TORONTO – As the puck officially dropped Wednesday night, some 55,000 hockey fans live streamed their favourite teams online using Rogers’ new NHL GameCentre LIVE app, the company said Thursday.
Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE is a mobile app that offers English and French online streaming rights to a range of live national NHL games as well as 800 classic games from the NHL Vault. Fans with a regional Sportsnet subscription with a participating BDU can live stream their local team's regional games. The app also includes GamePlus, which offers viewers a second screen experience replete with new camera angles and replays.
Some 75% watched games online at home while another 25% caught it on-the-go using their mobiles and tablets. On average, hockey fans streamed 51 minutes of play, and over 80,000 minutes of on demand video and replays from multiple angles using GamePlus.
“We’re off to a good start. The app is still in beta mode, and there are some gremlins to sort out but we got some great feedback from the fans”, said Rogers president and CEO Guy Laurence. “At one stage there were more people watching the game on mobiles in Toronto than all of the USA. Our 700 spectrum was put to good use managing a heavy traffic load in the cities of Toronto and Calgary where the action was happening.”
