RANT: Why Are NHL Preseason Games Region Locked?
So, here I am, sitting in my bedroom at my computer desk, looking to watch Columbus Blue Jackets preseason hockey. I go on to Twitter to see where the game is being broadcasted: their tweets say it’s on their website. So, I go to their website and sure enough: the first thing I see is a link to a live stream of the game. I click on it and what do I get? A notice that the game isn’t available in my region. So, I decided to go see if it’s being broadcasted on the Buffalo Sabres website (the opponent), and it is. Just like the Blue Jackets, though, I get a notice saying it’s not available in my region. Folks: what are we even doing here?
No, seriously, I want you to think about it. Why on earth are NHL pre-season games region-locked? Why on earth can I not watch Columbus Blue Jackets preseason games outside of Ohio (or in this case, north New York state as well)? It’s preseason. Why is the NHL so hell-bent on being as anti-fan as possible? Do they think people don’t want to watch preseason hockey for some reason? Actually, considering how many preseason games get tossed onto NHL Network, they might actually think that. (For those outside America: NHL Network is a channel that next to nobody gets but many games are made exclusive for that network anyway, ensuring approximately five people get to see it.)
It just makes zero sense for the NHL to not allow preseason games to get watched, unless you live in the proper region, or the game is being aired on NHL Network and you’re one of five people who get it. It’s just another in a long line of decisions the NHL has made that’s anti-fan. It makes the experience of hockey-loving fans worse, but as usual, the NHL probably knows but doesn’t care.
The NHL is the absolute worst at making new fans. They talk a big game about bringing new fans in, but almost every decision they make runs counter to bringing in new fans. The thing is, after talking with others and reading another hockey news site, this is an NHL-wide policy. Teams didn’t come up with this. The NHL did. For no good reason they have decided that fans getting a first look at Celebrini in the NHL, unless you live in San Jose or San Francisco, is undesirable. Who wants that? Who wants to see their team's prospects to see how they’ve improved in the off-season? Well, unless you live in the broadcast area, because obviously, no fans of any team live outside the broadcast area. Clearly, someone like me, a Blue Jackets and Red Wings fan living in Indiana, doesn’t exist. I must be a Blues or Blackhawks fan. Well, according to the NHL. Then, in the regular season, many teams make it as hard as possible to watch their games if you live in the broadcast area of your favorite team. So, in the preseason it’s impossible to watch your favorite team (legally) if you live outside the broadcast area, but it’s really hard for you to get to watch every game of your favorite team if you live in the broadcast area (or even outside, but to a lesser extent) in the regular season. What a joke of a league. This isn’t how you bring in new fans. I applaud the teams who have left regional broadcasters like Bally Sports to make their broadcasts free to watch to those in the broadcast region because they’re at least trying to bring in new fans. They’re the only ones actually making an attempt to do so. Meanwhile, the NHL itself and other teams continue to do what they can to make becoming a new fan as painful as possible (and frankly, even already existing fans find watching their teams be a bit painful through legal means unless they’re financially well-off).
It especially doesn't make sense because this wasn't a thing last year. Last preseason I was able to watch Blue Jackets and Red Wings preseason games on their websites. What changed between this year and last? Why make this anti-fan move now? I just can't make any sense of this.
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