A new season of hockey kicked off last night, an event that did not go unnoticed in our great land. Rogers Communications spent more than CA$5 billion earlier to win the broadcast rights and last night launched its new Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE which will stream over 1,000 national and in and out-of-market games over the course of the season. Best of all, subscribers on the go will be able to take advantage of the companion GamePlus app to catch all the action on their smartphones or tablets when unable to catch the game on the big screen.
A day into the season, some 55,000 fans have already already turned to Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE to catch their games live. 75% watched the games online from their PCs while the remaining 25% did so from their mobile devices. In all, some 1.9 million minutes of hockey were livestreamed last night, including 80,000 minutes of on demand video and replays for P.K. Subban’s goal.
The mobile app is still in beta but Rogers was pleased with how it worked on Day 1 and expects that “great feedback from the fans” will help it quickly resolve these.
“We’re off to a good start. The app is still in beta mode, and there are some gremlins to sort out but we got some great feedback from the fans. At one stage there were more people watching the game on mobiles in Toronto than all of the USA. Our 700 spectrum was put to good use managing a heavy traffic load in the cities of Toronto and Calgary where the action was happening,” said Guy Laurence, President and CEO, Rogers Communications.
Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE provides not only livestreaming of games but does so with some unique camera angles such as the referee’s helmet, from behind the players’ bench and over the net.
A 2014-15 Season’s Pass to Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE is available for CA$179.99 until October 13. The price jumps to CA$199.99 after that. Rogers Wireless or Internet customers can enjoy a free subscription until December 31, 2014.
Sources : Rogers Communications // Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE