2000). "Learning It Cold". Sports Illustrated.
    22. ^ Richard Sandomir (August 7, 1998). "Best N.H.L. Action Is the Battle Over TV Rights". Retrieved March 20, 2008.
    23. ^ Sandomir, Richard (February 22, 2005). "Picture Is Fuzzy for N.H.L. on Networks". The New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
    24. ^ Pergament, Alan (September 30, 1999). "WITH FOX GONE, NHL TURNS ALL-DISNEY". Buffalo News. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
    25. ^ Campbell, Ken (January 26, 2009). "Campbell's Cuts: Making new friends". The Hockey News. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
    26. ^ Giuffra, Brian (August 5, 2019). "Future of Media: How Fox Will Challenge ESPN and CBS". The Big Lead. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
    27. ^ @richarddeitsch (April 25, 2021). ".@reporterchris said tonight on Hockey Night In Canada that Fox is now the frontrunner for the other NHL media right…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
    28. ^ "Ducks Announce Partnerships with Victory+, KCOP Channel 13 to Televise All Regional Games for Free | Anaheim Ducks". www.nhl.com. August 27, 2024. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
    29. ^ Daniel, Al (May 17, 2020). "NHL on Fox established hockey's lasting U.S. network presence". FanSided. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
    30. ^ "NHL Ratings Jump A Little". CBS News. June 22, 1999.
    31. ^ a b "FOX'S RATING IN FINALE SOARS". The Buffalo News. June 26, 1995. p. D3.
    32. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Adgate, Brad. "Sinclair's Regional Sports Networks Are Renamed Bally As Legalized Sports Wagering Grows". Forbes. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
    33. ^ @BallySportsFL (September 25, 2015). "New Twitter handle, officially begins our soft launch & transition to new network name. Effective Oct. 4, Sun Sports becomes FOX Sports Sun!" (Tweet). Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Twitter.
    34. ^ Neil Best (February 26, 2008). "FSNY to be renamed MSG Plus". Newsday. Archived from the original on April 26, 2008. Retrieved February 26, 2008.
    35. ^ R. Thomas Umstead (February 29, 2008). "FSNY To Morph Into MSG Plus". Multichannel News. Retrieved February 29, 2008. MSG Plus continues to air programming from Fox Sports Net.
    Preceded by NHL network broadcast partner
    in the United States
    1994–1999     		Succeeded by
    Credit: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHL_on_Fox

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