The Senators will have no problem smiling for the cameras.

As first reported by the Ottawa Sun Wednesday, the Senators have signed a monumental 12-year agreement regional broadcast agreement for radio and TV with Bell Media that league sources confirmed could be worth up to $400 million when it expires in 2025-26.

Coupled with the $16 million the Senators will receive from the new national package that the NHL signed with Sportsnet in December, the club could get more than $40 million from broadcast revenues along next season.

No wonder Senators’ owner Eugene Melnyk couldn’t hide his excitement.

“We recognized early on that our regional broadcast rights coming up for renewal was a very important asset,” said Melnyk in a statement. “This new 12-year deal with Bell Media represents one of the most wide-ranging and comprehensive deals in NHL history.

“This agreement is significant for the Senators, our fans and the future of the franchise.”

While Senators president Cyril Leeder wouldn’t confirm the numbers, he told the Sun following a splashy news conference at the Canadian Tire Centre it is the biggest financial deal in club history.

“It’s a watershed agreement,” said Leeder. “It’s going to increase the value of the club for sure. That’s going to bode well for the future. It’s good for Eugene, the club, the fans and it just adds more value to the organization.

“We’re really excited about the agreement and the partnership. It’s by far the biggest financial deal in the history of the club.”

Don’t think the Senators are going to receive $33.3 million a year for 12 years because my sources say it will escalate through the course of the agreement.

Under the terms of the deal, Bell Media has gained the rights to the following areas:

A minimum of 52 games along with all pre-season games will be shown on TSN.

A minimum of 40 french-language broadcasts will be carried on RDS.

All games will remain on the club’s flagship radio station TSN 1200 while a Bell Media has to decide what to do with the french radio rights.

Bell Media also bought the club’s telecommunications rights - which is everything outside of the way games are delivered in traditional media.

The Senators local broadcast agreement with Sportsnet _ which paid them approximately $125,000 per-game _ is set to expire July 1. Rogers did make a bid to keep the rights but after shelling out $5.2 billion to wrestle the national television package away from TSN last month it was difficult to hold onto Ottawa.

Though TSN president Stewart Johnston acknowledged losing the national games was a difficult blow, the organization is determined to present strong hockey programming next season.

Johnston told the Sun the Senators are an attractive option because their regional games include Eastern and Northern Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic Canada, and Newfoundland.

“We’re a live event network so what we do is make sure we get the best live events available,” said TSN president Stewart Johnston. “When this became available, and what’s really appealing about the Senators, is the region that it encompasses with its local rights.

“With this deal _ along with 26 Leafs’ games and our Jets’ deal _ we have hockey right from Saskatchewan to the East Coast. We’re strong. There’s lots of hockey to talk about.”

Johnston said the Senators had a hot property.

“Any local rightsholder is in the right place at the right time. The value of sports’ content has increased significantly over the last 10 years,” said

The good news is Ottawa fans won’t have to pay extra to watch the Senators on TSN.

Phil King, CTV’s president of programming and sports, said the games will be shown on the national feed.

King said a decision will be made on the talent in the next couple of months which means the future of play-by-play man Dean Brown and colour analyst Denis Potvin are up in the air.

“We have to sit back and see how many hockey games we’re going to do next year,” said King. “Until we see how many games we have, it’s hard to say how many play-by-play teams we need.

“The way we do games now: We don’t have an ‘A’ team and a ‘B’ team. We mix and match all the time. I don’t think you’ll find us saying, ‘Here’s one team doing all 50 or 60 Sens’ games.’ I don’t think you’ll see us announcing that.”

bruce.garrioch@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @sungarrioch

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SCROLL DOWN FOR OUR LIVE BLOG from the announcement, plus today's practice.



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Next to sale of the club to Eugene Melnyk a decade ago, this may be the biggest financial deal in club history.

Melnyk must be thrilled. This deal means Senators games will be shown on both TSN and french sister station RDS.

After Rogers SportsNet paid a whopping $5.2 billion to the NHL last month to get the national rights, TSN began frantically searching for hockey programming. The timing of the expiry of the Senators deals at the end of this season was perfect for Ottawa because local rights have become very valuable.

A report last month indicated RDS is paying $68 million a year to the Montreal Canadiens for the rights to 60 regional home games. The deal is worth more than $800 million over its life.

The word is the Maple Leafs get more than $40 million from their local deal with Rogers Sportsnet and TSN. That contract expires at the end of the 2014-15 season and you have to think there will be a bidding war for those as well.

“All these networks are looking for content. There’s a huge battle going on,” said a league executive.

The Senators are one of the first to cash in.

Follow along in our live blog for all the updates.: Sun Hockey Writer Bruce Garrioch is with the team today and will be filing updates, along with Visual Journalist Tony Caldwell, from both the announcement and the practice.



