NHL Center Ice free this year?

[jaster]

There's no HD package in the US - at least, there never has been in the past. There's the standard $160 deal that has a couple of HD channels and rotates which games go on those channels (almost always the Canadiens, IIRC).

I would love an HD CenterIce package, and I'm rather confused as to why they'd offer it in Canada and not the US...

I'm assuming you're only talking about Comcast? With DirecTV, I've gotten 90% of CI games (99% of Wings games) in HD for several years now.

 

[sarcastro]

I'm assuming you're only talking about Comcast? With DirecTV, I've gotten 90% of CI games (99% of Wings games) in HD for several years now.

Hmm. Yes, I suppose it's only Comcast. Is Fios any better for HD CI games? If it is, I'm totally switching.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

Hmm. Yes, I suppose it's only Comcast. Is Fios any better for HD CI games? If it is, I'm totally switching.

I just recently switched to Fios but people I know who have it say there's like 2 or 3 HD games a day. Which is 2 or 3 more than Comcast.

Comcast told you there was 2 on their little Menu/Listing channel but they didn't exist.

 

[Scamallite]

Hmm. Yes, I suppose it's only Comcast. Is Fios any better for HD CI games? If it is, I'm totally switching.

FiOS is definitely better than Comcast. But no where near DirecTV or Dish Network.

The reason for this is because Comcast and FiOS use "IN Demand" to supply them the package. Because of Cable/FiOS bandwidth limitations, they can only supply some of the games in HD each night in the package. With Comcast, like you've seen, they don't supply squat for HD games.

With DirecTv and Dish, they package their own Center Ice. They already have feeds from most local areas with the games, so all they have to do is re-map the feed to the Center Ice Channel. No more bandwidth required since they are already broadcasting it to the local area.

Now if I were stuck with FiOS vs Comcast, I'd seriously consider buying the Center Ice package for online, Playstation 3, Apple TV, etc. viewing. The quality may be a lot better than SD. But that will depend on your broadband speeds of course. If you go with FiOS, you should be good with the speeds. I have FiOS for my internet and love it. DirecTV for my TV because I want every Red Wings game (I'm not local to Detroit) in HD on every TV in my house.

 

[Scamallite]

If DirecTV offers the package for $75 or below for this year, I won't haggle. Anything above that, I'll play retention CSR roulette until someone budges.

 

[sarcastro]

I just recently switched to Fios but people I know who have it say there's like 2 or 3 HD games a day. Which is 2 or 3 more than Comcast.

Comcast told you there was 2 on their little Menu/Listing channel but they didn't exist.

My Comcast had 2 HD channels that were legit and usually had HD games, but they were rarely the games I wanted to see. There could theoretically be 4 HD games a day on the Comcast CI channels - two early, two late.

They have been gradually getting better, from zero HD channels to one, then to two last season. But I'd love to see all games offered in HD.

 

[Houston Red Winger]

I love how Ian White, who continuously put all the blame for the strike on Bettman and the owners, mentions how maybe "they" will give the fand Center Ice for free. Of course, by they, he means the league & the owners. Notice how he did not offer some of his salary or suggest the players should chip in anything for this "free" effort.

His comments show how little he knows about business, or that anything is "free" in this world. I guess when you make a million dollars a year for playing a game, you start to think money does grow on trees.

 

[LeighDx59]

I think I would be happier if the NHL worked out some ageement with the NBC Sports Network to show games from everywhere every day theres a game. I think it would be easier to do then free GameCenter, though there maybe problems with the other programming on the Sports Network.

 

[babcockscowl]

Hmm. Yes, I suppose it's only Comcast. Is Fios any better for HD CI games? If it is, I'm totally switching.

Comcast AND Time Warner, that's why I switched to DirecTv

 

[wingnutjeff]

I've gotten CI every year since 09 and I will not buy it this year unless it is really cheap (say like $50) so if that or Game Center aint free I'll be watching every non-national TV game via stream.

I'll probably give in and buy CI again starting next season though.

These were my thoughts and I've been buying it since 96-97 when I bought my $800 dollar dish after I moved from Michigan. Boy have things changed with CI access since then.

 

[sarcastro]

I love how Ian White, who continuously put all the blame for the strike on Bettman and the owners, mentions how maybe "they" will give the fand Center Ice for free. Of course, by they, he means the league & the owners. Notice how he did not offer some of his salary or suggest the players should chip in anything for this "free" effort.

His comments show how little he knows about business, or that anything is "free" in this world. I guess when you make a million dollars a year for playing a game, you start to think money does grow on trees.

Psst....CenterIce is an InDemand product. InDemand is run by Comcast and Time Warner. Comcast is owned by Flyers owner Ed Snider and Time Warner, who owned the Thrashers before they were sold and moved to Winnipeg.

CenterIce doesn't belong to the players, so it's not theirs to give. It's an asset of Snider and some of the other owners.

 

[Heaton]

Psst....CenterIce is an InDemand product. InDemand is run by Comcast and Time Warner. Comcast is owned by Flyers owner Ed Snider and Time Warner, who owned the Thrashers before they were sold and moved to Winnipeg.

CenterIce doesn't belong to the players, so it's not theirs to give. It's an asset of Snider and some of the other owners.

And the owners would be paying for the lost revenue to cable providers. So, the players could feasible come up with a fund to do that as well.

 

[drumnj]

Psst....CenterIce is an InDemand product. InDemand is run by Comcast and Time Warner. Comcast is owned by Flyers owner Ed Snider and Time Warner, who owned the Thrashers before they were sold and moved to Winnipeg.

CenterIce doesn't belong to the players, so it's not theirs to give. It's an asset of Snider and some of the other owners.

Only some of this is correct....

InDemand doesn't own Center Ice. The NHL does.
InDemand is co-owned by 4 cable companies (2 of which are Comcast and Time Warner) and operates as a PPV/Premium content service. It only acts as a way to distribute content for cable television providers.
Comcast is a public company so not owned by any one person.
Ed Snider is chairman of Comcast Spectacor, subsidy of Comcast, which runs the Flyers
Time Warner sold the Thrashers in Sept 2003, to Atlanta Spirit LLC, who then sold to True North Sports and Entertainment.

 

[RedWingsNow*]

I love how Ian White, who continuously put all the blame for the strike on Bettman and the owners, mentions how maybe "they" will give the fand Center Ice for free. Of course, by they, he means the league & the owners. Notice how he did not offer some of his salary or suggest the players should chip in anything for this "free" effort.

His comments show how little he knows about business, or that anything is "free" in this world. I guess when you make a million dollars a year for playing a game, you start to think money does grow on trees.

LOL
Are you serious? Or did you simply not think?

You know that if the NHL loses Center Ice revenue, so does Ian White and the PA

 

[rrasco]

Do people really think that inDemand owns Center Ice? You think the service providers own Showtime or HBO, just because they provide them too? inDemand doesn't provide CI for Directv, so why would the assumption be that CI is owned by them? Only cable providers use inDemand for CI. Neither Dish nor Directv use inDemand for CI.

 

[sarcastro]

Only some of this is correct....

InDemand doesn't own Center Ice. The NHL does.
InDemand is co-owned by 4 cable companies (2 of which are Comcast and Time Warner) and operates as a PPV/Premium content service. It only acts as a way to distribute content for cable television providers.
Comcast is a public company so not owned by any one person.
Ed Snider is chairman of Comcast Spectacor, subsidy of Comcast, which runs the Flyers
Time Warner sold the Thrashers in Sept 2003, to Atlanta Spirit LLC, who then sold to True North Sports and Entertainment.

If you go to the Center Ice website, it's got an InDemand copyright on the bottom of the page. Click on Corporate Info and it takes you to the InDemand website. So that one's covered. The NHL licenses InDemand to broadcast NHL games, but InDemand is not owned by the NHL, nor is CenterIce.

Snider is part of the ownership group that runs Comcast - as chairman and controlling owner (~35%) of Comcast Spectacor, it's safe to assume that he has at least been involved in all important hockey-related activities and decisions made by Comcast.

Time Warner has, in the past, owned the Atlanta Hawks, Braves, and Thrashers. They are an ownership group, even if they do not currently own an NHL team.

Point is, one of these groups can exert managerial control over Center Ice, its programming, and what it charges. That would be the NHL Board of Governors, not the NHLPA.

 

[nullterm]

Free Center Ice would be a great way to apologize to the fans, and possibly even attract new ones. Buying Center Ice in previous seasons made me more into a hockey/NHL fan than just an Oilers fan with being able to watch any game.

If the NHL wants to claw back it's stature, getting it's product out to the fans for one half season would be an investment for further seasons.

That said, I don't see it going free. Maybe for $50 (1/2 price for short season, then 1/2 price again as a "sorry" gesture).

 

[drumnj]

If you go to the Center Ice website, it's got an InDemand copyright on the bottom of the page. Click on Corporate Info and it takes you to the InDemand website. So that one's covered. The NHL licenses InDemand to broadcast NHL games, but InDemand is not owned by the NHL, nor is CenterIce.

Snider is part of the ownership group that runs Comcast - as chairman and controlling owner (~35%) of Comcast Spectacor, it's safe to assume that he has at least been involved in all important hockey-related activities and decisions made by Comcast.

Time Warner has, in the past, owned the Atlanta Hawks, Braves, and Thrashers. They are an ownership group, even if they do not currently own an NHL team.

Point is, one of these groups can exert managerial control over Center Ice, its programming, and what it charges. That would be the NHL Board of Governors, not the NHLPA.

Apparently you didn't read anything I said...but that's ok.
I'm not arguing or saying the NHLPA controls anything, just the NHL.

Yup, I agree that if you own something you are going to be called and owner. Just that you can't control something you don't "own"....you may be able to lobby for something through contracts and negotiations though.

US http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=26371
Canada http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=27197

Center Ice is not owned by all these companies. Oh and be sure to read the fine print at the bottom of the page

Let me guess you think Directv owns/controls NFL Sunday Ticket


Oh one more thing, even though I don't give a crap about Comcast.
http://corporate.comcast.com/news-information/leadership-overview
Maybe Snider goes by another name

 

[TS Quint]

http://comcast-spectacor.com/PDFs/companyorgchart.pdf

 

[chances14]

https://twitter.com/helenenothelen/status/290572182927577088

Helene Elliott ‏@helenenothelen

Was told four payments of $14.99 each for Center Ice. Didn't believe tweet about it being free. Good reason to not believe..

so much for center ice being free

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

Don't think I'm paying 60$ for 27 games. If we had less National TV games I'd probably get it.

 

[ALF AmericanLionsFan]

I can live with 60.

 

[SoupNazi]

I wish. But that's one of those "never going to happen" deals.

 

[CorbeauNoir]

Wouldn't discounting/giving away X-game packages of Gamecenter make more sense? It wouldn't require financial wrangling with cable providers to implement.

 

[sarcastro]

Wouldn't discounting/giving away X-game packages of Gamecenter make more sense? It wouldn't require financial wrangling with cable providers to implement.

Gamecenter sucks, though. So I'm much keener on a discount on Center Ice.