As part of the new contract between the NHL and NBC, the league won’t receive even a penny upfront. The deal will be a strict revenue-sharing agreement. The NHL won’t see a dime until NBC’s costs are covered.

The two-year deal that begins next season – if there is a next season – will place Stanley Cup Finals games three-through-seven on NBC. There also will be seven Saturday afternoon regular-season broadcasts and some playoff telecasts.

“The last deal, all the checks were written by ESPN,” NBC Sports’ Chairman Dick Ebersol said. “ESPN bought the time on ABC. So it was sort of a second-cousin kind of situation. We are brothers in this thing.”

ESPN still will be involved next year, but at a reduced level. Instead of 70 regular-season games on ESPN and ESPN2, there will be 40 games – all on ESPN2. The playoffs will be extensively covered by the ESPN networks. The first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals and the All-Star Game will be on ESPN.

During a conference call yesterday, Ebersol noted that NBC is the No. 1 rated network among the 18-to-49 demographic. “They are kind of moving up from the No. 4 network to the No. 1 network,” he said. “You could sort of say they are moving to a deluxe apartment in the sky when it comes to promotional platforms.”

Mark Shapiro, an ESPN senior VP, said he welcomed NBC’s promotion because it would be good for both the NHL and for ESPN. Both ESPN and NBC have two-year options.