Inside the Hockey East's innovative new TV deal

Good morning, and thanks for your continued support of Extra Points.

On Wednesday, the Hockey East announced a new TV deal for the conference, one that immediately became one of the most interesting and unique in college sports.

The deal includes an extension of the league's previous agreement with NESN, who will broadcast at least 50 games combined from the men's and women's squads. It also includes a new broadcast agreement with ESPN+, one that not only puts other inventory on ESPN+, but also three games on ESPNU.

So that's two broadcasters, with two rights fees, across two sports. There's a linear component and a digital component.

I had a chance to catch up with Associate Commissioner Brian Smith to better understand what makes this particular agreement tick, and what others can learn from it.

Subscribe to Premium to read the rest.