NHL and MLB announce groundbreaking Media Partnership

Gary Bettman from blogs.edmontonsports.com

The National Hockey League and Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday afternoon, a huge groundbreaking partnership agreement in the area of digital media.

NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman and MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred made the joint announcement of the six year partnership agreement, at the NHL Headquarters in New York City. The partnership transforms the fan experience by creating a fully integrated global digital hub.

With an emphasis on deeper access into the game and telling the stories of NHL players, the NHL and Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the interactive media and internet provider of the MLB, will collaborate on developing new digital products and platforms while enhancing the current offerings. Some of those areas include; live game streaming, social media, fantasy and applications as well as statistical and analytical content.

The new partnership awards MLBAM the rights to distribute live out of market games through NHL GameCenter Live and NHL Center Ice subscription services within the United States and certain international markets. MLBAM will operate NHL.com, in all seven languages as well as the team websites. MLBAM will also manage the NHL apps as well as be available to help develop apps for its member clubs. The NHL and all 30 of its teams will retain all of the editorial content on the sites.

The Emmy winning MLB Network will provide studio space as well as production resources for the NHL Network. Bettman said, “As the market leader, MLBAM is uniquely qualified to assist us in giving hockey fans a richer, more immersive experience with the game.”

He added, “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.”

Manfred said, “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.”

MLBAM expects to fully launch its NHL presence in January of 2016. The prior digital partner, NeuLion, will assist the NHL and MLBAM with the transition process. With this new partnership the NHL Network’s daily on air operations will be based out of the MLB Network’s headquarters in Secaucus, NJ.