NHL Jumps On The Esports Bandwagon With Players Tournament, NHL Channel Broadcast

from the why-the-puck-not? dept

As we've been discussing, esports is having something of a moment during the COVID-19 shutdown. While it's been interesting to see the general uptick in interest for esports globally, it's been equally interesting to watch professional sporting organizations and leagues, that can longer operate in real life, shift quickly to putting professional players behind gamepads and broadcasting esports matches instead. NASCAR was the first to jump on this and has certainly set the quality standard, but racing was quickly followed by other major professional sports leagues.

And now the NHL is coming online as well. In an announcement, the league said it will be hosting an NHL 20 players tournament featuring players from every team. They even have a major sponsor for it.

“The NHL Player Gaming Challenge presented by Honda will take gaming to another level,” said Chris Golier, vice president of business development and innovation for the NHL, in a news release. “We know how competitive our players are, and coupled with the interaction between players, these series of competitions will be extremely fun to watch.”

One or two players from each of the NHL’s 31 current clubs will participate in the Player Gaming Challenge. And the 50th competitor is another professional athlete, albeit for football instead of hockey: Seattle Seahawks tight end Luke Willson will represent Seattle’s upcoming NHL franchise, which is set to begin play in the 2021-22 season.

Frankly, perhaps the most exciting aspect of this is that the NHL got Honda to sponsor it. The NHL has long lagged the rest of professional sports when it comes to television and advertising revenue. Seeing this get sponsored is a sign that both the league and at least one company see value in the number of eyeballs projected to watch esports hockey. Likewise, that the NHL is getting this tournament broadcast not only on Twitch and YouTube, but also on the NHL's cable channel and several broadcast partners, will only increase the esports' exposure.

Games will take place on Thursdays and Sundays over the course of four weeks starting April 30, hosted by Los Angeles Kings commentator Alex Faust. The NHL will livestream every matchup on its Twitch channel and other social platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, and all games will also appear “within NHL Network’s on-air programming,” the league said. In addition, some games will be broadcast in Canada on Sportsnet One (starting May 1 at 4 p.m. ET) and in the U.S. on NBC Sports Network (starting April 30 at 5 p.m. ET). Esports organization ESL Gaming is producing the Player Gaming Challenge, which will be played in the PlayStation 4 version of NHL 20.

It's true that other leagues did this before the NHL. But it's still interesting to see how uniform this move has become for pretty much all of professional sports.

Filed Under: esports, hockey
Companies: nhl

NHL Streaming Service Descends Into Blackout Hell; NHL Threatens Anyone Trying To Circumvent Blackouts

from the puck-that dept

While we have written quite a bit about major professional sports leagues marching towards expanded streaming options for viewers, and while each league is making progress in that direction, not all of the leagues are equal in how they're going about it. The NHL has been by far the least progressive in this arena, which is somewhat strange given how much more progressive it has been on other issues of modernity. On streaming, however, there seems to be some flip-flopping, with the league banning the use of services like Periscope by journalists, but then seeking to piggyback on baseball's fantastic MLB Advanced Media product to get better streaming to its viewers. The entire point of increased streaming options is to get the product out to as many people as possible, grow the fanbase, and ultimately rake in more money via increased viewership.

Which is what makes is supremely odd to see the NHL fail so hard recently with its streaming product and react to that failure by menacing anyone who might try to route around it. If you weren't already aware, a recent upgrade to the league's NHL.tv product appears to have instituted a refreshed round of blackout rules for games at the exact time when other leagues are attempting to minimize the impact of blackouts. Per Deadspin:

We’ve been getting tips all week from frustrated NHL.tv customers who installed NHL.tv’s new upgrade this week, only to see the entire service dissolve into an malfunctioning mess of blackouts. At pretty much any time when games are on, the @NHLTVSupport account’s mentions are full of hordes of complainers and angry people trying fruitlessly to be able to watch games on the platform they paid $160 for.

In addition to the surprise blackouts suddenly rearing their ugly heads, it appears that NHL.tv is having trouble working across certain devices for whatever reason. Chromebooks in particular appear to be affected, but other devices render the stream into a pixelated hell-scape. This is particularly problematic for a sport that relies so heavily on high-res viewing in order to follow the puck and the action in an arena where color differentiation is much more limited than with other sports.

But adding insult to injury is the all-caps threat clause the NHL slid into the update.

IF YOU CIRCUMVENT OR ATTEMPT TO CIRCUMVENT ANY BLACKOUT RESTRICTION OR OTHER USE RESTRICTION: YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE TERMINATION AND A CHARGE OF ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100.00) FOR EARLY TERMINATION WILL BE APPLIED TO YOUR CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD; YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO LEGAL ACTION; AND THE NHL RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REPORT SUCH MISCONDUCT TO APPROPRIATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.

Lovely. So a product that doesn't appear to work as advertised, served up to a customer base that appears to have been ill-informed about the blackout rules subsequently put in place for the product, is now on notice that doing anything to address this beyond waiting for the NHL to get their shit together will lose their subscription, be charged a fine, and be reported to the authorities for legal action.

Not exactly the best way to win over existing and new customers, NHL, particularly given that you're the league that can least afford to lose any fans.

Filed Under: blackouts, hockey, streaming, video
Companies: nhl

NHL To Piggyback On MLB Advanced Media For An Actual Legitimate Streaming Option

from the finally dept

For quite a while now, some of us in the business of discussing digital business models and entertainment have suggested that the ongoing trend of cable-cord-cutting, which will eventually turn the cable TV business into something completely different than what it's been for decades, would be best spurred on by better streaming sports options. What once seemed like a trickle of streaming adoption by sports leagues and broadcast partners has begun to turn into a river, with baseball and football looking to expand streaming options and some very serious web companies getting into the game as "broadcast" partners with major pro sports leagues.

It isn't stopping. In fact, it's only ramping up further. The NHL, the group with the lowest television revenue of the major sports leagues, and therefore the most to gain from streaming its product to expand the fan-base, just announced a deal with Major League Baseball to piggyback on the excellent MLB Advanced Media platform to stream NHL games.

The partnership will transform the fan experience by creating a fully integrated global hub of digital content that encompasses video, live game streaming, social media, fantasy, apps, along with statistical and analytical content. With an emphasis on deeper access into the game and telling the stories of NHL players, MLBAM and the NHL will collaborate on developing new digital products and platforms while enhancing current offerings.

The deal awards MLBAM rights to distribute live out-of-market games, including through the NHL GameCenter LIVE and NHL Center Ice subscription services in the United States and certain international markets. MLBAM will operate NHL.com, including the League's seven native language sites, and Club websites. MLBAM will operate NHL apps and be available to develop apps for the Clubs. The NHL and MLBAM will partner on the design and development of new digital products and platforms. The NHL and its Clubs retain editorial control across all platforms. The Emmy-Award winning MLB Network will provide studio space and production resources for the NHL Network for distribution in the United States and certain international markets.

This works on so many different levels, it's hard to know where to begin. First, any baseball fan, or really any sports fan, should be aware by now that MLBAM is the absolute gold standard in sports streaming. The price, the offering, the quality, the organization, the replays and the presence on new media is done amazingly well. If you're a baseball fan and you don't have MLB.TV, you clearly enjoy self-masochism in a way that I will never understand and may God have mercy on your soul. The NHL, in partnering with MLBAM, doesn't need to create their own platform. They simply partner with the best in the business and go on doing what they do best: producing hockey games. Give up a little control, get back a ton of exposure and a platform that makes the game widely available throughout the country/world.

Which is exactly what some of us (ahem, me) said the NHL should have done immediately after the last lockout. The promise of streaming is a customer-base unimpeded by borders or geography, one where your best fans can access your product wherever you go. The NHL, more than any other league, needs this sorely. Now they have it in a package that almost inevitably will be better than the Center Ice streaming product, which, blech. The only question is going to be just how long is it going to take, how many smart TVs need to be sold, and just how wide does the high-speed broadband net have to be cast before the leagues realize the obvious conclusion they should be drawing from all of this: they don't really need the broadcast partners anymore.

Notice the language that the NHL used in announcing this deal. MLBAM is the distribution channel for out-of-market games for the NHL. Today that means streaming the television broadcasts out of market. But also note that MLB has its own cable network and is its own broadcast partner for some games. Exactly how far is MLB away from partnering with MLB franchises to broadcast on its own station, where it can sell its own advertising, hire its own on-air talent, and all the rest? And if they can do that, they could simply stream the games as a priority and leave the television station on as an afterthought. They already know how to do this, through the MLB.TV service. Exactly what purpose are the TV stations filling that MLB can't do on its own?

And if MLBAM wants to strike up deals with other sports leagues to be their broadcast partners on the web? Well, if you work at ESPN, you ought to be shaking in your shoes right about now.

Filed Under: hockey, streaming
Companies: mlb, mlbam, nhl

NHL Bans Use Of Periscope Streaming By Media During Warmups And Intermissions

from the why? dept

Anyone interested in the business of professional sports already knows how important broadcasting rights and revenues are. One needs only look at the insane amount of money generated for Major League Baseball through broadcast contracts to see how lucrative they can be, or the relative indifference the NFL has over the surprising decline of game attendance to see where these leagues think their money is made. The story with the NHL is slightly different, in part because the lucrative television contracts just aren't there for the league (except in Canada, duh), and in part because if any major sport could benefit from wider distribution to become more lucrative it's the NHL.

But that doesn't mean the NHL won't play the fun-police when it comes to theoretically protecting its product. As some journalists have recently discovered, the league is going so far as to make sure credentialed members of the media aren't using apps like Periscope and Meerkat during warmups and intermissions. The way these apps work is to allow the user to produce snippets of live-streamed video/audio, perfect for formats like Twitter. Some enterprising media members found interesting ways to use them, such as Yahoo Sports' Greg Wyshynski.

So the question then became how I could use this technology during coverage. At Game 1 of the New York Rangers’ series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, I did live Periscope intermission coverage. That seemed OK. Some of the other people in the press box that were Periscoping the pregame skate or postgame comments? That seemed a little more dicey, given the NHL’s rules about shooting video at events where big media companies held the broadcast rights.

It seemed like there was a gray area. I can promise you that credentialed media members covering a sport don't want to do much to hurt the leagues they cover generally, given that's where their money is made. But you can certainly see useful ways media members could use Periscope and Meerkat to cover games in ways that could only help the league through increased visibility. Commentary and stand-ups during warmups, for instance, or breakdowns from media members in between periods. Those would be quite useful.

The NHL disagrees. Far from seeing any gray area, the league sent notice to media members that using the apps was banned completely.

We have been advised that certain individuals attending NHL games pursuant to credentialed access are streaming live footage from inside NHL arenas before, during and after NHL games using technology offered by companies such as Periscope and Meerkat. As a reminder, NHL media credentials prohibit any “unauthorized use of any transmission, picture or other depiction or description of game action, game information, player interview or other arena activity . . . without prior written approval of” NHL or the team as applicable.Without limiting the generality of the credential language, any streaming of footage in violation of the NHL’s Broadcast Guidelines (including, for example, live streaming inside the arena less than 30 minutes before the start of the game) and Media Access Policy is expressly prohibited.

So live-streaming warmups and intermissions is just as banned as in-game streaming. Why? Well, because some NHL teams are also using those apps and want to retain control. Control of the footage, the message, the information that gets released and the live commentary that might go along with it. Even during times when the NHL's product is ostensibly not in play, the ban remains in place. And that's too bad. For a sport and league that I truly love, it would be nice if they could see the opportunity in all of this, if only the league would relinquish just a bit of control. Unfortunately, when it comes to forward-thinking about the consumption of its game, the NHL never seems to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

Filed Under: hockey, journalism, live streaming, livestreaming, reporting
Companies: meerkat, nhl, periscope

Chicago Blackhawks Fire Reporter Over Silly Old YouTube Videos

from the oops dept

When we typically discuss companies coming to blows with content control (aka censorship), the stories tend to be about what would otherwise be obscure wrong-doings going viral on a national or international level. Major automakers concocting horrible advertising around suicide, for instance. Or multi-state bus companies learning that bathroom-ing on their customers isn't the best practice and catching the resulting backlash. But the practice of shining the light on yourself by being overly protective of your brand doesn't only happen at the macro level, it can have a local effect as well.

That's the lesson the Chicago Blackhawks are learning right this very minute. If you're not in Chicago, you probably haven't heard of Susannah Collins, who reports for Comcast Sports Net on the Blackhawks. In fact, if you know who she is at all, it's probably from this line of low-brow comedy videos that she produced on YouTube. While some of those videos are likely NSFW, there is nothing more racy in them than a bit of colorful language and suggestive talk. It's about as harmless as it gets. That is, of course, unless you're the Chicago Blackhawks who, for reasons that make absolutely zero sense, decided that those videos surfacing were cause to five-hole Collins' career and have her fired.

In a letter to the Vice President/General Manager of Comcast Sports Net Chicago, team chairman Rocky Wirtz demanded that reporter Susannah Collins be removed immediately, citing his awareness of comedy videos made years earlier that he found “incredibly offensive to a number of audiences, going well beyond professional athletes.”

He only learned of them after her innocent, unfortunate slip of the tongue last week brought them back to the fore, but it didn’t matter to Wirtz. Although they had been a fully disclosed non-issue upon her hiring, they became instant, retroactive reason for a swift dismissal.

The locals in Chicago were immediately upset over the firing. Certainly part of the reason for the animosity is the silliness of firing a reporter over sketch comedy videos she did on YouTube years ago. But, in true bad PR fashion, the real anger comes over the team's almost epic level of hypocrisy. You see, Wirtz cited the video's offensiveness as the reason for asking CSN (which is owned by several local Chicago teams, including the Blackhawks) to fire Collins. This, from the same team that has young women in tiny outfits shoveling up ice shavings between periods during games. This from a team that plays a sport in which fans will cheer on two grown men committing assault upon one another and then have the nerve to call it "part of the game."

But the real fun comes with the magnifying glass now being placed squarely on the team's official "ambassador," Bobby Hull. The article linked above is one of several that makes the point nicely.

Hull’s second wife, Joanne, whom he wed in 1960 and divorced in 1980, told an ESPN documentary in 2002 that she “took a real beating” at his hands. She described an incident during which Hull “threw me in the room, and just proceeded to knock the heck out of me. He took my shoe – with a steel heel – and proceeded to hit me in the head. I was covered with blood. And I can remember him holding me over the balcony, and I thought this is the end, I’m going.” She filed to end the marriage in 1970 after several more incidents, but they reconciled until Hull threatened her with a loaded shotgun in 1978. Their daughter, Michelle, also described his pattern of behavior to “Sports Century,” and she now works as an attorney specializing in domestic violence.

Should you think this was a one-time minor indiscretion of old-fashioned domestic abuse, Hull's second wife complained of similar treatment, Hull was later convicted for trying to punch a police officer, oh, and there was that one time he was all warm and fuzzy about freaking Hitler.

But, hey, I guess if there aren't any YouTube videos, it never happened, amirite? That is, until your unreasonableness turns the magnifying glass back on you and now you have an entire city calling for the head of your so-called "ambassador."

Filed Under: chicago blackhawks, history, hockey, reporter, susannah collins, viral videos
Companies: blackhawks, nhl

NHL Says It's Infringing To Use The Keyword NHL In Your App About The NHL

from the descriptive-uses-anyone? dept

After recently posting about the NHL's over aggressiveness in claiming that a car dealership saying, "Go Canucks Go!" in its window was infringing, we were contacted by Andrea Dulko, who let us know about her experience. She had created an iOS app called Red Light District, which provides news, highlights and analysis concerning NHL hockey. It's basically an aggregator of information about the NHL. However, Apple forwarded her a complaint, saying that by simply using NHL as a keyword, it was infringing on the NHL's trademark. To put it mildly, this is ridiculous. The use was descriptive and accurate, and there's no likelihood of confusion. No proverbial "moron in a hurry" is going to see a simple app with NHL news and assume it must be from the NHL itself. Either way, Dulko decided to pull the keyword, but she also more or less stopped updating the app. Congratulations, NHL, on taking the fun out of fans promoting you.

Filed Under: app, trademark
Companies: nhl

NHL Seems To Think Cheering On Your Favorite Team Is Infringement

from the insanity dept

Of the "major" sports leagues, generally the NHL has been the most reasonable, compared to the MLB, NFL and NBA, on intellectual property issues. However, it apparently still has moments of insanity. The NHL's legal department has apparently threatened a car dealership for having posted decals on its window saying "Go Canucks Go," in cheering on the Canucks in the NHL playoffs.

"Consumers are likely to be misled that the Vancouver Canucks have an official relationship with your dealership," NHL legal counsel Kelley Lynch wrote in the letter.

Plainly speaking, that's ridiculous. How long until fans will have to pay a team just to cheer them on? The dealership's manager points out the particular irony in this, since the team's slogan is apparently "We're all Canucks." Except when the lawyers get involved.

Ah, but that's not all. A radio station in Vancouver has also received a cease and desist letter from the NHL, claiming that a contest it was airing violated the NHL's intellectual property. The problem? The radio station was letting fans of the Canucks take a sledge hammer to a van that was painted with logos of the opposing teams that the Canucks were facing, and of course they're saying that the use of the logos is infringing. That is, once again, ridiculous. No one is going to think that's an "officially sponsored" contest by the NHL. It's just some fans cheering on their team.

Filed Under: canucks, hockey, trademark
Companies: nhl

The Los Angeles Kings Hires A Reporter To Cover... Themselves

from the changing-models-of-journalism dept

As we've discussed here before, the biggest beneficiaries of sports reporting are probably the teams themselves. The more news & analysis that is published about a team, the more relevant they remain in the public eye -- no stories, and the teams risk falling into oblivion. So, it's interesting to see that the hockey team, Los Angeles Kings, has recently hired its own full time reporter to cover the team. Rich Hammond once covered the Kings for the Los Angeles Daily News, and has been given complete autonomy to post commentary and stories on the Kings' web site, kings.nhl.com. Sure, some are wary of how "impartial" this news will be if the reporter is on the Kings' payroll; but really, that contention really plays a bit moot nowadays. In an era where the audience is no longer beholden to a few media outlets, the supposed guise of impartiality is less important, replaced by the more useful quality of transparency and accountability. If Hammond reports with genuine, well thought-out coverage, then his audience will reward him with their trust and readership, regardless of where his paycheck comes from.

Filed Under: hockey, journalism, reporting, rich hammond, sports
Companies: los angeles kings, nhl

NHL Sued For Trying To Take Over Team's Website

from the fight!-fight!-fight! dept

A few years back, Major League Baseball demanded that all MLB baseball teams hand over their websites to the league as part of their effort to create MLB Advanced Media, a division devoted to managing the online presence of Major League Baseball. While MLB may go way overboard in claiming control over certain content, its online efforts have been quite a success. There was a rumored (and later scrapped) IPO plan -- but the company is apparently still doing amazingly well, with talk of it being valued somewhere around $5 billion. Already, MLBAM has tried to expand its coverage by running websites for other sports and even musicians.

All of that success apparently caught the attention of the National Hockey League, who had apparently let teams run their own damn sites for a while. However, it recently decided to bring them all in house -- but teams aren't thrilled with the idea. In fact, the NY Rangers are now suing the NHL for antitrust violations in trying to take over their site. The Rangers claim that the site is an important part of their team's marketing efforts and it acts as a competitive differentiator. They're also not happy that they've spent all this time building up traffic only to turn it over to the NHL. There are a few important differences with the NHL's plan compared to the MLB's. First, MLB took over all team sites years ago, before web sites were so important. These days, most teams recognize how valuable those sites are and have already built up a ton of traffic. Much more importantly, Major League Baseball has a special antitrust exemption that no other sports have. So, even if a baseball team had wanted to charge MLB with antitrust violations, it would have been difficult given the exemption. Since the NHL doesn't have that exemption, it's going to have to put up a fight to get the Rangers to hand over their website.

Filed Under: sports leagues, websites
Companies: mlb, nhl, ny rangers