Those who bet on NHL free agency are used to going to Twitter for all the latest updates. Now it seems that fans of hockey betting will be able to turn to the social media website for all of their needs. Twitter was the usual go to place to blow off some steam after a referee cost you the game, but now you will actually be able to watch the game on the micro-blogging service. Thanks to the company’s efforts fans will now be able to watch, and complain about, hockey with greater ease. The deal was announced early Monday morning and was struck between Twitter Inc. and MLB Advanced Media (Recently MLBAM signed a deal to manage the NHL’s online streaming). This is the latest in a string of deals that Twitter has been signing, including deals to stream NFL games and exclusive NBA content. This is great news as those who bet on NHL games will now have an easier method of checking in on their predictions, unless you reside in Canada.
While Canadians will still be able to enjoy the baseball games that are streamed by the social media website, they will not be able to tune into the NHL games. The reason being that hockey broadcasting rights are tightly owned by Sportsnet and TSN. While the NHL move will no doubt help spark interest amongst hockey fans, being able to broadcast in Canada would have been a nice boost to the response this deal will get. The NHL was founded in Canada, and while there might be more teams in the USA there is no doubt that Canadian fans are more passionate. The games featuring the Toronto Blue Jays will also be unavailable to Canadians, on top of all NHL games.
Included into the Canadian blackouts will be the local market games. Twitter will only be streaming out-of-market games once per week. This means that if you’re a Lightning fan living in Tampa Bay and Twitter is streaming one of their games you will unfortunately not be able to receive the broadcast. Ultimately this is not a problem because you’d be able to tune into your local broadcasts for the game. In order to fill the biggest need Twitter is aiming to stream the games that are not going to be broadcast over national television. While the schedule is not yet readily available the broadcasts are expected to begin in the fall.
In addition to out of market games the new deal will also include The Rally a sports highlight show that will be streamed nightly. Unfortunately, due to broadcasting rights the Canadians will also be missing out on this content. However, Canadians will be able to tune into the other deals that Twitter has been busy inking. With Monday’s announcement the social media typhoon now has contracts with all four of the major sports companies within the US. Next season Twitter will be streaming Thursday night NFL games, out of market MLB and NHL games, as well as exclusive NBA content. While it won’t be streaming NBA games there is no doubt that Twitter is planning to in the future. Ultimately, if you bet on NHL games that are out of your market then Twitter will have your back next season.
