Where to Watch Your Favorite NHL Team
With the transfer of TV rights and the winning of teams with limited markets, TV viewership for the NHL is down and games are harder to find than ever, but new technology and growing marketplaces make it easier than ever to hunt down and catch your favorite games.
Finding your favorite hockey game on TV or on the radio can be a problem if you don’t live in the right corner of the country. The market decides what gets played and as the market has shifted around along with the networks that air the sport throughout the country, there have been substantial dives in ratings in the US.
For those that have a habit of hockey gambling and cannot simply check the box score when the game’s over online, it’s important to know not only where to see or hear the game but how best to do so.
And those hockey gambling masses will find that with the growth of technology and worldwide access, it’s not necessarily as hard as one would think. First off, the network rights were purchased by NBC after a long time deal with ABC. NBC’s revenue sharing program was more to the NHL’s liking though and took over. On cable, the newly renamed Outdoor Life Network (now known as Versus) took over airing of NHL games from ESPN with a substantial cash bid.
The deals have both led to smaller ratings throughout the US. While ratings have always been high in Canadian markets (CBC airs at least one game a week, plus all playoff games involving Canadian teams), the US market struggles, especially when teams with limited markets are in the playoffs. The 2006 playoffs for example, hockey gambling’s worst nightmare, were won by Carolina, after defeating Edmonton in the Stanley Cup Finals. The two teams have very little market in the US and gained very limited viewership. In contrast, teams like the New York Rangers garner exponentially larger viewership.
 It’s not only TV though that you can catch your NHL games. XM Satellite Radio is a great option now, broadcasting over 1000 games throughout the year. Likewise, digital cable has made it possible for many people to get immediate access to more than a dozen different games from throughout the nation via Pay-Per-View and NHL viewing packages. The digital age has made the internet a great place to catch games as well, with online services offering video scoring highlights throughout a game.
For those attached to hockey gambling, or merely the die hard hockey faithful out there, it might be a pain to find your games, but as the technology grows, so too do your options for watching nearly every game your favorite team plays.
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