On Sunday, there was only one game played in the NHL: the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 1–0. Now, fans are furious about how the game was broadcast, saying the NHL makes it too expensive and difficult to watch games.
The league has already received heavy criticism for its scheduling during the first week of the regular season — especially this past weekend. There were 14 games on Thursday, none on Friday, a full slate of 16 on Saturday, and then just one on Sunday — a game most people couldn’t even watch.
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Blocked a lot of viewers
Sunday’s matchup between the Rangers and Capitals aired on NHL Network, which meant that out-of-market viewers couldn’t watch it on ESPN+. This setup makes it difficult for people to follow their teams, and fans are understandably upset.
Posting on Reddit, one fan demanded that the league fix the issue and make more games accessible:
”The league needs to either allow ESPN+ to show games that are picked up by NHL Network or offer a standalone way to watch NHL Network through the NHL website and app. Even better, do both. Watching every game for your team is already complicated and expensive enough, and NHL Network blackouts just make it even worse for out-of-market fans,” the post reads — and many fans agree.
Furious at the NHL
One fan wrote:
“Gary Bettman doesn’t want to grow the game or actually wants fans to watch it. He just wants to capitalize on existing fans by making their viewing experience more difficult and adding more costs, because he knows they’ll pay.”
A second added:
“The NHL continues to be the worst-marketed league.”
Finally, one fan summed it up:
“The NHL makes no sense. It’s like they don’t want their fans to watch the game.”
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