NHL Fans Fed Up With Sportsnet Streaming Service After Surprise Price Changes

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Ryan Hall
November 4, 2024 (8:32 PM)

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Canadian hockey fans took to the X platform and voiced their frustration after Sportsnet announced a rise in the cost for Sportsnet Premium which will take effect on January 6th 2025 for a glitchy product.

The subject of television and their control on how NHL games are broadcast in Canada has been an argument and a point of contention with most fans for the past several decades. This all began well over 20 years ago when the NHL chose to Geo lock all of their product which prohibits certain games for being seen and blackouts to prevail across the country.

Their premise was that if a fan was within a certain distance of an NHL rink that they would have to go to the rink to watch the game and not be able to watch the game on television within the region that they live in. This led to the creation of NHL Centre Ice package and later on the Sportsnet premium which would give fans access to out of region games at a cost of hundreds of dollars a year.

But as many fans state the quality of the product has diminished over the past couple of years and it appears that blackouts are becoming more prevalent across the country even with these packages which has angered more fans and have left them to look at other alternatives to watch the games.

It's been well documented that the NFL is the best at promoting their games and allowing anyone within North America to see whichever team they follow by paying for either NFL GamePass or DAZN for Canadian viewers another American viewers to watch their beloved NFL team.

The NHL should follow suit and reconfigure their entire way they show games to their fans and allow fans anywhere in North America to watch whichever team they want without being punished by blackouts.

Several changes will need to happen from the top down in order for this to change but with the collective bargaining agreement coming to an end and Sportsnet's rights as well to the NHL perhaps alternatives may be offered for people to stream the games they want to see no matter where they live.