Gary Bettman and Rob Manfred as commissioners of their respective leagues announced a “first of its kind” digital media partnership on Tuesday afternoon with Major League Baseball Advanced Media. The six-year deal entails the takeover of digital streaming services such as NHL Gamecenter Live, NHL Center Ice, the NHL Network, and other media services by MLBAM. The deal is valued at approximately $1.2 billion according to Sports Business Daily and will give the NHL a small ownership stake(7-10%) in BAM Tech.
With the NHL growing revenue at a 20% clip each season, it should come as no surprise that the league wanted to strengthen its media services to keep that revenue on the upswing and increase the league’s influence across platforms. If you’re going to do that, why not do it with arguably the best in the business?
Here’s the rundown (no pun intended if you watch MLB Network) of the deal:
-The team websites, mobile applications, and NHL.com will be operated by MLBAM, with the NHL and its teams retaining rights to editorial matters. The two leagues will collaborate on new products and platforms for the NHL media.
-MLBAM will control distribution of live games on Game Center Live and Center Ice.
-The MLB will pay the NHL $100 million per year in rights fees.
-Last but not least, NHL Network will be moving from their current headquarters in Toronto to Secaucus, New Jersey, where MLB Network resides, with MLBAM providing studio space and production resources.
“As the market leader, MLBAM is uniquely qualified to assist us in giving hockey fans a richer, more immersive experience with the game. MLBAM is also the right partner because they have the expertise to help us deliver new and exciting products to our fans, who crave compelling digital content. We couldn’t have North America better covered than with the power of NBC, Rogers, TVA and MLBAM – an incredible convergence of technical, creative and production talent that is great news for our fans.”
-NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman
“It is an honor for Major League Baseball to stand alongside the National Hockey League on this joint initiative. All of us in sports share a desire to distribute our games and tell our stories as widely and broadly as possible. Because of our own experiences in delivering baseball to its loyal fans, MLB Advanced Media is uniquely suited to excel in a partnership of this magnitude.”
-MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred
In each segment, the deal seems like a win for both sides, especially the consumers. We’ll take a look at each main point.
Websites, Apps, NHL.com
MLBAM has done a tremendous job developing MLB.TV and the MLB.com At Bat app, offering intuitive ways for fans to access different features. A personalized screen for your favorite team enabling you to quickly view highlights, view the upcoming schedule, see the game score and summary upon launch, and read top stories is very helpful for those not as tech savvy. In addition, one can search any particular player’s statistics currently playing or retired, stream MLB Network right from the app, and read thorough reviews on upcoming prospects. “Cut4” is another feature that outlines trending videos, news stories, and other pieces geared towards social media.
The NHL app is not as intuitive having things scattered all over the place, including the NHL.com Shop appearing on the bottom line of the screen instead of the standings(standings located in the “more” category), a very limited statistical screen that ignores advanced statistics including only the top 30 players in each league category, a nonexistent prospect category, and the inability to stream the NHL Network. It will be interesting to see what kind of retooling the NHL app and team apps will get under the new partnership.
NHL.com has many news features, videos, and scores upon launch, but lacks the appeal MLB.com has. The scores and trending news stories are there, but as you scroll down, where NHL.com’s “quote of the day” would be, there’s a quick overview of each league’s standings by division along with league leaders in each category, providing an expanded link to each. Cut4 makes an appearance as well as a “trending now” section of the screen.
NHL Videocenter outlines each category of videos available to consumers and offers the top videos from around the league, but could used a little fine tuning, such as an NHL Network video feature. Being intuitive to the new and casual fan along with the die-hard stat cruncher is important as ever in this digital age, and the new features from MLBAM could help in that regard greatly with the current product they already manage.
NHL Center Ice and NHL Gamecenter Live
The streaming services provided by the NHL for fans to watch their favorite teams has recently undergone a change from a lawsuit allowing fans to purchase individual team packages.
Overall, Gamecenter Live is convenient to use, as you are able to stream from computers, video game systems, mobile devices, smart TVs, etc. Full length replays of games, picture in picture, the ability to watch four games at once, a DVR system, and a choice of the away or home broadcast for out of market games are core features that are also included on 2014 Emmy Award winning MLB.TV. Both are limited to local and national TV blackouts.
Bringing a refined overlay including a web-based media player, fantasy spotlights(DraftKings integration?), and other features to each streaming device NHL Gamecenter is available on could just add to the intuitiveness.
Center Ice is the cable version of Gamecenter, allowing consumers to watch up to 40 out of market games per week. It is already a nice feature to have, but a new interface with statistics or other features could help put it over the top.
Rights Fees
Over the six-year deal, the NHL will net $100 million per season in TV rights fees, something that will likely increase the cap in future seasons. Along with the fees, there comes an ownership stake in the BAM Tech company approximately worth $300 million, as the NHL is looked at as an aid to help grow the company at a faster rate. We’ll see how this affects the next CBA and future expansion as Quebec City and Las Vegas vie for NHL franchises sooner rather than later.
NHL Network
I was eager to get to this part since it is the one I’m personally most excited for. NHL Network, to put it lightly, has been far behind MLB Network with a smaller budget and very limited lineup.
The signature shows, NHL Tonight, NHL on the Fly, and NHL Live pale in comparison with NHL on the Fly often repeating certain segments before updating games again, NHL Tonight often doing the same, and NHL Live being the only new content of the day that doesn’t start until 5:00 pm ET. This program lasts for two hours until NHL on the Fly or the live game of the night.
Speaking of the live games, the scoreboard layout is very lacking and would be better off picking up the overlays of the home telecast. During the day, team specific shows such as Caps Red Line or In the Room(Penguins) or re-runs of a few of the previous night’s games play, which is nice if you missed them or you are a fan of the team specific show. In addition, the studios for each show are very limited in size and are often unappealing to look at.
As an avid consumer of MLB Network, I see why they rack up prestigious awards with a bigger budget.
The new content starts at 10:00 am ET with the weekday show MLB Central, going two for two or three hours talking about the previous day in baseball and a preview of the day’s action talking various topics, chatting with different players and personalities, and having their own personalities guiding the viewer through.
Next is High Heat either at 12:00 PM or 1:00 PM. Also a weekday show, this includes an hour of high energy baseball talk with famous Sirius XM radio personality Christopher Russo. With the NHL partnering with Rogers, Hockey Central at Noon is played usually at this time on NHL Network, a radio show talking various topics around the league. It is nice to catch up, but it wouldn’t hurt to have some original programming with new studio space, however. After comes The Rundown, a three hour program going even more in depth as the games of the night approach, offering updates on the day games. If not this show, a live game of the day airs with MLB Now airing after.
MLB Now goes for the analytical fan and is an hour long program going in depth in that regard usually starting at 4:00 PM. A hockey analytics show talking Corsi and Fenwick or SAT, USAT, (whatever they call it on nhl.com)? Count me in. As the game starts to integrate these with the recent partnership with SAP and more fans start to follow them, there could be an idea for a new show expanding on the idea of measuring how much value the stars and other unsung players of the game really have and what teams are true contenders or say, just rely on their goaltenders.
Next is Intentional Talk, usually starting at the same time as NHL Live. It’s another personality-based show with former player Kevin Millar and Fox Sports’s Chris Rose talking baseball among other things going for humor and bringing out the true personalities in the game with interviews and features. Now, the NHL has many personalities of their own active and inactive along with some who have joined the network. Seeing more of them involved and exposed would be pretty enjoyable in real time outside of “Puck Personalities” on NHL.com that usually involve just the stars of the game.
MLB Tonight is the signature primetime show going from 6:00 PM usually to the last out in the east, further going in depth and offering inside live look-ins. In addition to that, the main roundtable set has visual elements that are very appealing and useful. League leaders, the day’s match-ups, and standings can be seen in the background as the show goes on, which is far more appealing than just the NHL Tonight logo or a picture of Wayne Gretzky along with other NHL stars. Not only that, but the coverage goes further with a set that includes a mini ball field known as “MLB Park”.
The standings hang on the right field wall and are up to date, analysts and sometimes players do demonstrations of hitting, pitching, and fielding, and it just gives fans a nice visual aid from the professionals in order to understand certain elements of the game. Having something similar with a small ice surface could be a cool addition in the future with a bigger set piece offered by the new headquarters to be in Secaucus.
Quick Pitch rounds out the programming of the day, recapping all of the action after all the west coast games conclude, usually starting at 12:00 AM or 1:00 AM, following a similar pattern as NHL Tonight, repeating until the morning hours when MLB Central starts up again.
With a near 13-hour lineup like this, it’s clear why MLB Network is considered the best in the business. Many fans have been waiting for a change to the NHL Network with the growth of the game, and the recent deal with MLBAM could be just what the doctor ordered. Moving from Toronto, the Secaucus studio will allow tremendous possibilities. It’s up to the creative minds of MLBAM on how far those possibilities go.
With all things considered, consumers of the National Hockey League and its digital platforms should be excited with this six-year agreement with MLBAM. As the game grows, the coverage and reach should grow to capitalize on the competitive product, and this deal from the outset will help tremendously. The move for the Network will happen at the start of the season, but the partnership officially kicks in on Winter Classic Day, January 1st, 2016.
The start of a new year will mark a step into a new era for how the game we love will be produced, covered, and presented.
Time will tell how big the step will be.
Main Photo:
Information on deal courtesy of
Sports Business Daily
NHL.com
New York Post
Quotes courtesy of
NHL.com
MLB.TV and MLB.com At Bat features courtesy of MLB.com
NHL Gamecenter Live and NHL Center Ice features courtesy of NHL.com
