Long gone are the days of streaming services serving as a place to watch B movies and films that have been out on Blu-Ray for years. Now, they’ve become viable places to release all kinds of first-run content ranging from TV shows to movies to sports.
Now, thanks to the massive deal announced between the NHL and Turner Sports, we’re going to see professional hockey games streaming on HBO Max, though it’ll take some time before we see the first game simulcast to the Turner-owner streaming service.
Watching the NHL on HBO Max
The world’s most prestigious hockey leagues took to its website to announce a new seven-year deal between the National Hockey League and WarnerMedia’s Turner Sports. The bulk of the games will air on TNT and TBS, but it looks like there will also be some games streaming on HBO Max.
The shocking part of the news is that WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar recently said that sports wouldn’t air on HBO Max. However, it appears that the new deal has completely changed his tune.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke about the deal and said, “We love the reach of their linear networks, both TNT and TBS, and as we look to the future, we’re excited about the digital properties, in particular HBO Max and Bleacher Report. For us, this is a perfect fit.”
However, it seems that HBO Max won’t start streaming hockey games too soon. WarnerMedia News & Sports chairman Jeff Zucker said, “HBO Max, another subsidiary of Turner Sports, will gain digital streaming and simulcast rights that won’t be available to consumers until later in the agreement.”
Unfortunately, the release didn’t elaborate on exactly when games would start streaming on HBO Max. It also didn’t announce how often games would simulcast on the streaming service. It doesn’t seem like this is meant to help cord-cutters keep watching hockey, but rather, it seems to be a way of occasionally enhancing the streaming service’s library.
Commissioner Bateman spoke about how beneficial the deal is for hockey fans:
These are places we are going to be moving to and I think that’s going to be great for our fans. If you’re a hockey fan you’ve got more national games than ever before, you’ve got more extensive coverage than ever before. You’re going to be able to get as much hockey as you want.
With Amazon announcing more NFL games coming to Prime streaming, it makes sense for HBO Max to follow with some hockey.
When Will We Learn More
Unfortunately, the announcement of the deal between Turner and NHL was pretty vague regarding NHL content on HBO Max, so we’ll have to wait until more details are released to see if it’s something worth getting excited about or if games will only be streamed rarely.