The National Hockey League unveils the new
NHL.com, a completely re-designed and re-programmed media portal that gives fans everywhere a personalized, all-access pass to their favorite NHL team and players. The new NHL.com fully leverages the League's assets in digital content and video to deliver multiple layers of programming that deeply immerse fans in the NHL experience.
The centerpiece of the new NHL.com is NHL GameCenter, the premier destination and a "second screen" that enables fans to experience live NHL games. Every night, for every NHL game, NHL GameCenter brings fans into the action with select video highlights, real-time stats, play-by-play tracking, in-game photos, audio feeds, social networking and much more.
From NHL GameCenter, fans are just a click away from watching NHL action live online with NHL GameCenter Live(TM), the ultimate in live, streaming sports video. Combining the immersive experience of NHL GameCenter with TV-quality streaming video, NHL GameCenter Live will be available in October and enable fans to catch all of the excitement from live games around the NHL (blackout restrictions apply).
As part of the NHL.com unveiling, the NHL also announced today that it is the first sports league to collaborate with Yahoo! Sports -- the leading online sports destination and fantasy game provider -- to develop a co-branded fantasy sports game. It is the first time a major fantasy sports provider has integrated licensed player footage into its game, and the content will be offered exclusively on Yahoo! Sports. NHL fans can access the footage to track their players' performances, scout trades, and research players for their rosters. The official fantasy hockey game also will include all the valuable features for which Yahoo! Sports is known, such as integration of NHL stats and player data, as well as reliability. The game is available -- and free of charge -- at http://hockey.fantasysports.yahoo.com. NHL video will be integrated this season.
NEW FEATURES HIGHLIGHT RELAUNCH
In addition to NHL GameCenter Live and the new co-branded Yahoo! Sports fantasy game, significant new site features include:
- Integration of Single Sign-On (SSO). SSO lets fans sign on once to NHL.com and have a relevant, personalized experience in every content area at NHL.com a"EUR editorial, multimedia, images, product and service offerings, etc.
- "What's next" programming. An approach to Web site programming that goes beyond simple content population to offer fans layer upon layer of relevant content about their favorite team and players.
- A bigger editorial voice. In addition to more exclusive editorial, content will now be bundled with other relevant media such as pictures, video and statistics.
- Amazing Photos. With rich, dynamic imagery from across the League, photos will now have a dedicated location, allowing fans to "flip and browse," as well as instantly purchase photos of their favorite moments.
- Richer Content. The new NHL.com is the most immersive hockey experience on the Web today. It has special features such as schedule pages that tell fans where to find the broadcast of local games; ticket pages that offer pop-up maps of the arenas; and player pages that include photo galleries and video highlights of every active player in the NHL.