Any News On NHL Center Ice?

JayPSU · ‎07-13-2010

With U-Verse having NHL Network I was anticipating that U-Verse would soon have NHL Center Ice, but I've heard nothing. Is there any chance that U-Verse will have this for the new season?

NIVO · ‎08-06-2010

even if it were available my friend, blackouts would ruin it for you probably.

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

Blackouts would not ruin NHL Center Ice. Here are the blackout restrictions per Wikipedia:

NHL Center Ice blackouts, as with other sports packages, are intended to protect the rights of the league's national, regional, and local broadcast partners.

In the United States, games broadcast by NBC or Versus are not included in the NHL Center Ice package. Additionally, NBC has been granted an exclusive window by the league, during which no other games can be televised in the United States. During this window, other games may be televised locally only by Canadian teams. For instance, if the Edmonton Oilers are playing the Atlanta Thrashers at the same time NBC is televising another game, the Oilers may choose to broadcast the game locally (on Sportsnet West, for example), but the Thrashers are not permitted to televise the game. Additionally, the game would be available on NHL Center Ice in Canada, but not in the United States. The NBC blackout window typically lasts 2.5 hours from the start of its Game of the Week broadcast. Games televised by Versus are designated as exclusive or non-exclusive for blackout purposes. Exclusive broadcasts generally occur on Monday and Tuesday nights during the regular season. During these games, Versus has an exclusive window similar to NBC, which usually lasts 2 or 2.5 hours from the start of the Versus telecast. No other games may be televised in the United States during this time. Canadian teams may choose to air these games, and unlike the NBC exclusive window, the Canadian local telecasts are included in the U.S. NHL Center Ice package. During non-exclusive Versus telecasts, other teams may televise their games, but the Versus game may not be locally televised.

Local/regional broadcast restrictions depend on the Center Ice subscriber's physical location. Every location in the United States and Canada falls in the territory of at least one NHL team, and some areas fall in multiple team territories. Additionally, each team may choose to televise its games on a regional sports network (RSN), local broadcast/over-the-air (OTA) station, or can choose not to televise them. In cases where the local team broadcasts on an RSN (i.e. FSN, Comcast, NESN, etc.), Center Ice subscribers in the team's territory will be blacked out of the opposing team's broadcast and must watch the game on the local RSN. (Example: The Boston Bruins are playing the St. Louis Blues. The Bruins are televising on NESN, and the Blues are televising on FSN Midwest. Viewers in Bruins territory will be blacked out of the FSN Midwest feed and must watch the game on NESN.) In cases where the local team broadcasts on an OTA station (i.e. KPLR St. Louis, KDFI Dallas, AZTV Phoenix, etc.) Center Ice subscribers who live within a 50 mile radius of the team's arena (regardless of whether the team is home or away) will be blacked out from the Center Ice feed of the game. Viewers who live in the team's territory but outside the 50 mile radius will not be blacked out from the Center Ice broadcast. (Example: The Dallas Stars are playing the Chicago Blackhawks. The Stars are televising on KDFI, an OTA station, while the Blackhawks are televising on CSN Chicago. A viewer who lives in Stars territory, but more than 50 miles from the Stars' arena, will not be blacked out of the CSN Chicago feed. A viewer in Stars territory who lives within the 50 mile radius will be blacked out of the Blackhawks feed and must watch the game on KDFI.) If a team chooses not to televise a game locally, that team may choose to lift the Center Ice blackout. Many teams announce at the start of the regular season that all games not televised locally will not be blacked out on NHL Center Ice, while others make decisions on a case-by-case basis near the date of the game. (Example: The Florida Panthers are hosting the Ottawa Senators. The Senators are televising on Sportsnet East, but the Panthers are not televising the game locally. Viewers in Panthers territory will not be blacked out of the Senators feed, provided that the Panthers have approved a blackout lift for the game).

As of January 22, 2009, the NHL and MSG had a contractual dispute which resulted in all MSG HD and MSG+ HD broadcasts being blacked out from NHL Center Ice for viewers outside of the local viewing territory for the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, and Buffalo Sabres[1]. As a result, feeds from these stations will only be available in standard definition.

Update: As of March 17, 2010 beginning with the game between the New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins, MSG HD and MSG+ HD has returned to NHL Center Ice as confirmed by Gary Bettman during the NHL Hour broadcast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHL_Center_Ice

NIVO · ‎08-06-2010

they would ruin it in certain instances. If more than 1 game starts at 7pm(and they do) they could potentially be blacked while Versus airs their game.

During these games, Versus has an exclusive window similar to NBC, which usually lasts 2 or 2.5 hours from the start of the Versus telecast. No other games may be televised in the United States during this time

so it most certainly COULD impact center ice

kryptonite · ‎04-10-2009

texasguy37 wrote:
Blackouts would not ruin NHL Center Ice.

Unless "your local team" as determined by the NHL is playing. In this case, the game will be on your regional channel (such as FSN) but NOT on Center Ice.

IIRC, if "your local team" is on Center Ice, but not televised by your regional channel, you may not get it on Center Ice. I don't know if this is changed though.

kryptonite · ‎04-10-2009

NIVO wrote:
they would ruin it in certain instances. If more than 1 game starts at 7pm(and they do) they could potentially be blacked while Versus airs their game.

During these games, Versus has an exclusive window similar to NBC, which usually lasts 2 or 2.5 hours from the start of the Versus telecast. No other games may be televised in the United States during this time

so it most certainly COULD impact center ice

This is also true.

JamesTheName · ‎06-24-2008

Don't worry, even if other games were blacked out because of a Versus game, there's still plenty of other games on Center Ice the other 5 or 6 days that one could watch.

elzebub · ‎09-24-2009

Center Ice states "up to 40 out of market games per week", it is for fans who want to watch games involving teams that are not in their local market, like me living in Greenville SC, who hasn't been able to watch any Flyers games for 2 years now. (C'mon U Verse, get with it!)

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

kryptonite wrote:

Unless "your local team" as determined by the NHL is playing. In this case, the game will be on your regional channel (such as FSN) but NOT on Center Ice.

IIRC, if "your local team" is on Center Ice, but not televised by your regional channel, you may not get it on Center Ice. I don't know if this is changed though.

If the game is on local or regional TV, you watch it on that channel. You do not need NHL Center Ice to watch the game.

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

NIVO wrote:

they would ruin it in certain instances. If more than 1 game starts at 7pm(and they do) they could potentially be blacked while Versus airs their game.

During these games, Versus has an exclusive window similar to NBC, which usually lasts 2 or 2.5 hours from the start of the Versus telecast. No other games may be televised in the United States during this time

so it most certainly COULD impact center ice
No other games are being broadcasted anywhere in the United States. How does that impact NHL Center Ice?

There is a big difference between a game being blacked out in certain parts of the country and a game not being broadcasted on any channel whether or not you have NHL Center Ice.

JamesTheName · ‎06-24-2008

If I remember correctly, the last time I had Center Ice, which was with Comcast in 08, if there was a game on Versus, say Pittsburgh and Philly, that game was exclusive to Versus but, if other games were scheduled, they could be seen on Center Ice. I don't know if that has changed or not. When the NHL was on ESPN, if a game was on, there were still games you see on Center Ice. And I remember when ABC had games, they usually had 3-4 games scheduled for Sunday afternoons, all in different regions. Wherever you lived, you got the game in that region but, the other games were shown on Center Ice and they would be the ABC coverage.

JCDeath · ‎10-18-2010

Just switched to U-Verse and so far this is the one big downside to having it ....no Center Ice. I just moved from Time Warner and have had Center Ice for years. Typically the game that is on Versus is not technically Blacked Out....they just do not broadcast it on the Center Ice line up. The only games that were usually blacked out on Center Ice were the games that they were broadcasting on the NHL Network or on FSN (when Minnesota was playing). I live in Wisconsin (so no NHL teams here) and never had anything blacked out except those. Not sure what the deal was with the Minnesota Wild, but it sure stunk when they were playing the Red Wings and I couldn't watch the games.

Every now and then, the game that was on Versus was also being broadcast on Hockey Night in Canada, so Center Ice would show the CBC feed as well. Not often, but it did happen once in a while.

msncookie · ‎10-11-2010

I live in Wisconsin too. But as a Maple Leafs fan, I luck out because NHL Network (available on U-verse sports package or high-tier plan) carries CBC's Hockey Night in Canada double-header every Saturday night. I would love to see Center Ice come to U-verse, but the HNIC double-header keeps me happy for a lot less money than Center Ice.

bnichols_1 · ‎01-29-2009

msncookie wrote:
I live in Wisconsin too. But as a Maple Leafs fan, I luck out because NHL Network (available on U-verse sports package or high-tier plan) carries CBC's Hockey Night in Canada double-header every Saturday night. I would love to see Center Ice come to U-verse, but the HNIC double-header keeps me happy for a lot less money than Center Ice.

NHL Network did not show the second game of the HNIC double header last year and they are not scheduled to do so this year. I actually heard NHL commish Gary Bettman say on his radio show that the league thought that highlights on NHL on the Fly was a better option than a real live game involving a western team. I'm glad we get one of the two games but as a west coaster, a 4:00 game really means Hockey AFTERNOON in Canada.

heartlandhockey… · ‎10-21-2010

I joined here so I can get updates on Center Ice. I'm really disappointed that it isn't being offered on Uverse. I have a friend who gets it on Direct TV, but I really like AT&T service and don't want to give it up. Here's hoping they get enough requests that AT&T will consider Center Ice for us hockey fans. I'm sick of Vesus and all their Pittsburg games!

oufanindallas · ‎02-08-2010

heartlandhockeyfan wrote:
I joined here so I can get updates on Center Ice. I'm really disappointed that it isn't being offered on Uverse. I have a friend who gets it on Direct TV, but I really like AT&T service and don't want to give it up. Here's hoping they get enough requests that AT&T will consider Center Ice for us hockey fans. I'm sick of Vesus and all their Pittsburg games!

Do you not have a local team that plays on Fox Sports? I know here in Dallas our Stars play on Fox Sports Southwest.

Maybe it's just me but I can't see giving the greedy NHL, NBA or MLB any more money than I have to by paying for watching a game on TV. Of course we're lucky enough in Dallas to to be able to watch are local teams every game and the added "benefit?" of being able to watch the Astros.

” Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports … all others are games.”- Ernest Hemingway

PoppieSr · ‎10-14-2010

oufanindallas wrote:

heartlandhockeyfan wrote:
I joined here so I can get updates on Center Ice. I'm really disappointed that it isn't being offered on Uverse. I have a friend who gets it on Direct TV, but I really like AT&T service and don't want to give it up. Here's hoping they get enough requests that AT&T will consider Center Ice for us hockey fans. I'm sick of Vesus and all their Pittsburg games!

Do you not have a local team that plays on Fox Sports? I know here in Dallas our Stars play on Fox Sports Southwest.

Maybe it's just me but I can't see giving the greedy NHL, NBA or MLB any more money than I have to by paying for watching a game on TV. Of course we're lucky enough in Dallas to to be able to watch are local teams every game and the added "benefit?" of being able to watch the Astros.

Well, to each his own. If you're satisfied with just watching your local teams, that's fine. But, there's alot of us who just can't get enough and I'm one of them. I love hockey and, even though I watch every game of my team, the Red Wings, I will also watch any other hockey game that might be on. With the exception of the last 2+ yrs with Uverse, I've had Center Ice with Directv and Comcast and I'm happy to have it back. This year, it costs $171 for the whole season for CI and to me, it's worth it. Get my choice of games every night, they even allow you to choose which teams coverage you want for some games and, you get some in HD, also. Break the cost down to a per game price and it's pretty cheap.