Ice hockey broadcasting
Encyclopedia
As with most other professional sports, ice hockey
is broadcast
both on radio
and television
.
for the 1896 Stanley Cup challenge between Montreal and Winnipeg.
On February 8, 1923 the first radio broadcast of an ice hockey game was made. Toronto Star reporter Norman Albert described the third-period action of a game between Midland and North Toronto at Toronto's Arena Gardens. The radio station was CFCA, owned by the newspaper. The station also carried the first NHL radio broadcast on February 14, 1923, with the broadcast of the third-period of a game between the Toronto St. Patricks
and the Ottawa Senators
at the same arena.
The first complete hockey game carried over the radio was on February 22, 1923 on CJCG out of Winnipeg, Manitoba of a game between the Winnipeg Falcons and the Port Arthur Bearcats. The first complete broadcast of a professional game was made on March 14, 1923 on CKCK out of Regina, Saskatchewan
and reported by Pete Parker
. The game was not an NHL contest, but rather a Western Canada Hockey League
featuring the Regina Capitals
. The first hockey game televised in Canada was on October 11, 1952 of a game between the Montreal Canadiens
and the Detroit Red Wings
, played at the Montreal Forum
.
As in other sports, television has had a major effect on hockey. The infusion of money has made the major leagues far more professional with vastly higher salaries for players. It has also changed the game as NHL rules now mandate four commercial breaks per period, giving players time to recuperate and allowing the better players to be on the ice longer. However, it also lengthens and slows the games considerably.
Television networks also despise how often games go into overtime, destroying set schedules. TV executives have long pushed for a faster shoot out to resolve games.
Games today are also broadcast over the Internet
. The NHL website allows fans to listen to online broadcasts of every NHL game.
signed a multi-year deal with the NHL to broadcast over 130 regular season games, beginning in the 2008–09 NHL season
to broadcast NHL All-Star games, Stanley Cup playoffs
and Stanley Cup Finals, as well as NHL highlight programs.
, NHL
hockey is broadcast every Saturday night on CBC's
longest-running television show, Hockey Night in Canada
. During the week, other games are shown on cable channels TSN
and RDS
. Various local channels carry other games as well. During the NHL playoffs, CBC carries the series involving any Canadian teams and the Stanley Cup Finals
. TSN covers playoff games in the first three rounds not involving Canadian teams. RDS
covers the entirety of the playoffs in French.
CBC also carries many international tournaments, such as the World Cup of Hockey
. The Winter Olympics
in 1998
, 2002
and 2006
were on CBC, but the 2010 games
were on CTV
and RDS
. Major games like those of the 1972 Summit Series or the 2002 Winter Olympics
have received some of the highest ratings in Canadian television history. Other well-known tournaments, like the Spengler Cup
or the Memorial Cup
, are carried on Rogers Sportsnet
. TSN and RDS carry all IIHF events, such as the World Junior Championships and World Championships.
Several Canadian Hockey League
(CHL) and American Hockey League
(AHL) games are broadcast by local channels in Canada, as is the occasional university
game.
Hockey Night in Canada, or HNIC, is by far CBC's most profitable show and supports many of the corporation's other ventures.
, MLB
, or the NFL
. In fact, hockey broadcasting on a national scale was spotty prior to 1981; NBC and CBS
held rights at various times, but neither network carried anything close to a full schedule, even carrying only selected games of the Stanley Cup Finals. From 1971–1995, there was no exclusive coverage of games in the United States.
In 1981, the fledgling USA Network (formerly MSG Network) carried a full schedule of games, supplanted by ESPN in 1986 and SportsChannel in 1989. ESPN regained the national hockey contract in 1993, joined by the Fox network in 1995.
Fox had put much effort into trying to stimulate American interests in the game, but had achieved little success. One of their schemes was to make the hockey puck
more visible by highlighting it on television with a blue comet, using FoxTrax
. When a slapshot
over 70 miles per hour was made, the puck would leave a red comet
trail on the television. This idea was met with great derision in Canada, especially to diehard hockey fans, and also met with little success in the United States.
Fox got out of the hockey business in 1999 after being massively outbid - surprisingly, given Fox's low ratings - by ESPN's fellow Disney
network ABC
. This $600 million contract was signed in 1998 and was regarded as a failure.
Before the 2004–05 lockout, the NHL had reached two separate deals with NBC and ESPN. The NBC deal stipulated that the network would pay the league no rights fees - an unheard of practice to that point. NBC's deal included six regular season windows, seven postseason broadcasts and games 3–7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in primetime. The contracts were to commence when the lockout ended. The NBC deal expires after the 2006–07 season, and NBC has picked up the option to renew for the 2007–08 season (Just like the AFL/NBC agreement, which the network did not renew in 2006). The NHL and NBC share in revenues from advertising.
ESPN had a two year deal that they opted out of after the lockout, leaving the NHL without a cable partner. In August 2005, Comcast (who owns the Philadelphia Flyers) paid $70 million a year for three years to put games on the OLN network, now known as Versus
. Due to the abbreviated off-season, the 2005–06 schedule did not offer OLN exclusivity, which they received in 2006–07. Versus will also cover the playoffs and will exclusively air Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The NHL's American television popularity has been increasing since the debut of the NHL Winter Classic
in 2008; the Winter Classic has earned Nielsen Ratings
on par with those the league had in 1975, when there were far fewer channels and much less audience fracturing.
Minor league hockey has more limited national coverage; the America One
network currently holds broadcast rights to select games in the American Hockey League
and the ECHL
, the two top minor leagues in North America.
Individual teams (both major and minor, though far more common in the major leagues) have long contracted to air their games on local channels, primarily on Regional sports network
s and in a few cases on broadcast channels as well.
Collegiate hockey's television coverage has expanded in the late 2000s, with national networks CSTV, and ESPNU
carrying numerous regular-season contests. ESPNU airs the NCAA's
Division I tournament (with the semifinals airing on ESPN2
and the final game on ESPN
), and CSTV carries games from other levels' tournaments. Regular-season games can also be found on specialty channels Big Ten Network and Fox College Sports
, along with Midwest regional sports networks FSN North
, FSN Wisconsin
, and FSN Detroit.
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
is broadcast
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
both on radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
.
History
The first dissemination of game scores via electronic means was done by telegraph, starting in the 1890s. In Montreal's Victoria Rink, telegraph lines were installed to send game descriptions to operators in WinnipegWinnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
for the 1896 Stanley Cup challenge between Montreal and Winnipeg.
On February 8, 1923 the first radio broadcast of an ice hockey game was made. Toronto Star reporter Norman Albert described the third-period action of a game between Midland and North Toronto at Toronto's Arena Gardens. The radio station was CFCA, owned by the newspaper. The station also carried the first NHL radio broadcast on February 14, 1923, with the broadcast of the third-period of a game between the Toronto St. Patricks
Toronto St. Patricks
The Toronto St. Patricks professional men's ice hockey team started as an amateur ice hockey organization. In 1919, the club purchased the Toronto National Hockey League franchise from the NHL. The club renamed the franchise the Toronto St. Patricks club and operated the franchise until 1927, when...
and the Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators (original)
The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...
at the same arena.
The first complete hockey game carried over the radio was on February 22, 1923 on CJCG out of Winnipeg, Manitoba of a game between the Winnipeg Falcons and the Port Arthur Bearcats. The first complete broadcast of a professional game was made on March 14, 1923 on CKCK out of Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
and reported by Pete Parker
Pete Parker
Lionel Dyke "Pete" Parker A.K.A Spiderman. was a Canadian radio announcer. He was one of the first persons to ever broadcast ice hockey. He served overseas in World War I from 1916 to 1919.-March 14, 1923 broadcast:...
. The game was not an NHL contest, but rather a Western Canada Hockey League
Western Canada Hockey League
The Western Canada Hockey League , founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League in 1925 and disbanded in 1926.-History:...
featuring the Regina Capitals
Regina Capitals
The Regina Capitals were a professional ice hockey team originally based in the city of Regina, Saskatchewan in the Western Canada Hockey League , founded in 1921.-Franchise history:...
. The first hockey game televised in Canada was on October 11, 1952 of a game between the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
and the Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
, played at the Montreal Forum
Montreal Forum
The Montreal Forum was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by Sporting News, it was home of the National Hockey League's Montreal Maroons from 1924 to 1938 and the Montreal Canadiens from 1926 to 1996...
.
As in other sports, television has had a major effect on hockey. The infusion of money has made the major leagues far more professional with vastly higher salaries for players. It has also changed the game as NHL rules now mandate four commercial breaks per period, giving players time to recuperate and allowing the better players to be on the ice longer. However, it also lengthens and slows the games considerably.
Television networks also despise how often games go into overtime, destroying set schedules. TV executives have long pushed for a faster shoot out to resolve games.
Games today are also broadcast over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. The NHL website allows fans to listen to online broadcasts of every NHL game.
Asia
Yes TV's All Sports NetworkAll Sports Network
All Sports Network a 24-hour Pan Asian sports channel featuring exclusive coverage of major American sports and other events from around the world including the U.S...
signed a multi-year deal with the NHL to broadcast over 130 regular season games, beginning in the 2008–09 NHL season
2008–09 NHL season
The 2008–09 NHL season was the 92nd season of operation of the National Hockey League . It was the first season since prior to the 2004–05 lockout in which every team played each other at least once during the season, following three seasons where teams only played against two divisions in the...
to broadcast NHL All-Star games, Stanley Cup playoffs
Stanley Cup playoffs
The Stanley Cup playoffs is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series. Eight teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season records...
and Stanley Cup Finals, as well as NHL highlight programs.
Canada
In CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
hockey is broadcast every Saturday night on CBC's
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
longest-running television show, Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...
. During the week, other games are shown on cable channels TSN
The Sports Network
The Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels...
and RDS
Réseau des sports
Réseau des sports , is a Canadian French language Category C specialty channel showing sports and sport-related shows. It is available in 2.5 million homes, and is owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc....
. Various local channels carry other games as well. During the NHL playoffs, CBC carries the series involving any Canadian teams and the Stanley Cup Finals
Stanley Cup Finals
The Stanley Cup Finals is the championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, emblematic of the professional club championship of ice hockey. Although the Cup itself has existed since 1893, an annual championship series between professional teams was not established until 1913...
. TSN covers playoff games in the first three rounds not involving Canadian teams. RDS
Réseau des sports
Réseau des sports , is a Canadian French language Category C specialty channel showing sports and sport-related shows. It is available in 2.5 million homes, and is owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc....
covers the entirety of the playoffs in French.
CBC also carries many international tournaments, such as the World Cup of Hockey
World Cup of Hockey
The World Cup of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996, it is the successor to the previous Canada Cup, which ran from 1976 to 1991...
. The Winter Olympics
Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...
in 1998
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...
, 2002
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
and 2006
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...
were on CBC, but the 2010 games
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
were on CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
and RDS
Réseau des sports
Réseau des sports , is a Canadian French language Category C specialty channel showing sports and sport-related shows. It is available in 2.5 million homes, and is owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc....
. Major games like those of the 1972 Summit Series or the 2002 Winter Olympics
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
have received some of the highest ratings in Canadian television history. Other well-known tournaments, like the Spengler Cup
Spengler Cup
The Spengler Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. First held in 1923, the Spengler Cup is often cited as the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by the Swiss team HC Davos and played each year in Davos, Switzerland, between...
or the Memorial Cup
Memorial Cup
The Memorial Cup is a junior ice hockey club championship trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League champion. It is awarded following a four-team, round robin tournament between a host team and the champions of the CHL's three member leagues: the Ontario Hockey League , Quebec Major...
, are carried on Rogers Sportsnet
Rogers Sportsnet
Sportsnet was launched on October 9, 1998 as CTV Sportsnet. The name was chosen to match the regional "Fox Sports Net" operations across the United States...
. TSN and RDS carry all IIHF events, such as the World Junior Championships and World Championships.
Several Canadian Hockey League
Canadian Hockey League
The Canadian Hockey League is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canadian-based major junior ice hockey leagues for players 16 to 20 years of age. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three member leagues, the Western Hockey...
(CHL) and American Hockey League
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
(AHL) games are broadcast by local channels in Canada, as is the occasional university
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association...
game.
Hockey Night in Canada, or HNIC, is by far CBC's most profitable show and supports many of the corporation's other ventures.
United States
Hockey has never fared well on American television in comparison to the NBANational Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
, MLB
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, or the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. In fact, hockey broadcasting on a national scale was spotty prior to 1981; NBC and CBS
NHL on CBS
NHL on CBS is a former television program that broadcast National Hockey League games on CBS Sports. CBS was the first American television network to broadcast NHL games.-1956–1960 version:...
held rights at various times, but neither network carried anything close to a full schedule, even carrying only selected games of the Stanley Cup Finals. From 1971–1995, there was no exclusive coverage of games in the United States.
In 1981, the fledgling USA Network (formerly MSG Network) carried a full schedule of games, supplanted by ESPN in 1986 and SportsChannel in 1989. ESPN regained the national hockey contract in 1993, joined by the Fox network in 1995.
Fox had put much effort into trying to stimulate American interests in the game, but had achieved little success. One of their schemes was to make the hockey puck
Hockey puck
A puck is a disk used in various games serving the same functions as a ball does in ball games. The best-known use of pucks is in ice hockey, a major international sport.- Etymology :The origin of the word "puck" is obscure...
more visible by highlighting it on television with a blue comet, using FoxTrax
FoxTrax
FoxTrax was a specialized ice hockey puck with internal electronics that allowed its position to be tracked designed for NHL telecasts on the Fox television network...
. When a slapshot
Slapshot
A slapshot in ice hockey is the hardest shot. It has four stages which are executed in one fluid motion:# The player winds up his hockey stick by raising it behind his body, sometimes raising the blade to shoulder height or higher.# Next the player violently "slaps" the ice slightly behind the...
over 70 miles per hour was made, the puck would leave a red comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
trail on the television. This idea was met with great derision in Canada, especially to diehard hockey fans, and also met with little success in the United States.
Fox got out of the hockey business in 1999 after being massively outbid - surprisingly, given Fox's low ratings - by ESPN's fellow Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
network ABC
The NHL on ABC
The NHL on ABC is a former TV show that televised National Hockey League games on the American Broadcasting Company and was produced by ABC's corporate sibling ESPN.-Before the 1992–93 NHL season:...
. This $600 million contract was signed in 1998 and was regarded as a failure.
Before the 2004–05 lockout, the NHL had reached two separate deals with NBC and ESPN. The NBC deal stipulated that the network would pay the league no rights fees - an unheard of practice to that point. NBC's deal included six regular season windows, seven postseason broadcasts and games 3–7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in primetime. The contracts were to commence when the lockout ended. The NBC deal expires after the 2006–07 season, and NBC has picked up the option to renew for the 2007–08 season (Just like the AFL/NBC agreement, which the network did not renew in 2006). The NHL and NBC share in revenues from advertising.
ESPN had a two year deal that they opted out of after the lockout, leaving the NHL without a cable partner. In August 2005, Comcast (who owns the Philadelphia Flyers) paid $70 million a year for three years to put games on the OLN network, now known as Versus
NHL on Versus
The NHL on Versus was the former branding used for National Hockey League games broadcast on Versus. Versus became the NHL's cable partner in the United States beginning in the 2005-06 season from previous partner ESPN, providing coverage of regular season games, playoff games, and select games...
. Due to the abbreviated off-season, the 2005–06 schedule did not offer OLN exclusivity, which they received in 2006–07. Versus will also cover the playoffs and will exclusively air Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The NHL's American television popularity has been increasing since the debut of the NHL Winter Classic
NHL Winter Classic
The NHL Winter Classic is an annual event held by the National Hockey League on New Year's Day where regular-season games are played outdoors, in areas hosted by NHL teams. Though largely derived from the Heritage Classic outdoor game held in Edmonton in 2003, the Winter Classic has so far only...
in 2008; the Winter Classic has earned Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
on par with those the league had in 1975, when there were far fewer channels and much less audience fracturing.
Minor league hockey has more limited national coverage; the America One
America One
America One is an over-the-air television network in the United States. The network serves over 170 LPTV, Class A, Full Power, Cable and Satellite affiliate stations...
network currently holds broadcast rights to select games in the American Hockey League
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
and the ECHL
ECHL
The ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey with teams scattered across the United States...
, the two top minor leagues in North America.
Individual teams (both major and minor, though far more common in the major leagues) have long contracted to air their games on local channels, primarily on Regional sports network
Regional sports network
In the United States of America and Canada, a regional sports network, or RSN, is a cable television station that presents sports programming to a local market. The most important programming on an RSN consists of live broadcasts of professional and college sporting events, as those games generate...
s and in a few cases on broadcast channels as well.
Collegiate hockey's television coverage has expanded in the late 2000s, with national networks CSTV, and ESPNU
ESPNU
ESPNU is a television channel that specializes in college sports, and is produced by, affiliated with and owned by parent network ESPN. ESPNU originates out of ESPN Regional Television's ESPNU (often referred to as The U) is a television channel that specializes in college sports, and is produced...
carrying numerous regular-season contests. ESPNU airs the NCAA's
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I tournament (with the semifinals airing on ESPN2
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American sports cable television network owned by ESPN. The channel debuted on October 1, 1993.Originally nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was initially branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross,...
and the final game on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
), and CSTV carries games from other levels' tournaments. Regular-season games can also be found on specialty channels Big Ten Network and Fox College Sports
Fox College Sports
Fox College Sports is a group of three United States digital cable networks, FCS Atlantic, FCS Central and FCS Pacific owned by News Corporation, that specialize primarily in showing collegiate programming, live events, coaches shows & various DI, DII, & DIII content surrounding college athletics...
, along with Midwest regional sports networks FSN North
FSN North
Fox Sports North is a regional sports network serving Minnesota, Wisconsin, northern Iowa, Upper Michigan along the Wisconsin border and the eastern parts of North Dakota and South Dakota...
, FSN Wisconsin
FSN Wisconsin
Fox Sports Wisconsin is a regional sports network serving the state of Wisconsin. Originally the "Wisconsin" sub-feed of Fox Sports North, the network officially became Fox Sports Wisconsin on April 1, 2007 with its own feed originating from facilities in Milwaukee; the network had formerly been...
, and FSN Detroit.