The newly founded National League AG will, however, remain a member of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation (SIHF), the Neue Zürcher Zeitung quotes from the commercial register. Nevertheless, the National League gains more liberties in various areas, for example when it comes to the import-player contingent, a salary cap, or even a closed league.
The National League AG and the clubs as shareholders, will also be able to negotiate and sell the broadcasting rights of the championship games themselves, when the current TV deal will run out in 2022 - and distribute the money how they want to.
But in this area, the new cooperation between Swisscom and UPC (see our article) might be a game changer: "There is currently no reason to fight over any rights," UPC let the news agency Keystone-SDA know. But maybe other competitors will appear, such as CH Media or Ringier with "Blick TV", and drive the price of the broadcasting rights.
