On Tuesday September 1, 2015 the NHL’s settlement agreement with the plaintiffs in the broadcast antitrust lawsuit was approved by the federal judge. The action was initially filed in 2012, and the settlement was presented to the judge for approval this past June.
NHL games are broadcast both on television and over internet streaming. In recent years, fans choosing to watch games over television broadcasting have had two viewing options. Through the first option, viewers could watch their local market’s team through the local “basic” channel (i.e. the Boston Bruins’ games were available in New England on NESN, and New York Rangers’ games were available in the Tristate area on the MSG channel). Secondly, TV viewers could also purchase “NHL Center Ice” from their TV provider, which gave viewing access to every single NHL game on any given night.
The same all-access pass offered through Center Ice was additionally available to fans via an internet viewing option — the league’s internet streaming package, “Game Center.” However, a fan with Game Center could not watch the local team’s game broadcast through the steaming service due to local “blackout” rules; such a fan would require a basic cable or satellite television package to view the broadcast.
In the antitrust lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that the league overcharged out-of-market fans to watch their favorite teams, whereby fans had to purchase a bundled viewing package (i.e. NHL Center Ice or Game Center) rather than one that was team-specific. For example, in previous years, a Detroit Red Wings fan living in Austin, Texas had to purchase viewing access to all NHL games instead of having the option to buy a package showing Red Wings games only.
Through the settlement, the NHL will now offer Game Center’s online streaming access in “unbundled,” team-specific options. The price for a single-team package will be at least 20 percent below the price of the bundled package. Additionally, the league agreed to reduce pricing for the TV bundled package, NHL Center Ice.
One caveat, however, is that blackout rules will remain in place for local markets. This will mostly affect NHL fans who do not subscribe to a cable or satellite TV provider — a common practice among the “Millennial” generation as a result of the rise of internet streaming giants like Netflix. Consequently, a fan without TV access will be unable to purchase a single-team Game Center package for the local market team and stream that team’s games from a local IP address.