Streams of all WHL regular-season and playoff games will be free thanks to new deal

Photo: Steve Dunsmoor

Starting with this year’s playoffs, you will be able to watch every WHL game for free on any connected device.

The league on Thursday announced a multi-year agreement with a Western Canadian tech company called A Parent Media Co., which will broadcast every game through its Victory+ streaming service. The contract begins with the start of this year’s playoffs on Friday, March 28.

The groundbreaking deal marks the first time in WHL history that its games will be available to stream for free around the world. The league may also be the first of its stature to offer free streaming of its games.

There will be no geo-restrictions, meaning you could watch a Kelowna Rockets game on your phone while standing in the Prospera Place parking lot.

Rockets owner Bruce Hamilton is not concerned about the new deal compromising ticket sales, which is important for WHL franchises.

“The more exposure you get, the better for everybody,” Hamilton said Thursday. “Your advertisers will see there are more eyeballs on it. Free is one thing, but I think the biggest part of the sales pitch to us was the quality.”

There were a couple of connections that led to the agreement, starting with Kamloops Blazers and Dallas Stars owner Tom Gaglardi. The NHL’s Stars already have a deal with Victory+, and Gaglardi clearly vouched for the service. Another catalyst was A Parent Media Co. president and CEO Neil Gruninger, who grew up as a WHL fan.

“It’s been a personal milestone for me to help bring junior hockey to a new generation of fans,” Gruninger said in a press release. “It’s a privilege to be working alongside WHL leadership and owners who share our fan-first vision.

“This is a major step in our mission to make sports content more accessible to fans everywhere, and we’re excited to build on the amazing work already being done to shine a spotlight and grow the world of junior hockey.”

Hamilton said new WHL commissioner Dan Near was a driving force behind the deal as well.

Fans currently have to pay to stream WHL games through the Canadian Hockey League, and the quality often varies. Every WHL team will now use the same Victory+ hardware, and Hamilton said it will be an NHL-level quality product.

“We were getting to a point where we were going to have to make a significant investment (for streaming),” Hamilton said, “and now this allows us to all be on the same page.”

In addition to all playoff and regular-season games, Victory+ will also feature classic games from the WHL archives and other on-demand content.