ESPN+ brands out-of-market NHL offering with ‘powerful’ name

ESPN has branded its 1,050 live out-of-market NHL games available to stream on ESPN+ for the regular season under the name “ESPN+ Power Play.”

ESPN Power Play essentially includes all NHL games that normally air on regional sports networks.

The streamer picks up those feeds from their respective markets, adds its own intro and makes them available to stream wherever possible. 

NHL Power Play on ESPN+ is designed to serve fans located outside the home market of their favorite NHL teams, as well as diehard fans who follow the entire league.

It is the only place for fans in the U.S. to get more than 1,050 NHL games, alongside 53 exclusive national games available on ESPN+ and Hulu this regular season.

NHL Power Play on ESPN+ games includes the choice of two separate live streams with either home team or away team commentary, as well as Canadian national presentations of Hockey Night in Canada, providing a local experience for fans no matter where they are in the U.S.

Replays of every NHL regular season and playoff game on ABC, ESPN, NHL Network and TNT are also made available to stream on NHL Power Play on ESPN+.

To help fans find and watch their favorite teams, NHL Power Play games will be tagged with a Power Play branded graphic across ESPN platforms, including the NHL schedule and score pages on ESPN.com, and a dedicated section of NHL Power Play games featured in the ESPN App.

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Hockey fans can watch more NHL games on ESPN+ than anywhere else, with out-of-market games on NHL Power Play every night, as well as games simulcast on ABC and ESPN, and exclusive, nationally-streamed ESPN+ Hockey Night games produced by ESPN each week.

ESPN+ has also debuted “State of Hockey,” a new exclusive five-part series, previewing the upcoming NHL season.

Featuring ESPN’s NHL reporters and analysts, it previews both conferences, examines major storylines across the league, highlights last season’s top plays and more.

ESPN released on Monday a new “That is Hockey” campaign, featuring ESPN NHL analyst and hockey legend Mark Messier, to promote the 2022-2023 NHL season on ESPN and ESPN+.

The NHL regular season in North America began on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022, with an ESPN doubleheader showcasing a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Final with the Tampa Bay Lightning visiting the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, and the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Vegas Golden Knights at Crypto.com Arena.

Both games will be simulcast on ESPN+.

This is the second full season since The Walt Disney Company, ESPN and the National Hockey League announced a seven-year television, streaming and media rights deal, beginning with last year’s 2021-2022 season.