NEW YORK / TORONTO (March 30, 2020) – The National Hockey League (NHL^®) is launching two new fan engagement initiatives today as part of the League’s continued commitment to help hockey fans stay connected to players and the game. Greatest Moments of the 2019-20 NHL Season…So Far fan vote program and Live NHL Player Q&As will offer hockey fans daily interactive experiences via the NHL’s Twitter and Instagram social media channels. Watch the trailer here.

from Jack Harris of the LA Times,

Play-by-play announcer Alex Faust set the table at the top of Sunday afternoon’s show, dropping nuggets of research into his opening lines. Analyst Jim Fox took over from there, serving up a scouting report for a game that wasn’t supposed to be.

The two men weren’t previewing a real contest, the NHL season still suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak. Instead, talking into cameras from the safety of their homes, they were trying their best to make a virtual substitute feel like the real thing.

In this absence of live action, the Kings have turned to video game simulations to keep some semblance of routine. Every time a real Kings game is scheduled to take place, such as Sunday’s delayed meeting with the Chicago Blackhawks, the team instead stages a virtual rendition viewed by thousands on an online stream.

Laugh if you want. Three weeks ago, the idea of livestreaming video games to a sports-deprived fan base would have sounded comical. But with almost all real sports postponed for the foreseeable future, the industry has turned to virtual simulations to help fill the void.

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from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,

It could be a heckuva job for somebody. Or a few people.

An absolutely enormous task, to be sure. But a necessary one, quite probably.

As we imagine how North American sports are possibly going to get themselves back on track with their respective seasons, it seems abundantly clear that if they attempt to do so solely by following their own individual plans it’s going to create one spectacular logistical and scheduling nightmare.

That means that instead of recouping lost dollars from the current suspension of play due to the coronavirus crisis, these teams could end up hurting each other even more by furiously competing for the same sports entertainment dollar in a severely compacted schedule.

Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense for these sports to work together to ensure maximum profitability for one and all? And couldn’t they get together and nominate an individual or individuals to work as a central office to help North American sports get rolling again in a logical manner?

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