Emerging evidence indicates a major impact for the tumor microenvironment (TME) and immune escape in the pathogenesis and clinical course of classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). We used gene expression profiling (n=88), CIBERSORT, and multiplex immunohistochemistry (n=131) to characterize the immunoprofile of cHL TME, and correlated the findings with survival. Gene expression analysis divided tumors into subgroups with T cell-inflamed and non-inflamed TME. Several macrophage-related genes were upregulated in samples with the non-T cell-inflamed TME, and based on the immune cell proportions, the samples clustered according to the content of T cells and macrophages. A cluster with high proportions of checkpoint protein (PD-1, PD-L1, IDO-1, LAG-3, and TIM-3) positive immune cells translated to unfavorable overall survival (OS) (5-year OS 76% vs. 96%, P=0.010), and remained as an independent prognostic factor for OS in multivariable analysis (HR 4.34, 95% CI 1.05-17.91, P=0.043). cHLs with high proportions of checkpoint proteins overexpressed genes coding for cytolytic factors, proposing paradoxically that they were immunologically active. This checkpoint molecule gene signature translated to inferior survival in a validation cohort of 290 diagnostic cHL samples (P<0.001) and in an expansion cohort of 84 cHL relapse samples (P=0.048). Our findings demonstrate the impact of T cell- and macrophage-mediated checkpoint system on the survival of patients with cHL.