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League News: NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) - 2020 Offseason Edition - Vol. 10

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The race is on as to which of these coaches gets fired first:

Krueger - Buffalo
Hynes - Preds
Torts - Blue Jackets

I'd be surprised if any of them makes it through the season.....
 
Calicaps said:
Well, now we know why the league wanted to burn it's last year of the NBC deal...
NHL, ESPN, Disney reach groundbreaking seven-year rights deal
Click to expand...

This deal is only for half of the Playoffs and 4/7 Stanley Cup Finals series, meaning another network is going to get the other half of the playoffs and the other 3 Cup finals. Which may end up being a shit show if we have to subscribe to two different services to watch those games. I'm certainly not subscribing to ESPN+ to watch the playoffs, that shit better be on ABC or ESPN regular.

Reading further, it gets worse.

Additionally, the NHL's out-of-market streaming package, with more than 1,000 games (formerly on NHL.TV), will now be available for fans to stream only as part of an ESPN+ subscription.
Click to expand...

So do we have to have ESPN+ AND then subscribe to Center Ice (or whatever they call it)? Because that would be a deal breaker. Or does it come automatically with ESPN+, which sounds fishy.
 
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NHL.tv is garbage anyway, since it blacks out all games on national coverage. Which basically renders it useless in playoffs.

The implication is that NHL.tv is now part of the Disney+ bundle (via ESPN+). It’ll still be garbage, but it’s garbage I’m already paying for via Disney+
 
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Hivemind said:
NHL.tv is garbage anyway, since it blacks out all games on national coverage. Which basically renders it useless in playoffs.

The implication is that NHL.tv is now part of the Disney+ bundle (via ESPN+). It’ll still be garbage, but it’s garbage I’m already paying for via Disney+
Click to expand...

Its still going to work that way:

Throughout the regular season, 25 games from the NHL schedule will be carried live, exclusively on ABC or ESPN.
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So some games cannot be seen on the subscriptions, only on ESPN or ABC, which means you'll need a cable package or OTA antenna to get those channels, right?
 
My problem with this is that its only half of the playoffs (one Conference Final series and half of all First Round and Second Round game). Who is going to get the other half, and what do I have to pay for that?
 
kicksavedave said:
My problem with this is that its only half of the playoffs (one Conference Final series and half of all First Round and Second Round game). Who is going to get the other half, and what do I have to pay for that?
Click to expand...

More likely than not, I think its going to be NBC/USA/Peacock.
 
txpd said:
What is NHL.tv? NHLN? Center Ice? Something different?
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NHL.tv is what used to be Center Ice. Its the subscription to get all the out of market games... I only subscribe to the Caps games, so I watch them all either on NHL.tv or on NBC for the national games which are blacked out by NHL.tv.
 
I think NHL.tv is dead, since they refer it to formerly NHL.tv

That subscription is now ESPN+. Not sure if they will have a full season package like they did for NHL.tv or if it will be the same monthly subscription model that ESPN+ currently has.




Additionally, the NHL's out-of-market streaming package, with more than 1,000 games (formerly on NHL.TV), will now be available for fans to stream only as part of an ESPN+ subscription.


And I don't know what it will mean for the few games that are on the other partner's network (whether it be NBC, FOX, Turner, or someone else). Will they also be included for streaming on ESPN+?
 
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kicksavedave said:
NHL.tv is what used to be Center Ice. Its the subscription to get all the out of market games... I only subscribe to the Caps games, so I watch them all either on NHL.tv or on NBC for the national games which are blacked out by NHL.tv.
Click to expand...

I have had center ice. NBA and NFL still have those services and I would expect no change to the NHL's version. I believe that those services are all coordinated by the same group of people or thats the way the marketing and advertising for them appears
 
txpd said:
I have had center ice. NBA and NFL still have those services and I would expect no change to the NHL's version. I believe that those services are all coordinated by the same group of people or thats the way the marketing and advertising for them appears
Click to expand...

Well thats just it, the NHL's version is going to change. The NHL.tv will go away. It will now require you to buy ESPN+ to get slightly more than half the games and half the playoffs. Cost wise its not more expensive, it actually may be cheaper, but its no longer going to be something you simply buy directly from NHL or your cable provider. And it will now require you to buy TWO subscriptions if you want to get all the playoffs and Cup finals.
 
kicksavedave said:
Well thats just it, the NHL's version is going to change. The NHL.tv will go away. It will now require you to buy ESPN+ to get slightly more than half the games and half the playoffs. Cost wise its not more expensive, it actually may be cheaper, but its no longer going to be something you simply buy directly from NHL or your cable provider. And it will now require you to buy TWO subscriptions if you want to get all the playoffs and Cup finals.
Click to expand...

Shows you what I know then.
 
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You can't spin this as a bad thing though. ESPN's new contract with the NHL (and it's only partial and not exclusive) is rumored to be over $400 million a year. The current/expiring NHL contract with NBC is only at $200 million a year. It's almost as if we're a real sport.




That's more than double what the NHL currently gets. And there will be another broadcasting partner to add to that.

And this is without taking the Canadian side of TV contracts at $400 million CAD a year with Rogers Communications for I think a few more years into account.
 
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I imagine you could find a way to sign up for the Canadian version of NHL Gamecenter Live using a VPN. It’s offered by Rogers who has the rights in Canada.
 
txpd said:
What is NHL.tv? NHLN? Center Ice? Something different?
Click to expand...
It's the streaming service formerly known as Gamecenter.

kicksavedave said:
NHL.tv is what used to be Center Ice. Its the subscription to get all the out of market games... I only subscribe to the Caps games, so I watch them all either on NHL.tv or on NBC for the national games which are blacked out by NHL.tv.
Click to expand...
Nope. Center Ice is the television PPV product (I think it continues to go by that name). Gamecenter is the former name for the streaming service.

Which reminds me... If you buy Center Ice through a cable provider, you used to get the streaming service included. I bet that goes away with the move to ESPN+. :squint:

EDIT: Didn't see the rest of the thread before. Yes, the transition is as @kicksavedave describes. Just the nomenclature was wrong. (though my Center Ice question remains).
 
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I absolutely hate the ESPN deal and ESPN. I didn't like their coverages before and I don't subscribe to the channel now. I'm not going to subscribe to ESPN just to watch hockey. I'll find other outlets or find more useful things to do. It's bad enough now with NHL channel, NBCSN, and NBC dividing up all the games with almost everyone being Caps and then have to deal with blackouts during a COVID season. Sounds like I'll be saving myself some money next year. So glad I got to watch prime Ovy and gang before this.
 
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