Canadian Teams Streaming Games Has Led Many Sports Fans to Give Up on Cable
February 17, 2011 4 Comments
A real interesting, thought-provoking piece (well, as thought-provoking as the state of cable television can be, I suppose) by Michael Oliveira of The Globe & Mail:
Plenty of sports fans would eagerly pay a few dollars a pop to stream live events a la carte and avoid an expensive TV plan they barely use. While that reality still doesn’t exist in a way that completely satisfies a diehard sports fan’s needs, new digital products are at least giving some fans a viable alternative to cable.
The Toronto Maple Leafs quietly released a new app last month that streams games on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The app, which costs $19.99, is good for the rest of the season but does not include games broadcast nationally on CBC or TSN because the team doesn’t have the rights to transmit those matches. It also only works in the Leafs’ broadcast region, which covers most of Ontario except the area the Ottawa Senators control.
It may come as a surprise to Leafs fans that for four years the team has also been offering online streams of games through its website. This season, a 10-game package costs $19.99 while a half-season package was $29.99. The same blackout rules apply, but CBC.ca streams its “Hockey Night in Canada” matches for free, so fans don’t have to miss out on too many games.
I’m no expert on how money would work with all this, but would you like to see all NHL teams begin to stream their games (for a fee, of course) in their home markets? Could it be the next step of the NHL’s involvement into the internet? I know in baseball, the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres have begun this practice as well, but the economics of hockey are obviously different. Very curious to hear some of the readers thoughts on this.
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If I could get all Leafs games on NHL’s Game Center I’d consider dropping NHL CI on TV. But, as I understand it the “national games” i.e. those on TSN or CBC aren’t included.
Actually in the US NHL Gamecenter usually has the CBC feeds (in HD too) unless the NHL Network is picking up the main HNIC broadcast. You can sometimes find TSN feeds on there too, but it is more hit and miss, although all the regional Candian feeds are HD quality on Gamecenter as well, unlike how it is with Center Ice.
RDS tried this a few years ago with their Habs games all streamed online, though you had to buy the package, so, not sure if it’s the same.
If the New York City area teams were available through a package, I would drop cable in a second. The only reason I pay for cable now is for HD NHL and HD NFL. All other shows I can stream online or watch the seasons after the fact thanks to Netflix.
Sports have kept me signed onto cable.