Texas Brahmas games to be shown on INSINC's CHL-TV

Pay-per-view, limited-term and season passes available

The Central Hockey League announced today that it has teamed up with INSINC to broadcast the league's games via the Internet during the 2009-10 season.

Fans will get an opportunity to experience CHL-TV free of charge during the league’s opening night on Friday, October 16th featuring such match-ups as a Ray Miron President’s Cup Finals re-match with the Texas Brahmas visiting the Colorado Eagles. Other opening night games will include Allen at Arizona, Missouri at Rapid City, Tulsa at Mississippi, Laredo at Bossier-Shreveport, Amarillo at Wichita and Corpus Christi at Odessa.

And yes, you will have to pay for the service during the season. Surprised? You shouldn't be. It had been widely reported that the league was not renewing its relationship with Nifty-TV, so we knew something new was coming. Besides, there were lots of technical issues with Nifty's CHL-TV so a change will probably be for the better.

"Technology of this nature evolves each year,” said the CHL's Kevin Huhn. “We wanted a company that had a strong history of delivering good quality, an in depth knowledge of live streaming and recognized as a leader in the industry, so our fans could have a better experience each game. After nearly a year of research we believe this partnership is one that has everyone win - fans, sponsors, teams and the league."

As far as having to pay for the service - did you really think the broadcasts would continue for free? Made no sense last season and it would make no sense this season. This stuff costs money and somebody's got to pay for it and anyone providing it deserves to make a buck. I don't know about you, but I have no problem with paying for something I can't live without.

You'll have the choice of purchasing a season pass, a limited term pass or you can pay to view on a game-by-game basis. The programming will offer interactive functions including a chat page, live in-game stats and scoreboards. In addition, you'll be able to browse and stream games from the archives of all CHL games or download games and play them at your convenience.

What will it cost? Don't know. The pricing structures have not been announced yet.

From what I hear, the picture quality is excellent. INSINC’s streaming platform services are currently employed by major sports leagues and media and entertainment companies including the Canadian Football League, the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League, RDS (French Language Broadcaster of the Montreal Canadiens), the Canadian Television Network (CTV), Business News Network (BNN), Rogers Sportsnet, and TVG Interactive Horseracing.

We are delighted to be in a position to partner with the Central Hockey League in delivering their games to the Internet,” said INSINC President Hugh Dobbie. “Good hockey content is increasingly in high demand and we look forward to bringing a new level of broadcasting quality to CHL fans”.

You can visit the CHL-TV site here

By the way, if you are jonesing for some CHL hockey, as of today, Nifty's broadcasts were still available to stream for free.

Image Credit: INSINC, Central Hockey League