OT: NHL inks 7 year deal with ESPN

[Blackhawkswincup]

Schedules are out

​

ESPN Exclusive
Oct 19th - Blackhawks vs Islanders

ABC Exclusives
Mar 5th - Blackhawks vs Flyers
Mar 26th - Blackhawks vs Golden Knights

ESPN+/Hulu exclusives
Nov 12th - Blackhawks vs Coyotes
Jan 4th - Blackhawks vs Avalanche
Mar 24th - Blackhawks vs Kings
Apr 25th - Blackhawks vs Flyers

From my understanding this means those 4 games will not be broadcast locally and can only be watched on Hulu/ESPN+

BS deal stealing games away from home fans in attempt to force people to pay for ESPN+/Hulu

Also after October its confirmed no NHL games on ESPN until January (Only 28 games on ESPN)

This deal gets worse with every new detail

 

[RayP]

ESPN+ the last few years has been the best bargain for watching hockey.


It’s like 5 bucks a month with a boat load of games.

 

[CallMeShaft]

I look forward to having to hunt down free Hulu trials for four different times this season.

 

[DesperateBeliever]

I discovered yesterday that the ESPN deal screws me over. I used to watch through NHL TV, but I can no longer access that in Australia. I now have to pay a third party for an extra service I don't want if I want to get ESPN to watch the hockey.

There are about 3 third party options I could choose, 2 of which I refuse to give money to. It used to be so easy and now it sucks and is more expensive.

 

[FytinSioux]

Sorry if this has been asked a bunch of times already. Didn’t see it asked or answered in this thread. I’m out of market so what is the best option for streaming the most Hawks games? Is it ESPN+?

 

[Nellie Fox]

I'm completely confused on the "out of marke" situation. I've had NHLTV for quite a while. I was under the impression that all streaming (of games that aren't on ESPN or TNT) would be on ESPN+. So I bought an ESPN+ subscription

But these pre-season games so far have been on NHLTV, and not on ESPN+. And when I look at the upcoming schedule for regular-season games in October, only a couple are listed on ESPN+, and I don't see them anywhere else. I guess I'll find out on a game-by-game basis whether I can find them anywhere.

 

[Putt Pirate]

I discovered yesterday that the ESPN deal screws me over. I used to watch through NHL TV, but I can no longer access that in Australia. I now have to pay a third party for an extra service I don't want if I want to get ESPN to watch the hockey.

There are about 3 third party options I could choose, 2 of which I refuse to give money to. It used to be so easy and now it sucks and is more expensive.

I finally caved because I just cannot stand Disney and I hate giving them $. But.....I like to watch soccer and get German, Spain, Italy, and Dutch leagues along with hockey and UFC. It is well worth the money.

 

[jls24]

I'm completely confused on the "out of marke" situation. I've had NHLTV for quite a while. I was under the impression that all streaming (of games that aren't on ESPN or TNT) would be on ESPN+. So I bought an ESPN+ subscription

But these pre-season games so far have been on NHLTV, and not on ESPN+. And when I look at the upcoming schedule for regular-season games in October, only a couple are listed on ESPN+, and I don't see them anywhere else. I guess I'll find out on a game-by-game basis whether I can find them anywhere.

I watched Friday's Blues game on ESPN+. I live in the St. Louis area and was expecting it to be blacked out but it wasn't. I'm not sure if the Blues had a local feed. If they didn't then that might be why it wasn't blacked out for me.

 

[LordKOTL]

Sorry if this has been asked a bunch of times already. Didn’t see it asked or answered in this thread. I’m out of market so what is the best option for streaming the most Hawks games? Is it ESPN+?

To my knowledge, yes. There have been a couple of preseason games that haven't been on ESPN+, but that was the same with NHL.TV. Not all preseason games are streamed.

If ESPN+ worked the same way NHL.TV did, being out-of-market is the optimal way to get it. If there are little to no games which are in your market, you should be able to stream almost all of them without some b.s. blackout rules applying. I believe ND is not in any hockey market, so unless there's a televised broadcast, you shouldn't be blacked out.

If a game is televised in your area might be blacked out. To wit: If a game was on NHLN (which in our area is a high-tier cable or satellite channel), then you couldn't get it via NHL.TV. I suspect the same will be for games on ESPN, ABC, & TNT: If you don't have those cable channels and they're available in your area, you're blacked out if the game is on one of those stations.

But as @RayP, in terms of cost is it one of the best deals around. So far the only issue I've seen this season was an Audio/Video sync issue, where Pat & Eddie in the pregame banter looked like a really bad martial arts flick.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

People using ESPN+ having alot of issues tonight and ESPN revealing some god awful camera angles

f***ing garbage production

 

[Backyard Hockey]

The camera angles are horrible. What the hell is that 200 level angle thing?

I like Ray Ferraro when he does juniors and such, but Sean McDonough doesn’t work. I hear his voice and I college football.

 

[Backyard Hockey]

Dude who sings anthem for Vegas looks like Thanos

 

[Backyard Hockey]

ESPN? Jesus.

Holy technical issues. They have the crowd noise waaaay too loud and can’t even hear the announcers. Horrible.

 

[Marotte Marauder]

Who put the blowtorch to Mary Belrose's face?