Even though I’ve written quite a few blog posts on the subject of NHL regional rights and in particular how Canadiens fans have to deal with them for the first time, there’s still a flood of questions, usually the same ones, from people who suddenly find themselves staring at a screen saying a hockey game is not available in their region.
The situation hasn’t changed dramatically, except for broadcasts on RDS. Until this season, the network had a special deal with the Canadiens and the National Hockey League that allowed all 82 regular-season games to be broadcast nationally without restriction. This is the exception rather than the rule. Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators games in English have been subject to regional blackouts for years now.
It’s caused so much rage that RDS has posted a page — in both French and English — explaining how the blackouts aren’t its fault.
Am I affected?
The Canadiens broadcast region. Regions in green can will not experience blackouts on RDS, TSN5 or Sportsnet East. (Map via Shaw Direct)
If you’re used to watching Canadiens games on RDS, you’ll no longer be able to do so if you live west of eastern Ontario (officially, a line connecting Pembroke and Belleville). This is the Canadiens/Senators broadcast region. It includes that corner of eastern Ontario, plus all of Quebec and all four Atlantic provinces. In Toronto, the Prairies, B.C. and territories, you’re out of luck. Because RDS carries only the regional games, you won’t see a single Canadiens game — or any NHL game at all for that matter — on RDS this year.
During the first preseason game on Tuesday night, some people reported being able to get RDS un-blacked-out outside the Canadiens region. Some had the HD feed blacked out but the SD feed not. This should not be relied upon as a stable loophole.
If you’re not sure what region you’re in, you can put your postal code into this website, which will show which teams’ region you’re in. Any team not on that list will (or at least should) be blacked out in your region.
For fans of other teams, this post explains their broadcast regions and how many games will be broadcast regionally and nationally.
Who is to blame?
The big change isn’t so much that Rogers has spent $5.2 billion on a wide-ranging deal for NHL rights in Canada. It’s the emergence of a competitor to RDS, TVA Sports, which has sublicensed the rights to national games from Rogers. RDS picked up the regional rights, but that doesn’t give them the rights to broadcast these games nationally. They’d love nothing better than to do so, but they can’t.
So who is to blame? Rogers? Quebecor? Bell? The Canadiens? Your cable company?
No, it’s the National Hockey League.
The NHL, like other sports leagues, sets the framework for television rights deals. And part of that framework forces most of the regular-season games of any team to be broadcast only within that team’s designated region. Or, looking at it the other way, it prevents other team’s broadcasts from entering that team’s region.
The purpose is simply to protect that team’s territorial rights and market. Basically, if you live in southern Ontario, the Leafs own you, and they want you to be a Leafs fan, not a Canadiens fan. You might think that’s ridiculous, but that’s nevertheless the logic.
(Be glad that the NHL doesn’t also follow the NFL’s rule that blacks out local games when a team has not sold out a home game. Though since the Canadiens always sell out, that wouldn’t affect them.)
What can I do about it?
So, you’re a Canadiens fan in southern Ontario, Calgary or Vancouver who wants to watch all 82 Canadiens games, and you don’t mind what language it’s in. Well, here are your options:
- Learn to live with watching only half the season. Rogers is broadcasting 40 of the 82 Canadiens games nationally in English, plus all playoff games, including all Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday night games, and all games against the Maple Leafs and Bruins. (The 22 games broadcast nationally in French on TVA Sports are included in those 40.) You’ll also see when the Canadiens play the team that owns your broadcast region. I break down which games are which here. If you live in the Jets, Oilers or Flames regions, you’ll see the games against those teams too. People in Saskatchewan will get a total of 44 Habs games all told.
- Buy NHL Centre Ice. This is the official way to get around the regional blackouts, and it’s what distant fans of other Canadian teams have had to do for years. Details of this service haven’t been announced yet, but it will be offered by your cable or satellite provider for about $200 for the season or $35 a month. They might also offer a special deal for just the French Canadiens and Senators games from RDS for $60. NHL Centre Ice blacks out any game that is otherwise broadcast in your region, so you’ll need to get Sportsnet, Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 360 to watch national games on those channels. Contact your TV provider for details.
- Buy NHL GameCentre Live. Similar to NHL Centre Ice, GameCentre offers a way for people to watch out-of-market games. GameCentre is a streaming service, to watch the games online or on mobile or tablet apps. Because it’s delivered on the Internet, it’s offered directly by Rogers, not by your TV provider. You can subscribe to it here. It’s $200 for the season (with a $180 early bird special). Rogers has also promised a special deal for $60 with just the RDS Senators and Canadiens regional games. GameCentre Live used to have the same rules as Centre Ice, blacking out any game available to you on TV. But Rogers is making all of its nationally broadcast games available on this service. It’s also making in-region regional games available, but only if they’re on Sportsnet and you’re a Sportsnet subscriber. This requires authentication with your TV provider, which means they need to be on board as well. This means that Senators games, French Canadiens games, Jets games and some Maple Leafs games that air on TSN and RDS are not available in-region on GameCentre Live.
- Listen to blacked out games on the radio. Blackout rules don’t apply to the radio, so you can listen to the livestream of TSN Radio 690 from anywhere in the country.
- Get an illegal bootleg stream online. There are various ways to get access to Canadiens games through third parties that illegally rebroadcast the games online. I won’t provide instructions here, but you can find them.
- Move to Montreal. I’m just saying, that’s an option.
One thing that won’t help is to start a petition, yell at your TV provider or insult Rogers, Bell or anyone else on Twitter. Believe me, the broadcasters would love nothing better than to do away with blackouts that annoy viewers, deprive them of advertising revenue and complicate scheduling. But they can’t, because despite those billions of dollars, the NHL is still the boss.
But if it helps you emotionally, go ahead.
Ok, I’de appreciate some clarification: we are Flames fans in Kelowna and I understand with Shaw Centre Ice we would not get a Flames game if the Canucks were playing the same night, but would get the Flames game if Canucks were idle?…However with Rogers Game Centre that blackout would not apply and we would get all Flames games. Am I correct?
The availability of Flames games has nothing to do with the Canucks schedule. It’s a question of whether the Flames game in question is national or regional. Saturday night games are national, as are most Wednesday and Sunday night games. Most of the rest are regional. You can check the schedule to see which is which.
With NHL GameCentre Live, you have access to all Flames games on your computer or mobile device. Or, with NHL Centre Ice, you have access on your TV to all Flames games that are otherwise blacked out or not available in your region.
So it looks like with Rogers sports channels (which we have) we would be able to see all Flames games either on rogers tv or either Centre Ice or Game Centre. Either one would work. Thanks for your input.
All games will be available on at least one of these, but all of them will not be available on all these channels. Flames games that air just on Sportsnet West or Sportsnet Flames won’t be available outside the Flames region, even if you have that channel. And NHL Centre Ice won’t air any games that are available on other channels in your region.
Still not 100% sure….According to the schedule there are 41 flames games on sportsnet west and nine on sportsnet Flames which would not be available to us on Centre ice, but would be available on game Centre streaming. If that’s the case the Game Centre would be our best bet. Do I have it right? thanks again.
Almost right. Regional games on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet Flames will be blacked out in B.C. Those games will be available on NHL Centre Ice as well as NHL GameCentre Live. Games broadcast nationally will be available on CBC, City or a Sportsnet channel depending on the game, won’t be on NHL Centre Ice but will be on GameCentre Live.
Ok, got it (I think) so with all the rogers sports net channels and either game centre OR centre ice that would cover all flames games. Another thought: Would not streaming ensure more HD games?
Yes.
I’m not sure what you mean here. All games are broadcast in HD, and are available that way online (depending on your internet connection speed).
I was comparing streaming to what my tv provider would give me. I seem to read here on some earlier threads that people were complaining of picture quality on Centre ice not always being HD. I know the streaming feed would be fine as I’ve subscribed to MLB for years and the picture quality is superb. I’m also assuming that the Game Centre feed would work on more than one tablet. I really appreciate your feedback as its been hard to find just the right info at various websites.
Whether Centre Ice is available in HD is up to your provider, but many providers give some channels in HD and the rest in SD only for lack of bandwidth.
GameCentre Live’s quality probably won’t be as good as a cable HD signal, but from my tests with it the quality is pretty close to that, definitely good enough for mobile, tablet or computer use.
i live in sudbury, i can,t see the candies ,but i can two american teams play . where is the logic in this have the real hockey fans left aside? we love hockey but being tiered of being second class. if hockey is the best game in the world why change it?
It hasn’t changed. Regional blackouts have been a thing ever since sports networks existed.
It would be nice to watch NHL games again here in Saskatoon, but I’m a Canucks fan not an Oilers, Flames, or Jets fan. Probably not going to watch NHL again until Saskatoon isn’t blacked out from Canucks games. Our whole family is dedicated Canucks fans (probably because we use to live out there), we use to always watch and talk Canucks and now we haven’t been able to this year other than talk about the standings.
I can watch a Senators game against Toronto in kanata but I can’ watch the same two teams playing in Toronto I live in the Maritimes , were there is no NHL team . I can watch any American team play another American team at any time but if a Canadian team is one of them it is blacked out, Who is
being hurt, most games in Canada are sold out. All games with Canadian teams should be televised national
If you live in the Senators’ broadcast region and subscribe to the channels carrying Senators games, you can watch all of them, whether they’re at home or away.
Thank you- my dad and are are furious they aren’t showing Canadiens vs Vancouver tonight especially with the ceremony for jean beliveau!!! This is such a kick in the face for being a big fan in southern ontario and missing the most important time. Unbelievable
Sportsnet showed the Béliveau ceremony nationally. It will also be available online.
I live in North Bay, ON…last night (Dec 9) the Toronto/Calgary and Montreal/Vancouver games were blacked-out!!!!! Meaning, we’re suppose to be loyal fans of Winnipeg?
This makes me very mad. I am a senators fan living in Saskatchewan. I have seen very few games on TV, as it seems every single game, grrrrr, is on tsn5 or 4 which I am not showed to watch. This is an atrocity! I used to be able to watch whatever the hell I wanted to! Now every time I want to sit down after work and watch my favourite games I am confronted with “you live in the wrong place”. I shouldn’t have to fork over an extra 150 bucks just to watch something I used to get anyways. This has to change.
Well the NHL and Sportnet are going after more of the fans money, isn’t this getting ridiculous already. How much money will these two money hungry organization suck out of fans until the stupid fans finally say enough.
They blame it on increase players salaries etc, but who bids up the players salaries? Answer: the owners.
Who pays the players salaries? Answer: the fans.
I am a Canadiens fan, just like other fans who cheer for the Maple Leafs, Flames, Senates, Oilers, Canucks and Jets.
I find I only see about half of the Canadien games I saw last year, too bad but not the end of the world. I have found other Entertainment to spend my money on.
My two sons, well they could care less about hockey whether it is around or not.
Fans stop playing the NHL and TV networks game and maybe they will listen to the fans more, once the money stops coming in.
If fans stop watching the game maybe, just maybe ticket prices will come down, players salaries will come under control, owners will give something back to the game.
Until this happens continue to have the NHL and Sportnet have only one concern, how much money can they suck out of the fans pockets!
Actually they don’t. How much media companies pay for NHL rights is related to how much they’re willing to pay. And Rogers was willing to pay $5.2 billion. It’s not more complicated than that.
Sure, but fans are still following hockey, so that’s not going to happen.
Ticket prices will come down when arenas stop selling out every single game. That shows no signs of happening in places like Montreal and Toronto. In markets where attendance is low, ticket prices are much lower.
Habs fan living in TO here. Just watched the Habs-Ducks game on RDS non-HD. HD was blacked out, non-HD was fine. Hope this wasn’t a one-off.
Can we all just take a minute here to appreciate Steve for continuing to answer everyone’s questions (which are all arriving in my email)?
Comments: I have signed a similar petition and have messaged the NHL four times now requesting (demanding?) their response and further clarification and explanation for the blockage. I have yet to receive any response. Their website (the NHL) boasts that they read every comment and try to respond to every one within 48 hours (I think). I have yet to receive any response and it’s been over a week since my last request. I am beside myself with frustration. I feel the commissioner does not care, has turned this sport I love in to more of a business tha a sport. For shame, please let us support the teams and game we love.
The blackout rules makes no sense.
Take Feb 3rd. Habs play Sabres on Sportsnet East (regional only). Senators play Devils on TS5 which serves same territory as Sportsnet East. Maple Leafs play Predators on TSN4 ( southern Ontario). Jets play Canucks which is picked up by TSN3 and Sportsnet Pacific (regional only) .
And the early game of LA Kings vs Washington Capitals picked up by Sportsnet Ontario and that game is not blacked out?????
So in other words it’s the Canadian teams screwing the hockey fans because they are forcing the we silly blackout rules.
Since those are both American teams, there are no regional blackout restrictions in Canada (or, more accurately, games that are broadcast here can be broadcast nationally). Similarly, Canadian regional games are not blacked out regionally when they air in the U.S.
It may sound ridiculous, but which games are considered national vs. regional depend on which country they’re in and even which language.
The NHL imposes the rules, and they apply to American teams as much as Canadian ones. It’s not like you can watch all 82 Kings games here without NHL Centre Ice or NHL GameCentre Live.
I am hoping that someone can clarify a question I have regarding Rogers Gamecenter Live.
I am a Sens fan that lives in Edmonton, and I want to know if I have Gamecenter Live, will I be able to watch all the Sens games? Is there someone in the Edmonton area that can verify it during one of the Sens next games?
I asked a rep from Rogers this question and was told I could watch all the games EXCEPT the games that are broadcast on TSN. So Gamecenter Live would be a waste of money for me since I think around 2/3 of the Sens games are on TSN. I would be willing to pay 200 bucks to watch 1/3 of the Senators games.
Yes. The Senators regional games are carried on TSN in the Senators’ region, which means you wouldn’t be able to access them on GameCentre from that region, but from Edmonton you should have access to those games. The national games are on CBC, City or Sportsnet, and Rogers has made them available on GameCentre as well.
This is how it’s supposed to work, mind you. The system hasn’t been perfect in its first year.
Perhaps the only option is to organize a campaign whereby hockey fans en masse agree to contact every sponsor who buys commercial time on hockey broadcasters and threaten an organized boycott of their products (gasoline, automobiles, beer, etc.) until they can force the broadcasters to have the NHL change the policy. Broadcasting is all about selling advertising and if sponsors lose money, they will have to stop advertising. If they stop advertising, the networks will go belly-up. And if the networks stopped buying broadcast rights, the NHL would be in a real pickle. It would take a lot of organization and cooperation, but it could work.
So you want to pressure the fans to pressure the advertisers to pressure the networks to pressure the NHL to change their policy? Good luck with that. Regional blackouts have been here for decades and they’re not going anywhere. Rogers would love nothing better than to make all their games national, but they can’t. And the NHL just signed 12-year broadcast deals that would be very hard to reopen.
Plus, boycotts have been called for after the past two NHL lockouts, and everyone forgot about those pretty quickly.
Actually, you deflected the blame off rogers and onto the NHL itself, is wrong.
For the corntract that rogers just signed, they have to pay x amount of dollars to the NHL if they want to televise a game locally and xxxxxxx amount if it is nationally
Don’t really blame the NHL, cause they get more money and know that they will get it cause we Canadians like our hockey.
What I hate is the fact tonight there are 4 games tonight, 3 have Canadians teams playing and none can bee viewed by me at home… Live in North alberta, a 5 hr drive to edmonton… And 1 game that has 2 American teams.. But I can watch that one.. I call bullshyt …. The Canadian games are not national but the American one is INTErNATIONAL broadcast.. ….
Until we step up and do something about this… I have telus, and choose the sports extra group to get the extra sports channels, I pay money to have the ability to view these channels 100% of the time, not 50% of my time… I work during day .. So don’t watch tv during the day, get home at 5 and go to bed at 11… So I have 6 hours of watchability , and if it’s blocked for 3 hours, I want all my money back…
And then some…
If I only new a lawyer that is willing to take up this and go to court. I would do it in a heartbeat..
That’s not how NHL TV rights work.
You can watch all of the games if you get NHL Centre Ice or NHL GameCentre Live.
Well you should stop paying for them then.
Very easy. If you have a satellite system change the address to one within the non blackout area. Find a house for sale on mls and use that. Sign up for auto bill pay and paperless statements and simply watch TV. This is what I do.
We are in Kelowna and have NHL Centre ice. Last night we were eagerly awaiting the start of the Flames-LA game on Shaw 352 when a blackout notice came on. This has never happened before all year regardless whether the Canucks were playing or not. Local Shaw said it was a last minute directive from the NHL. I strongly suspect the Canucks behind this. I would like to pursue this. but don’t want to get tied up in LD charges. Does anyone have any ideas, contacts etc. If the most important game of the year can be blacked out
what assurances would we have next year (if we resubscribe)…ps Shaw did put the game on one of their other chans for a one time $3.50.
Is this not a blatant breaking of a contract by the NHL,Centre Ice?If they can get away with this once they will do it more frequently in the future. I have put out several feelers, including the NHL, but no replies. I can’t prove it but it looks like the Canucks wanted this most important game blacked out to ensure a full house (or close to it) for a nothing game. NHL Centre ice is supposed to ensure we subscribers receive all out of market games. This didn’t happen.
How would blacking out the game *outside B.C.* affect attendance at the game? Also, when was the last time the Canucks had trouble filling seats at their arena?
The game was blacked out in BC not outside it.
I’m a Sens fan in TO. I do not have cable (long live the paperclip!) or satellite, and was looking into GameCentre Live through my appleTV. Can you confirm that most Sens games would be blacked out on it, since most games are broadcasted on TSN5?
If you’re a Senators fan living in Toronto, Senators games on TSN5 will be blacked out, but all should be available on GCL. The exception would be regional games against the Leafs, if any, that are broadcast on TSN4.
So I don’t really understand. I live I British Columbia and if I subscribe to gamecenter live, I will be able to watch all of the Habs games.
Yes, at least in one of the languages. If you want to watch games broadcast by TVA Sports, or the two games in English where the Canadiens play the Canucks, you’ll need to be subscribed to the channel broadcasting the game, and have a TV provider that works with GameCentre Live or the broadcaster’s own streaming app.
I blame Gary Betman.
It’s all about the greed of making it a big as you can make it .let’s build monster rinks in as many American cities as possible .even in Southern cities that put hockey way down the list ,behind football .baseball . basketball.
So in Canada to compete ,build bigger rinks too ..super size the rink ..super size the players salary.
So .What do we have ?
The average working guy can’t afford to take his kid to Canada ‘s game
the ticket price is for wealthy only .
I wish we had never super sized hockey.
Now the NHL has blacked out half of my teams games ..so I can’t even watch my team on TV.
Brad Rudzki
Don’t. Bettman is there to represent the owners. If the owners wanted something changed, it would be changed.
Sure he can. There are plenty of organized hockey games happening out there that you can go to. But if you want to attend a Canadiens NHL game in an arena that constantly sells out because demand is way higher than supply, you’re going to have to pay a price.
I agree with Steve on both counts. Every hockey team is a business and has a mandate to making a profit.
Why call it “Canada’s game” if we forget there’s plenty of hockey outside of NHL? Both QJHL and OHL have seen their attendance drop in the last couple of years (under 3.5K and just above 4K respectively) and with the ticket prices are low as they are, games almost never sell out even in playoffs.
so many options for free online.
OK, so not as good as 54-inch HDTV.
But if saps are willing to pay $200 a year to watch games on their handheld gadgets, why not do the same except without paying for it?
I mean, the NHL does not need your money. The owners do very well sticking it to local taxpayers for free arenas, thank you very much.
I live in Newfoundland and am totally beside myself that often when my team the LEAFS are playing, invariablely it is blacked out in my province. The only way I can get the games is buy a centre ice package..well guess what, that cost money that a whole lot of folks don’t have. It is a money grab by the NHL and totally shameful. If the NHL wants fans, then let the feed go from coast to coast to coast. Shame on you NHL
I live in Halifax and if the Leafs are broadcast the game is blocked. Please explain why?
Because Halifax is not in the Leafs’ broadcast region.
I live in Calgary, And because of that, the NHL will tell me who I can watch. I’ m stuck with the Oilers and Flames games. There are fans of every Canadian team across the country! So if I want to watch the Senators game, for example, the NHL will block it on TSN, but will instead show two U.S. teams nationally on Sportsnet, figure that one out. But it there is a Canucks game or Toronto game, they’re blocked. The NHL can easily lift these restrictions if they chose to do so. If I want to watch two American teams, I ‘d buy the CentreIce package.
Well, not really. Regional TV rights are sold by the individual teams, and Rogers has the national rights to out-of-market regional games. Changing the restrictions would require rewriting a lot of TV contracts. If they did decide to change it, they’d probably have to wait until the Rogers deal expires in 2026.
You are correct, but it brings up a serious issue going forward for the NHL (or any other sports league): Are blackouts good for the league overall?
Black outs are a negative for fans, without a doubt. If a game is televised, and the only reason Bob in Flin Flon can’t watch an Ottawa Senators game is because someone contractually decided to push the switch and black out the channel in his area, it’s bad for the league and the fan. The fan instead watches, I dunno, the NBA or something, and over time decides not to watch as much hockey, doesn’t buy the team jersey, doesn’t make that special trip to Ottawa to see a home game, etc.
The reasons for black outs are generally to sell an “upgrade” package to something like NHL Center Ice (or whatever it may be called these days) or a streaming product. While some fans may pay the price, others will be just frustrated as piss that someone wants more money for what is already on the air and react as I mentioned above.
That the games are already only available on pricey cable packages is an issue by itself. Yes, the league and the teams make more income, but are they selling out their futures? Cord cutting (or cord shifting) is small but growing segment, and represents younger potential fans. Block them from seeing your product, or make it more expensive for them to see your product, and you have lost them.
Short term thinking has many sports driving off a cliff.
Want to see what wide open does? Consider services like Twitch that have tons of people free streaming gaming and events. Fortnite (hugest game ever, I think) has seem much of it’s popularity come from free streaming, youtube videos, and other free public exposure material. Kids are doing Fortnite dances! It’s everywhere. That’s what wide open distribution does. Make your money because people enjoy your product, not because you have trapped them into paying pricey cable fees.
Not exactly. The stated purpose is to maximize revenue for regional TV contracts. It may seem a bit counter-intuitive, but having regional exclusivity for certain teams makes owning the rights for that team in a certain region more valuable. It’s definitely not good for fans, and I think the league should reconsider the policy at least in Canada, but that’s the way it is for probably at least the next seven years.