TSN Close to Signing New Deal

The Globe and Mail is reporting that TSN is close to signing a contract extension with the NHL. The deal is purported to last into the 2013-2014 season (matching CBC's latest extension) and would include more Canadian team games, which does mean more Leafs games. Good with the bad folks.

The best part of this deal is the inclusion of broadband rights to games televised on TSN. TSN has done a great job of streaming international competitions such as the World Juniors and World Championships. If they also start streaming NHL games, all the better. The more accessible games are, the more people you will attract.

I've railed in the past about how the NHLs implementation of streaming video. Their policy up until last year was to effectively ignore online video though so I didn't complain too much. It looks like they are wising up. Or they're being dragged kicking and screaming by their partners and competitors.