ESPN Signs Mark Messier To Multi-Year Agreement as NHL Analyst

ESPN has signed Mark Messier to a new multi-year agreement to be part of its NHL coverage starting with the 2021-22 season.

(ESPN)

What’s Happening:

Six-time Stanley Cup Champion Mark Messier is joining ESPN as a studio analyst when the NHL returns for the 2021-22 session this fall on ABC, ESPN, ESPN+, and Hulu.
Messier is considered one of the NHL’s greatest players, having been in the league for 25 seasons and the only player in history to captain two teams to Stanley Cup titles. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.
Back in March, The Walt Disney Company and NHL reached a seven-year agreement for media rights.
The deal includes television, streaming, and media rights from the beginning of the 2021-22 season through the 2027-28 season, including exclusive coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals on ABC in four of the seven years. You can read more about all that the deal covers here.

What They’re Saying:

Mark Messier: “The game of hockey, and the NHL, have afforded me enormous opportunity, success and experiences on the ice and in my life. My passion for the game is as strong as it has ever been and I am looking forward to sharing that passion, plus my insights and analysis with the sport’s incredible fans. The NHL is beginning a new era with ESPN and The Walt Disney Company — with an exciting, evolving game and phenomenally talented players — and I am thrilled to be a part of the team.”
Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president and executive editor, production: “Mark has been one of the NHL’s biggest and most iconic stars, and we are ecstatic to have him be a large part of our upcoming hockey coverage. As a six-time Stanley Cup Champion, he will bring incredible insight, knowledge and analysis to ESPN and The Walt Disney Company that will both resonate with fans, and connect more and more of them to the game and to the league.”