HockeyTech has launched a new streaming platform called HockeyTV that will stream more than 20,000 amateur league hockey games this season alone and will offer an on-demand library of over 100,000 games from the past decade.
HockeyTV grew from what was originally known as FASTHockey to create a platform that will benefit both teams and fans alike.
“With HockeyTV, we’ve released the definitive destination to view ice hockey below the NHL level,” said Stu Siegel, founder and CEO of HockeyTech and former owner of the NHL’s Florida Panthers.
Get The Latest Sports Tech News In Your Inbox!
HockeyTV aims to be the premier destination for fans to watch the upper-levels of amateur hockey. The service streams events for USA Hockey and Hockey Canada as well as some international events. It’s also the streaming provider for leagues like the United States Premier Hockey League Elite and all 10 leagues under the umbrella of the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
“We’re bringing a great resource to the teams and leagues we work with to give them an audience that they wouldn’t normally have,” said Siegel.
With HockeyTV’s mass aggregated audience, teams and leagues can gain more exposure than streaming on their own website. It also makes it easier for fans to go back and watch games since they become available for streaming once concluded.
HockeyTV will bring a few other things for consumers. Originally, the platform was built for the desktop, but now it can be streamed directly to a laptop, smartphone or over-the-top device like Roku or Apple TV.
Along with wider accessibility to the app, there is an increased level of interactivity. Simple things like player rosters have been added so you can access a roster mid-game and get information on all the players. There are also time stamps on all major in-game events such as goals and penalties. If you wanted to see a certain player’s goals over the past week, those can be easily accessed.
“It makes the video way more indexed and easier to get to,” said Siegel. “It also makes the viewing experience more interactive.”
HockeyTech provides the hardware inside the arenas where games are streamed. Siegel said some teams and leagues will have a single camera being panned while others will do large multi-camera productions with an announcing panel. “We do occasionally, for about 10 percent of the games, handle the whole production,” Siegel said.
The games where HockeyTech handles the entire production are usually major tournaments or for international events.
Users can subscribe to HockeyTV on a monthly basis ($29.99/month) or for an entire year ($24.99/month). Along with access to the games, there is also a feature that allows you to create your own clips and cuts of game-action.
HockeyTV has plenty more features that will be implemented in the near future. “In the technology world, you have to keep developing for the future,” Siegel said.
The goal of HockeyTV was summed up by Siegel: “We’re all about helping teams and leagues build fan bases and make sure that fans have a way to access information as good of a way as possible.”