Wayne Gretzky Joining Turner Sports NHL Coverage, Spurns ESPN

The (arguably) greatest NHL player of all time will be the centerpiece of new coverage for Turner Sports next season.

What Happened: Wayne Gretzky, who played 21 seasons in the NHL, is joining Turner Sports in a multi-year deal to provide studio analysis for NHL games starting in 2021-2022.

Turner Sports is a unit of AT&T Inc T that recently announced a deal for NHL games.

“I’ve long admired Turner Sports’ coverage of the NBA, among other sports, and I’m thrilled to be joining the studio team in their inaugural NHL season,” Gretzky said.

Along with signing Gretzky, Turner Sports will add Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyk to the team. Albert and Olczyk, who were part of the Comcast Corporation CMCSA team for NBC, will call NHL games for TNT and TBS.

Related Link: NHL Returns TO ESPN After 16 Years Away

Why It’s Important: Gretzky is one of the most well-known sports figures of all time and holds records for 894 goals, 1,963 assists and 2,857 points.

Turner Sports signed a seven-year deal with the NHL that includes 72 regular-season games, some of the Stanley Cup Finals, and around half of the Stanley Cup Playoff games beginning in 2021-2022.

TNT will air the Stanley Cup Final in 2023, 2025 and 2027. Turner will also be the home of the Winter Classic games for the NHL beginning in 2021-2022.

Turner Sports has live streaming rights that could land NHL games on HBO Max, which is a focal point of the recently announced deal between AT&T and Discovery Communications Inc DISCA.

Walt Disney Co DIS unit ESPN also announced a content deal with the NHL for 75 games and Stanley Cup Playoff coverage.

ESPN approached Gretzky about a broadcasting role, according to reports. ESPN ended up out of the running and TNT emerged as the frontrunner.

Gretzky will earn around $3 million annually, according to the New York Post.

Price Action: Shares of AT&T are trading flat at $29.52 on Wednesday.

Photo credit: Kris Krug, Flickr