The Frustration of Growing Costs and Blackouts Watching the NHL

[@philspriggs3448]

The sooner we all sail the high seas, the sooner we force their hand in improving. Money is all they will listen to.

[@SuperRavensfan101]

Very true sadly, really shouldn't have to but the greed from Execs in the USA and Canada has gotten worse and worse over the past decade or two, combine that with the higher cost of living and it will eventually affect Attendance and TV Ratings a good amount

[@HighPlainsGrifter-sg2ep]

The sad thing is I want to pay a fair price and am willing to do so just to get a simple, full coverage of the NHL. But as this video highlights it’s just a mess and won’t change. So yes, we should be seeking the bounty on the high seas

[@JetSetRadiumFuture]

Agreed.

[@JUVI9596]

Haaaarrrrr

[@stevef4010]

I pretty much have thanks to Dubas and Fenway sports dismantling the Pens.

[@brad3605]

The NHL & it's teams are slowly killing themselves by penalizing fans for supporting their local teams. Do the executives make so much money that they're truly aren't able to understand that simple fact?

[@drlca6601]

easily, yes.

[@cameronmccormick89]

Insert Skinner out of touch meme here.

[@TheCluelessMan]

Most executives are only in it for the quick buck, few executives are emotionally invested in this game the way we think most fans are. At the end of the day, it´s just a money making scheme and quick profits are norm nowadays.

[@DeeJayObi]

Wow. When "pirate" sites have more options than legal services (f.e.: switching feeds), that's a BIG oof.

[@Darrakkii]

which have that, just so i can avoid them ofc the only one i know is streameast/sportsurge, both of which have horrible quality and no options

[@lmnopqrs11]

​@randombutrelevant this is my line of thinking. if I could pay one price and watch all of hockey I would, but I can't, there will always be missing games. so I just don't pay anything and watch any game as I want

[@rockinmel1]

I like the way Major League Soccer has it now: Apple bought all the rights to all games, available as a single package you can watch anywhere in the world. There are FS1 games but they're still also on Apple TV. But many MLS fans are absolutely swallowing their tongues because they believed the games were "free" before, when they were mostly on regional cable sports networks.

[@poejavelski148]

Anyone know of a good place? NHL66 was goated for like 4 straight years until the 22-23 season it got clamped down, I’ve never been able to find a good one since.

[@capsman09]

​@rockinmel1 Not a big fan of MLS Moving their Games to AppleTV.

[@sapporoj6379]

NHL TV in Japan allows you to watch EVERY GAME of EVERY TEAM including EVERY Playoff game. It costs 120 USD.

[@Leafs1]

Without blackouts??? Tried it in UK and 4 leaf games in a row blacked out....cancelled sub.

[@AryssSkaHara]

@@Leafs1 Probably because Sky has them aired somewhere

[@aod6string]

@@Leafs1 You need to vpn to a country that is not blacklisted I use Ireland

[@RLS_91]

@@aod6string which vpn do you use?

[@BodgeAttack]

Same as in New Zealand for $160 ($95 usd)

[@MemoriesDestroyUs]

when the option to purchase is no longer convenient, sailing the seven seas is always the answer

[@JetSetRadiumFuture]

Agreed.

[@kevinr6930]

This sounds like something I do not want to remain ignorant of.

[@clobster935]

Yarr'matey Plus!

[@itsame1742]

Google: NHL ratings: NHL ratings continue to plummet at an alarming rate There's a reason Adidas left and the salary cap has stayed flat.

[@TheMrTwizter]

There isn't a single pixel of my screen left where i don't see an ad, and I'm expected to pay for that.... yarr, Matey

[@sharpangus8538]

Exactly this. Also, paying $20+/month and you immediately get an ad when you open the app? Are they fucking serious?

[@douglascaskey7302]

Remember the days when the whole reason for getting cable TV was that there were NO ads? 🙄

[@marblox9300]

@@douglascaskey7302 Now you PAY for the Cable AND get the Ads.!!! It's The Amercan Way.!!!

[@marblox9300]

Now all sports have massively more revenue. Hockey now has advertising all over the boards - didn't have ANY back in the day. So IMO seeing games either in person or on TV should actually be cheaper - but the opposite has happened. I just don't follow sports any more. There are other things to do.

[@daveallen9921]

@@marblox9300 board ads cheapen the game. Its ugly. Other things.

[@jacobeberhardt1649]

YES! THANK YOU FOR COVERING THIS! There is zero excuse for blackouts. I should be able to watch any game, from anywhere, without having to buy cable.

[@sharileeboyle7760]

I cannot afford to watch hockey on TV. Went back to radio.

[@trik2o]

Ditto. Even watching a game live in person I like to have the radio on in my ear. The play by play makes it better.

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

Really I started watching MORE hockey after I cut my Rogers cable and found out how many sites online broadcast all the nightly hockey games and I now watch games every night that were never broadcast on regular Rogers cable packages. When I still had cable TV I just watched Leafs games and whatever other games they broadcasted while being kinda pissed that there were so many blacked out games. Now I just watch what games I like after I cut my cable and discovered a number of sites that broadcast tons of sports for free. I only wish I found out about these sites many years ago!

[@jckol34]

100% some of the on air announcers are 🔥

[@kodakcourage7255]

Likewise, as a Kings fan hearing it would be our radio announcers last season it made it an easy choice to opt out of all streaming services this season.

[@tommcd8471]

If they're going to push endless gambling adds on me and stupid blackouts, then i have absolutely no moral issue with watching games on a steaming site. I'd rather pay for a VPN than support the current broadcasting model of the NHL.

[@John-fc7wc]

This is the way.

[@JarradBruessel32]

The nfl is starting to do this

[@joshmacfarline3941]

VPN and add block. If the NHL doesn't want to make it easy to consume I'll hypothetically find alternative ways.

[@AcidFlash123]

@@joshmacfarline3941 I've "heard" that using a VPN and a browser like Brave, does wonders for your sports streaming issues.

[@OMGWTFLOLSMH]

Add is short for addition. Ad is short for advertising.

[@CT-mb4uq]

I have gone from watching hockey religiously to only watching playoffs. I am just not paying for all this stuff. I have started listening to games on the radio more though, and have really gained a new appreciation for announcers. Also I don’t have to see the stupid ads on the jerseys listening on radio. Maybe I am crazy, but I should be able to pay $25-$30 a month and be able to watch every single hockey game.

[@andrewtormanen]

The immersion into gambling advertisements on Fanduel Sports is a lot to deal with.

[@marleykirton]

Ironically, bet365 is the reason I can watch every NHL game live with no fuss

[@BarberossaThePirate]

I find it no different then a drug dealer pushing drugs.

[@barslars6038]

@@BarberossaThePirate These gambling sites are like drugs for some people.

[@mbertrand]

Bet Mode Activated!

[@chrisfortin984]

Well it's a 10b dollar industry

[@heathclark318]

Never doubt how your reviews are seen by your loyal fans. You are the brotha that watched the game with us, and has a different point of view. You are the co-worker who went to the game and saw the angles that TV refuses to show the viewer. You are the superfan we all look to for reference to the beginning of the game. You are the transplant from Canada for us Southern back woods Hockey fanatics that have 0 coverage now since Ballys folded. I truly could go on but wanted to impart, from my personal point of view, my hockey fandom is a thousand times better and bigger because of you. A loyal Stars fan in Texas, stuck outside of Houston. Much love to you and your family from me and mine!

[@PesSkeptCyn]

Use Victory+ for Stars games. It’s free and you don’t need a VPN in Texas and surrounding states. There is an app and web site to stream from.

[@ryanmonks4538]

Regional blackouts don't make sense to me at all. I'm a habs fan that lives in Saskatchewan and all the regional games are blacked out, even though I live 2 provinces away!

[@Dylan-Rodger]

Yep. Can't watch panthers games on espn+ because of blackouts 99% of the time. Like I'm in Florida let me watch a Florida game

[@zynful2310]

@@Dylan-Rodger facts bro i have no clue where im supposed to watch the florida regional games its so bad

[@nerdingout3560]

Im a leafs fan and live right in their broadcast region yet you'd be shocked(or maybe not) to see just how many home games get blacked out only because i assume they are playing an american team that has distribution rights for either tsn or espn

[@michaelwiggins3663]

I am yet to see the NY Rangers play Seattle because of blackout restrictions and I live in Dallas, TX. I couldn't be further from both NY and Seattle if I tried. Both times that I contacted ESPN they suggested that I watch soccer or college football instead (not even joking)

[@jaypence332]

Try living in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where we have blackouts for Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Kraken and now Utah. While Calgary is the closest team by crows flight.

[@JohnMcLaughlan-j3w]

Remember when you could watch for free on CBC? I miss those days.

[@Randomusername2001]

You pay more for the CBC than all of those streaming services combined.

[@JohnMcLaughlan-j3w]

@ CBC is free dude

[@jeffkearney3932]

@@JohnMcLaughlan-j3w its Definitely not free. tax payer funded

[@trobertw]

​@@JohnMcLaughlan-j3wthere is no such thing as free... dude. Naive people need to stop conflating "Tax funded" and "free"

[@Scotter4536]

@@Randomusername2001 That's not even remotely true. CBC's budget is $1.38b. It comes out to roughly $33/Canadian. Obviously, not every Canadian pays taxes and families share subscription services, so even if you only had 10m households paying for CBC it would $138/household per year. That's cheaper than several of those other services, let alone all of them combined. Plus, you get a wider variety of content than just hockey.

[@hamiotaville]

I think there's one word that sums up this rapid decline in hockey viewing options. Cory Doctorow coined the neologism "Enshitification" in November 2022 to describe the process where "vendors create high-quality offerings to attract users, then they degrade those offerings to better serve business customers, and finally degrade their services to users and business customers to maximize profits for shareholders".

[@Dam_Big_Dawg]

One of your best vlogs covering love of the sport vs. consumerism. This hits right in the soft spot, the wallet. Good job.

[@adambarnes4191]

I love to watch games, but with 2 small kids and a pretty early bedtime for me to get decent sleep, I've found myself happy to watch the 10 minute Sportsnet highlights of each game on YT with my coffee in the morning. Combined with Shannon's previews and recaps while I do some chores, I'm pretty content with my viewing. Rangers in 60nis always nice too.

[@tt128556]

That's my NFL experience, highlights on Monday morning.

[@jasonchecinski9741]

Honestly the power rankings is better then trying to watch games

[@RRaquello]

Radio is also an option and I think most if not all is available on the internet. Most of the time I have a game on the TV I'm just listening anyway while doing something else. When I was growing up (in the 70s) 90% of my hockey was radio, so I'm just going back in time and I don't feel I'm missing anything. And if something spectacular happens and I want to see it, I check out the highlights package later on the way I used to check out the sports highlights on the 10 o'clock news. All of a sudden it's 1977 again, LOL.

[@BeastOfMetal1989]

Somebody at LeafsNet will see this comment and make those highlights exclusive to US$10/month channel members...

[@adambarnes4191]

@BeastOfMetal1989 wouldn't be surprised lol

[@chrismdb5686]

Piracy is a service problem, the sooner corporations realize that the sooner they'll begin to make more money.

[@armin88213]

That's literally what happened in the music industry. Everyone is willing to pay for Spotify or Apple Music now because it's one flat price and you get everything.

[@detachablehappiness]

This seems to be a growing trend, where companies can make significantly more money by making deals with other companies than by serving their customers, so why bother with customer satisfaction? I know I sound like an old woman yelling at clouds, but honestly, I just want an easy way to watch hockey. I will pay for it. I want to pay for it. I want to give the NHL money so I can watch their games. The only reason their current setup makes any sense is if they're making significantly more money licensing their games to other outlets than they could if they made it simple and easy to watch their games. I don't think the NHL is actually interested in growing hockey, they're only interested in growing their own bank accounts.

[@davidwhidden9337]

Ask Amazon how much money "Prime Video" makes them. Ask Disney+ how much money it makes them. The only streaming service thar makes any kind of profit is Netflix and every company is chasing their shadow.

[@sgunz]

Thanks for talking about these Shannon, I sent an email few months back about this issue. Glad it led to a video and discussion.

[@richardtoms9161]

I looked into ESPN plus this year as the Rsn for the Blackhawks folded and the new carrier can’t make a deal with Comcast’s. I live 110 miles from Chicago 200 miles from St Louis and 275 miles from Minneapolis and am blacked out in all three. The blackouts are the dumbest thing in this day and age.

[@SoozBeez]

I'm a Kraken fan in Iowa, so most of the time the hockey blackouts don't affect me too much, but the baseball fan in me absolutely sympathizes. We're blacked out of Cubs, Sox, Cards, Royals, Twins AND Brewers games, no matter where they're being played.

[@FatherMarty]

@@SoozBeez Yep, And a 3.5 hour drive to the closest for me (Ames).

[@SoozBeez]

@@FatherMarty KC is closest for me & that's around 3 hours.

[@barrowsdragon]

The fact that majority of Blackhawks fans in the Chicagoland area can’t even watch their games is crazy in 2024, but here we are

[@alejbr4]

its pisses me off, those so called antennas dont even work in most areas

[@wgdjoefraser]

The blackouts are crazy, Nova Scotia gets lumped into blackouts for Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, its so dumb. And good luck if youre a Canadian that likes an American team.. the NHL could solve all kinds of issues if they had their own platform, you subscribe to either your team, and get every game, or the league, and get every game for every team. The NHL would get all advertising income direct, all subscription fee's, and everyone Globally would haave access to every game their team plays, or every game in the entire NHL. So dumb they havent done this.

[@mattski523]

They did this 10-15 yrs ago and it was awesome . It’s got to be far more lucrative to be doing what they do now. Greedy Bastards!

[@rfjohnson69]

The truck on this is local commercials. If they overlapped local commercials I to the feed (they used to do this), that would be great. Also, teams like the Rangers and Blackhawks make way more in the current model.

[@PesSkeptCyn]

That proposal is too logical.

[@Redmenace96]

Isn't that what MLB does?

[@valeriehowden471]

Got rid of our cable 2 years ago ... only watching hockey on it. So glad we did. Now we listen to Jets games on the radio, watch THG reviews in the morning, and watch highlights of games as needed. Watched Amazon Prime a couple of times because we have a membership. By not having cable, we get tickets to Jets games.

[@williamford9564]

5:10: The ESPN+ price in the US is the $11.99 a month which started on November 1. This was an increase and was THIRD price increase within the last year. I think it was $7.99 this time last year.

[@corey6393]

And, you still get local and regional blackouts.

[@NSUCarlos]

$16.99 if you have the Disney bundle, which increased from $13.99. I'm actually OK with this personally since my wife begged me to get Disney plus to begin with

[@rickyaz8640]

@@NSUCarlosyup, HULU and Disney in that bundle too. Watch a movie a month and it pays for itself

[@y6cd3sdzHs1g]

Disney is bleeding money. Their big budget movies are bombing, share price has tanked, and ABC's ratings are fading. They're raising revenue and cutting costs wherever they can; the costs will likely continue to rise as the financial situation appears to be getting worse. In entertainment industry news, it seems like they're taking a major PR hit every week.

[@stephenphillips6245]

​@@y6cd3sdzHs1gThey are starting to turn it around...it is hard to turn a big ship. Stock price is up and streaming is starting to break even again.

[@Clutch-cb7lt]

I'm watching a lot less hockey now because it's too expensive to combine like 3 different subscriptions to access everything I want to see and my basic sportsnet cable package has so many blackouts that I just do something else instead.

[@lavalp]

I stopped watching hockey due to the frenetic virtual ads on the boards and ice. I literally cannot watch the game anymore because of it. Additionally, multiple subscriptions to be able watch all the games (and the avalanche of ads despite the subscription) is just a middle finger to the fans.

[@GoodMenstruationAttitude]

Yep not sure if it's the board ads or just terrible bitrates but camera panning is jittery af, almost unwatchable.

[@RRaquello]

I'm so old I remember when the argument for pay-TV was that there wouldn't be any commercials. What f--king suckers the public is. 50 years ago you had to watch commercials (about half as many as you see now), but the TV was free. Now you pay for TV and get twice as many commercials for each half hour. The option is not to buy TV. I've taken that option but don't think many other people have.

[@danh9790]

Yup, I am starting to get that when watching the NBA and their “in-season tournament” with the different coloured/styled courts, I find my eye being drawn to the court and not focusing on the play. I have been going back to radio stations for play-by-play, especially for out of market and Playoff hockey.

[@marblox9300]

@@RRaquello Now all sports have massively more revenue. Hockey now has advertising all over the boards - didn't have ANY back in the day. So IMO seeing games either in person or on TV should actually be cheaper - but the opposite has happened. I just don't follow sports any more. There are other things to do.

[@daveallen9921]

Board ads are the worst thing to ever happen to watching hockey on TV. Cheapen the product and disrespect the fans trying to see a speck of puck while a car drives by. Horrible.

[@goaliecoachmike]

I’m just glad for NHL Network ‘On the Fly’ to see highlights & updates. Plus with all of the review highlights by NHL or Sportsnet on KZbin. Also love listening to radio feed via the NHL app while multitasking on my chores & honeydew lists! But yeah, some game timing stuff on TNT is ridiculous.

[@paulmacdonald9908]

Growing increasingly frustrated with all this crap regarding blackouts etc.

[@JarradBruessel32]

The nfl is starting to do it

[@sdgakatbk]

I got rid of my tv and cable in the early 90s and haven't gone back since. I had an NHL package maybe 5 or 6 years ago which I did watch games. I couldn't watch the Caps, the team I root for, but I did watch some Coyotes games as I had gotten interested in them through this channel. Now I have a lot of other things in my life and hockey on tv just isn't a big priority. And as far as your reviews and the content of this channel, you do an excellent job!!

[@trentlyons]

At this point I only use illegal streams because I honestly have no idea how else to watch games. I agree the illegal streams aren’t very good, but I refuse to give money to anyone that thinks blackouts are a good idea, these greedy companies have ruined a good thing.

[@BNJ_VODS]

100% Their products are worse than what you can get for free. They deserve whatever they get

[@corey6393]

Can you recommend ant streams that don't send your computer into apoplectic fits while watching?

[@trentlyons]

@ I use Steameast and have a VPN

[@barslars6038]

@@corey6393 Use a good ad blocker or use brave browser which has a good ad blocker built in.

[@gregjennings5332]

@@corey6393 Get Ublock Origin or some other adblocker, that may help.

[@kod8933]

NHL: "We want fans." Also NHL: "You need 5 subscriptions, 2 cable packages, and sacrificed kittens to view every game for your team."

[@RealMoneybags]

This is just the reality of it now. You have to stop paying. Use the seas. The on ice product is declining in quality all while they raise prices as if they’re selling the best thing ever.

[@fornowok]

"Use the seas". I don't even know what that means, let alone how to do it. I'm one of the 'lucky ones" I guess, I can watch any and every NHL game played. But, I have to pay two subscriptions to due it. As far as a VPN is concerned, I have one and when I use it the broadcast quits after about ten minutes. Of course you can tune back in but where were you in the broadcast? It's a pain and none of this is anywhere near a good as NHL live. For sure I watch less hockey now then I used too with NHL live. It's just not as convenient and my choice is not as broad.

[@freetimeflip6438]

If netflix gets NHL games, they will make it an add on like how amazon sells stack and other channels.

[@infinitecomplaicency]

@@fornowok "Use the seas" is the term used to reference pirating

[@smokinsteve2101]

Yeah youre right no hits and review every single goal.. NHL just isnt the same its boring to watch now

[@bartsanders1553]

​@@fornowok That's what happens on a lot of free ones. The connection just times out after a few minutes. Also depends on the country you select.

[@milscamp]

Great and important discussion, thank-you. This is really hurting the growth of the game. I could pay for all the different feeds, but I choose not to because I find it offensive. Feels like gouging. Found new ways to spend my leisure time and watching much less NHL than a few years ago. Im thinking that there might be many fans of the game making this kind of decision.

[@HardwareHank02]

Trying to watch the local Wild games is a train wreck you need ESPN, NHL game center, fan duel TV yadda yadda its ridiculous

[@corey6393]

Trying watching them in the Northwest. Blackouts for CO, LV, Seattle, and Utah make it nearly impossible.

[@havenless3551]

Yep. Bummer that I can’t legally watch the Colorado games, and it’s just stupid that I can’t even watch all of the Leafs game as my local team

[@aegisreflector2725]

What? Does Minnesota lack a cable option for Wild games?

[@HardwareHank02]

@@aegisreflector2725 I dont get the channel anymore cause they never reached an agreement when they were under bally.

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

Search online. There are plenty of websites that broadcast hockey and other sports for free and you can watch pretty much every NHL game on a daily basis. I only started searching and found out about these sites after I cut my cable connection. I only wish I had found out about these places years ago so that I could watch all the NHL games that were never shown on regular cable.

[@JohnDoe-hu9ve]

The blackout situation is out of hand. Period.

[@Acal51]

You mentioned ticket prices.... This is the year I'm finally NOT going to a game. The cost to enjoyment ratio is to offset for me to pay that price. I cant justify $500 for 4 hrs.

[@shaggyfrankdizzl]

Yep, dished out $400 for 2 Tix last year. Last time for me too. Love my hockey, but it's not worth it.

[@Acal51]

@@shaggyfrankdizzl I was looking at going to Hockey Day Minnesota again this year. Ticket prices were $200+ fees a person, $250 for the hotel plus the HDM tickets. It would be close to $800-900 for 1 day of hockey. I cant swallow that anymore.

[@HeyStripes]

I will not pay for another sports package to watch hockey until they get rid of blackouts. I'm sick of paying hundreds of dollars only to find games I want to watch blacked out...Im over it. I'll sail the seas until they do...I'll watch highlight pack on KZbin until then, the NHL has essentially lost me as a customer... and I'm pretty sure that I'm not alone in this. I swear its the ONLY league that makes it's fans jump through hoops to watch the games

[@btawesome98]

As a Dallas fan Victory+ is decently amazing Pretty happy with Dallas. Constant Ws

[@allenwitbeck6804]

This Duck fan is very happy that Anaheim went with Victory+ as well!

[@davidromano1348]

Your reviews are awsome. thanks.

[@Jon-gx6de]

I am watching significantly more hockey now, because I stopped worrying about paying thirteen different services and spent a fraction of that on a VPN, allowing me to view "unofficial streaming sites", as well as dodge blackouts. I hate the experience, but at least I can watch hockey

[@nuck97]

Some 15 years ago, I realized the only thing I was watching on TV was NHL hockey, so I cancelled my cable and started watching on streaming sites. YES, they are definitely annoying with all the popups and buffering delays, but over this amount of time, I estimate I've saved about $18,000 over these past 15 years on a cable bill. I can live with that.

[@Straight_dipping_]

As a Dallas Stars fan living in Texas, now that we have Victory plus it’s absolutely amazing and still can’t believe they would actually make an app for stars fans to view games for FREE.

[@PesSkeptCyn]

Don’t forget Ducks on there too.

[@andregardner7185]

GG tonight... I thought Utah could find a win.

[@kentmccormack3391]

Never posted on here before. I can’t agree more. Very frustrating. I don’t understand how the NHL feels this is the proper way to promote the game.

[@caferacer99]

Preach! I'm in Tucson Arizona, I no longer have a team at all. I have ESPN+, Max (shows TNT games,) and Amazon Prime. I still can't get all the games. Plus the Utah team and, for some reason the Golden Nights, are blacked out in my area on ESPN! Make it make sense.

[@wilbs1959]

Blacked out on Center Ice also

[@coleyoutubechannel]

Dude I had the same problem trying to watch the Leafs vs Golden Knights game last night.. all of a sudden VGK is our local team and their games are black out for us.. this was on ESPN+.. so dumb!

[@azfactor7875]

Colorado is also blacked out in Tucson, 900 miles away for ESPN+. Salt Lake, 777 miles away. Las Vegas, 412 miles away. Please explain to me how it is the Tucson can be considered a "local" market for any of those cities.

[@coyote4237]

I live in Northeastern Nevada. We get our Dish/Directv from Salt Lake City. I went from being able to watch all the VGK games to being forced to have all the Utah games. I understand that, though. I bought Center Ice. VGK games are still blacked out randomly. Frustrating.

[@rickyaz8640]

Vegas games and some Utah games are on over the air (the ABC channel 15.1 or something like that)

[@ChrisCardenDrums]

You hit the nail on the head, as a hockey nut, I'd gladly pay just about any price of what the old nhl live was, because that'd give me all the TV I could ever wanna watch during the NHL regular season and the first couple rounds of the playoffs. All these hoops we have to jump through now, it's just silly.

[@corey6393]

I live in North Idaho. I used to subscribe to Center Ice (way back to 2005-ish). I follow MN mostly, but was blacked out of games with them playing Colorado. Then Vegas got a team, and they added a blackout. Then Seattle got a team, and they added another blackout. Then Utah got a team, and as far as I know, they added another blackout. I stopped buying the sub long before UHC, when it became obvious I was not going to be able to watch at least half the games due to blackouts and other restrictions. I could not even watch Seattle play teams in the East. The NHL lost me completely as a paying viewer. Now, I get an occasional Kraken game on Prime, and I get and occasional Wild game on a national broadcast, after football season is over. I rely on Sportsnet highlight reels to catch up on the game the next day. Hockey as a spectator sport has become totally passive for me.

[@JUVI9596]

Cheer for the Flames dude. Love Sandpoint btw !

[@Tomas-be7bf]

There once was a time when cutting the cord was beneficial, now it's about the same if not more as having cable.

[@WarriorKidd06]

And you can’t have any of it without Internet service and they are steadily raising the cost of that as well

[@JoeNauk-q5l]

Yo ho ho, it's a pirate's life for me

[@JUVI9596]

Haaaarrrrr

[@rowdyroddy519]

yup..can watch every televised game on the planet for free, if you know the golden web address :D

[@Sick_Boy_Rick74]

@@rowdyroddy519I’m stuck watching on that damned site that sends my phone into panic mode with pop ups and redirects. I’ve figured out how to quickly get rid of them and get to watch my games within a few minutes of entering the site. Still it’s a pain in the ass. But if it’ll save my disabled ass from paying more into the Bettman machine then I’ll do it.

[@pbmc_]

Ahoy, matey!

[@Weatherboy1102]

Do what you want cause a pirate is free

[@j11smith]

I agree with a lot of what you're bringing up here. I'd like to add that I canceled my sportsnet this year cause it was 287 for the year. It includes incessant commercials that are kind numbing and a bunch of sports I'd never watch. Also the Florida Edmonton Stanley cup turned out to be fishy. They had concerts booked for outside the Edmonton arena for game six. The bands playing weren't the kind you can call up after game five and get in two days. These were booked in advance and the look on Connors face in the first three games said it all, the fix was in and Edmonton wasn't gonna win. They made all the money they could making it go seven but it was decided like the NFL or NBA... I've been watching all my life and street that I can't watch it anymore.

[@finnboru7977]

My solution is that I now only watch THG and highlights on KZbin

[@domb45]

Me too, all free

[@commonman317]

Same. It's the only way to see the Lightning at all right now for me.

[@exeter1985]

It used to be that if you wanted to watch the NFL, you bought the NFL Sunday Ticket. There was one package to buy. Now, that one package is spread out among multiple networks that you have to buy to watch what was previously on one package. Money, money, money as ABBA used to sing about.

[@channelcreator317]

I’ve been saying for a while now, they need to create a package for watching individual teams and not all. Personally, I’d pay $82 to watch the senators full season (a dollar a game) and I think a lot of others would too. Maybe one dollar a game is unrealistic but we need something better than the options we have now

[@shaggyfrankdizzl]

One team season access packages are being discussed with the league. It may happen sooner than you think.

[@stevo7373]

That's exactly what the Panthers did, I pay less than a dollar a game for the season, I'm in the Central Florida area and they would be blacked out otherwise.

[@kite-fan]

Exactly what I would be looking for as well.

[@commonman317]

Are NHL games broadcasted on Amazon Prime in Canada only? I haven't seen any listed on Amazon for viewing in the Central Florida area. Just wondering.

[@pattyboyz]

Moved to NYC and became a Devils fan because tickets are priced much more reasonably (and I would say a better atmosphere than MSG) but it’s brutal not being able to watch a ton of games because of blackouts. If they got rid of blackouts I’m sure local interest would skyrocket.

[@quinnhertner3637]

Thank you for speaking out. It needs to be said.

[@duncanhume6335]

Long live Shannon! Man of the people!

[@Rounder2205]

We need to realize that being able to watch EVERY game of your favorite team is a thing of the past. Pick your one or two favorite streaming services and enjoy the games they offer. It was a blip in history. REMEMBER, before local sports channels existed, we were able to watch a few local game and 1 or 2 national games per week.

[@0nTopic22]

Stars and ducks did it right with victory+

[@cowboyd5673]

I agree, it’s been great! I can finally watch the Stars regularly again!

[@Cataracta]

Absolutely! Quack quack

[@brainspout3447]

I seriously cannot believe how impressed I have been with Victory+. I was expecting a ton of ads but I think there are probably less ads than on a regularly broadcast game. Plus great quality feed at home and on my phone. I think a lot of NHL teams are going to go this route in the future. At least they should, if they care about their fans.

[@0nTopic22]

@ the feed quality is better than Netflix

[@p.s8945]

thank you for addressing this, its so annoying having games blacked out and having to have different subscriptions for different games.

[@onnadarts23]

Just listening to you explain the whole mess illustrates how absurdly complicated it all is. I'd like to just go to a website, select a game, and have my credit card charged for a few bucks.

[@gregsaldi1292]

how much would you be willing to pay for a single game?

[@user-pc7xq6dz2i]

@@onnadarts23 it would be like $20 per game lol. Because these streaming platforms make their money by gaining subscribers, not from actual game viewership. You are the product- the NHL is selling you, the hockey fan, to its business partners.

[@onnadarts23]

@@gregsaldi1292 $10

[@AppleiPhone17]

The blackout thing should be illegal

[@rockinmel1]

This is an pain point for fans of every single sport that's not the NFL, because the NFL plays once a week and the Big Four US networks can cover all the games. (Even that's changing, though - there are now streaming/cable-only NFL games.) As a Kraken fan, I was delighted when they announced OTA "free" broadcasting of their games, but that's restrictive to the station's coverage area, and it doesn't include ESPN/TNT cable games.

[@leftcoaster67]

I was worried about this when I heard about the Amazon Prime deal. Why can't NHL Centre Ice just cover all games with no blackouts?

[@gibson531]

Got blacked out of the Philly game on TNT last night and I don't live in the Philly market. It's ridiculous.

[@stokervu]

Streaming actually got me into the NHL. We don’t have cable, but pay for the Disney+ bundle with ESPN+, mostly for Disney products for my kids. Now I get to watch hockey when everyone else is in bed. I agree the blackouts are unfortunate. I live in central Illinois. We’re 2.5hrs from Chicago and St. Louis, as such both the Blackhawks and Blues are blacked out. A bummer, because we’re far enough out from both cities I don’t have local broadcasts of those games.

[@klompsauce]

Local blackouts are incredibly frustrating. I am a Wings fan living in NC, I use ESPN+ to watch Detroit, while Canes games are blackout, I at least understood why they started doing it, as far as game attendance goes but Canes have a full barn every night now, people in this area is who is trying to watch that team.

[@RoscoMontana21]

It was never about filling up the arenas, that’s just an excuse that the corporate suits use to make you feel better about their blatant greed.

[@brainspout3447]

This season, the Dallas Stars have switched to Victory+ for all their games, with the exception of a few games that are nationally televised. Victory+ is totally free. I was concerned there would be a ton of ads but there are actually less ads than when I watch a regularly broadcast game. I believe the Anaheim Ducks have also switched, and perhaps a few other teams. The experience with victory+ has been so great, I have a suspicion many teams, will also follow this path in the future.

[@chrisdawber3548]

The more difficult you make it for fans to consume your product the fewer fans can watch. Fewer customers means less $ ask the CFL how blackouts effect viewership and fan engagement.

[@nileswillis7992]

I pay $0 for hockey. The NHL gets $0 from me. Yet I watch any game that i want. I will never pay money to watch hockey on tv/online.

[@trvman1]

Yep, I will NEVER pay anything extra to watch hockey. If I can't see a game thru cable, then I won't be watching hockey.

[@djjanezick5588]

Ownership are the dealers, fans are the junkies, they know they can do whatever they want. Until the consumers exhibit self control, ownership will NEVER change.

[@TheCrazyCanuck420]

And when fans pirate hockey it's like Bubbles from the Wire stealing drugs with a fishing line above the dealer 😊

[@janihaavisto79]

In Finland at least I can see quite a few games from Canal+ stations. Sure those cost some 35-40 Euros per month with all movie channels included. Or then there are also couple tv stations that show few regulation season matches but do show most playoff games. Depending on channel and such.

[@skardi2104]

Appreciate this overview (as a guy who only watches Saturday HNIC (aka Toronto NIC) on the rabbit ears, and now Mondays on Amazon Prime). I assume most local teams have their own viewing subscription, but they seem to be all or nothing, whereas I'd like to be able to pay per game when my schedule allows.

[@dirk903]

I get to watch at most two games per week. Hockey night in Canada on the free CBC app, and now the Amazon Prime games. My gripe for all of this is. If I had the option for a subscription that just lets my watch all the games, I would 100% pay for it

[@winchestermonroe5694]

@@dirk903 time to sail the seas my friend

[@bobkuboske6494]

I quit watching the nhl all together because of this crap. I live in colorado and can't even watch local broadcast games because the avs owner won't negotiate with dish who is the only TV provider where I live.

[@Volbx]

ITS BRUTAL

[@sydneytoker7390]

Out here

[@jacknife616]

This is the best video I have seen on this channel. Good job

[@gregvogel9859]

As a Seattle fan in the Seattle market Amazon Prime gets me all Seattle games apart from the nationally televised games with no blackouts, especially since I’m already a prime customer this is a godsend. This year all of my pains from previous years have been answered by Amazon and over the air TV

[@zdv-b3g]

I love that the Kraken ditched Root Sports in favor of Prime. Wish more teams would ditch RSNs and blackouts

[@little_buster4289]

Same here. And for those without prime it’s on local over the air channels too! Such an improvement…

[@JoeHakos]

The NHL broadcast setup is beyond frustrating.

[@nyern]

Very thankful KONG in Seattle decided to broadcast games over the air this season. Antenna is cheap

[@louisstabile1182]

The NHL, a sports league where you need a guide to follow your team. They legit don't want your money.

[@beneasler8868]

Can someone tell me why when the Jets play IN Pittsburgh, the broadcast is hijacked and played on the only in Canada Amazon Prime?

[@squidMB]

As a Canucks fan from Saskatchewan, they’re blacked out for me. Its so frustrating. Same with the Leafs and the Canadiens, always blacked out. For the Flames & Senators, usually depends who they’re playing if it’ll be blacked out or not. I can watch the Jets & Oilers with no worries.

[@michaelyano6094]

Google "nhl66" :)

[@CanadianBigMek]

#THG, please where did you get that Original 6 ball cap? I have been looking for one for YEARS. pls let me know

[@CanadianBigMek]

as for the broadcast...To the High Seas Me Heartys! i can barely make the ends meet due to cost of living, let alone an extra $500 each year.

[@Frostifer25]

Using unofficial sites really isn’t fun but I have to admit, it’s been a long while now since I’ve watched games by conventional means, due in large part to everything you mentioned in this video as well as (and I saw other people mentioning this as well), the virtual advertisements really giving me a headache with how they move in relation to the camera and how they’re superimposed. Not that that doesn’t happen on the unofficial sites but at least I’m not paying for 10 different services just to STILL be left without some games. Love hockey, won’t stop watching it, but I won’t be paying for it anymore

[@kodakcourage7255]

This season I passed on all streaming services and chose to get season tickets to my local SPHL team, Huntsville Havoc.

[@MilesTailsProwe]

A equivalent to the Apple/MLS deal is all I want. Keeping track of multiple services and all the subscriptions pushes me to piracy

[@rynbvrs]

It's almost 2025. Elon has made internet in the middle of the rainforest possible, but we're still blacked out of hockey games on a regular basis. It's wild times.

[@DavonteNK]

This is why inflation is high. The stock market requires infinite growth in short term profits. And to accomplish this, companies resort to reducing the quality of goods while raising the price for them. It's not traditional inflation, it's greed-flation where the price of goods will only go down once consumers stop buying their products or gov regulations are put in place. People will come to understand this eventually, but your video will increase the amount of people who do so thank you. Great video!

[@chrismdb5686]

It would be better to destroy monopolies and trusts like was done in the past then to add more red tape, but considering the corporations own all of our governments neither will ever happen

[@JonDoe-ln6nl]

Yeah, and it’s Biden’s fault, too.

[@PesSkeptCyn]

This. 10000 times this.

[@balfizan]

I live a two hour drive from Amalie in Tampa. Huge Lightning fan. I am blacked out where I am unless I pay for FanDuel sports. I already have the Disney/Hulu/ESPN bundle. So I pay an extra $3 a month for a VPN so I can watch (almost) all the games.

[@onnadarts23]

Arrrr Matey! Me treasure chest aint full enough to pay all these land-lubbers fur me hockey!

[@grimstudio_]

So when my sportsnet goes up, do i get to watch all the games on sportsnet? Or just my local market like currently. Very annoying when they advertise games you cant watch 😒

[@EskimowSC]

Said it before and I'll say it again. If I could pay a subscription and watch any game regardless of region, with access to VODs to catch up on any game at any time, I would happily pay for it. But until that happens, I'll just keep watching for free because thats the only way I can watch my team play when I live in another teams city.

[@ToABrighterFuture]

The NHL has been a gate driven league for a while. They need fannies in seats above all. I don't know if slapping up multiple paywalls is meant to juice the gate out of fan frustration, or if it's a shortsighted bid for a shiny new revenue stream. Netflix's recent boxing fiasco should be a cautionary tale, but... 😟

[@sonnydethier2916]

I remember a while ago in Montreal with my Rogers cell phone plan I had NHL Center Ice for free. With blacked out games, I just had to start a VPN and select anywhere not in the blacked out area.

[@FMCTJR56]

where's the commissioner, this trying to find a local game has gotten refrickindiculous!

[@qp2044]

Trying to watch avs games in Colorado has been a nightmare for years now, and streaming them is way too expensive when you add in all the other restrictions. If they want to take in more sponsors, add in the horrible living adds in the boards, on ice ads, gambling money, and then over priced viewing options...they should not be shocked if people find more creative ways to watch

[@bekentech]

I just stopped watching hockey altogether and let you tell me about the games, and watch the highlights on KZbin.

[@MarkCMG]

Thanks for the video! I'm an Illinois ex-pat Blackhawks fan in SE Wisconsin where the Wild are the blackout team on my ESPN+ subscription. I get MAX because of my AT&T cellphone service, so I get the Wednesday night NHL on TNT games on there live. I also have a Prime subscription anyway, so that isn't a problem for me. I do like to watch many teams, and almost any hockey in general. I miss some games on the weekend when they are on broadcast networks because I do not have regular cable (and don't want it). I won't watch illegal feeds of games, so that's not an option. Still, I miss very let with the arrangements I have and watch way more than I should make time to watch, but I love hockey. I pay about $12 USA for the monthly ESPN+ sub, and the other ways I consume hockey I have for other reasons but air very few games anyway. I will only keep the ESPN+ sub during hockey season, so $12 x 8 = $96 annually for my hockey watching habit currently. Go Blackhawks!

[@096Landon]

Sail the high seas lads!