by Chris G, Digital Radio Producer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
LAVAL, QC. – On September 2nd, the Montreal Canadiens and Rogers Sportsnet announced a 3-year broadcast rights agreement. This announcement generated reams of questions from our readers via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and the Contact Us form on the All Habs website. In this special edition of the All Habs Mailbag, I will answer your questions to assist you with watching the Canadiens during the 2014-15 season.
Habs fans living in Belleville, Ontario and East
This area is considered the Montreal Canadiens region and all 82 games and playoffs will be available on TV in English and French. The English broadcasts will be available on one of the nine Rogers networks. The detailed schedule can be viewed here. New habits are required for viewers of the French broadcasts as RDS will no longer carry all Montreal Canadiens games. TVA Sports will carry the October 8th season opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and all the Saturday games for a total of 22 games this season. RDS will broadcast the remaining 60 regular season games and all seven exhibition games.
All games will also be available online to subscribers of Rogers GameCentre Live.
Habs fans living west of Belleville, Ontario
Habs fans living in this area are considered outside of the Canadiens region. Watching 82 games is possible but may be a little more complicated than in the past. Let’s look at the options.
1. The easiest, more straight-forward way to watch all Habs games is to subscribe to NHL GameCentre Live (online streaming service) or NHL Centre Ice (the TV-based service.) This, however, is the most expensive option with a full-year regular season subscription costing about $199.99 (an early-bird price is said to be $179.99) In addition to Canadiens games, subscribers will have access to every NHL team, every game.
2. Rogers subscribers who have an internet or wireless data plan will receive a free subscription to Rogers NHL GameCentre Live until December 31st of this year. A new mobile app will be available in October. Half-season subscriptions to GameCentre will then be available for $130. The trick here will be managing data usage. Rogers advises that streaming one game via GameCentre will consume approximately 1GB of data if you’re watching on a smartphone. That number becomes 2-5GB of data for each game if you are watching on a tablet, computer or game console. Again, this choice will provide access to all NHL games.
3. The least expensive way to watch all 82 Habs games would be to subscribe to TVA Sports and order the French-only package of Rogers NHL GameCentre Live or NHL CentreIce (TV). at a cost of $59.99. This package will give fans access to the 60 Canadiens and 54 Ottawa Senators games that will be broadcast by RDS. To be clear, this option is for broadcasts in French and is only for Canadiens and Senators games (not all NHL games like the above options.)
An audio-only option would be to listen to all Habs games in English on TSN 690 radio.
Rogers has suggested that there will be more options regarding NHL GameCentre announced in the upcoming weeks.
Habs fans living outside Canada
The new Rogers TV deal does not impact viewers outside of Canada when it comes to access. To watch all 82 Canadiens games, a subscription to NHL GameCentre or NHL CentreIce (USA only) is required. Prices for both vary based on location but the prices should be similar to those in Canada.
I hope that this summary allows our readers to know how to access Montreal Canadiens games during the 2014-15 season. For a more detailed look, I would invite you to read New TV Deal Could Leave Canadiens Fans Blacked Out. If you have any more questions on how to watch the games, leave your question in the comments section below.
Do you have a question or a topic you would like us to discuss? Okay, here’s what you can do.
Let us know:
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You can contact us via Twitter, our Facebook page or email at info (at) allhabs (dot) net
We’ll feature you, and your question, in the All Habs Mailbag!
You can follow me on Twitter @chrisg1980
I live in Alberta and have had NHL Gamecenter in the past and they still black out games on gamecenter that are broadcast on national TV or on regional TV. So any games that were broadcast on national TV, or broadcast on regional TV channels that are available on your satellite package but blacked out were blacked out on gamecenter. Or has this changed with the new TV deal?
If I can watch all the Habs games on game center I would be absolutely thrilled. I have had it for years in the past and it was never the case. Any information here would be appreciated.
If you order NHL GameCentre Live, you will have access to all 82 Habs games (national and regional)
You’re right Sovereign Tech. In the previous years, games that were broadcast nationally or in the region were blacked out on GameCentre. Under the new deal, the games will not be blacked out on GameCentre. However, the games will be available on an “authenticated basis.” This means that you have to have a Sportsnet subscription (or TVA, if you are viewing in French) from your provider and your provider must participate in Rogers program for you to access the game on GameCentre. For most, this won’t be a problem, and all games will be available.
There are also quirky exceptions in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and eastern Ontario where TSN holds the rights to the Jets, the Senators, and the Maple Leafs. But that wouldn’t apply to your situation.
Excellent, that is good news. Thanks for the replies!
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