During the offseason, the NHL announced that it will be incorporating GoPro video camera technology into the league this coming season. GoPro’s have gained worldwide recognition after being attached to athletes, animals, skydivers, and many other things. The NHL now hopes to provide hockey fans with a player’s point-of-view experience this season.
The technology will not be used to stream live games yet, at least. At the NHL/NHLPA Player Media Tour, GoPro employees attached the mini-cameras to nearly a dozen of the sport’s top star’s helmets, masks, and jerseys. The footage that was captured from this event will be integrated into the live broadcasts of the games. For example, if a certain player scores a goal and there is already footage of the player executing a similar goal, the footage will be broadcasted to give the viewers a better understanding of what happened on the ice.
“The GoPro mini-cameras capture images that were unimaginable before”, said the NHL’s Chief Marketing Officer, Brian Jennings, “The [technology] demystifies our game—and truly shows what skill our players have.”
The footage will not only be used during the live broadcasts of games. The NHL plans to utilize the footage in promo campaigns, and on the league website, as well as GoPro’s YouTube Channel. Everybody hopes to see this technology used to capture live footage of games in the future. For now, this is an exciting partnership that gives a glimpse of what the future of sport’s coverage could be.