First Major Sports League to Provide Content for the YouTube Community

SAN BRUNO, Calif. and NEW YORK– (Nov. 15, 2006) – YouTube, Inc., a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience, and the National Hockey League (NHL) today announced they have formed a strategic content and advertising partnership in which the NHL will provide daily short-form video content to YouTube for the 2006-2007 season beginning this month.

The partnership marks the first time that a professional U.S. sports league has entered into a content agreement with YouTube. The agreement will enable users to access video highlights of NHL regular season games, which will be available within 24 hours of the original broadcast, in addition to other on and off ice footage.

“The partnership will enable the NHL to expose YouTube’s vast audience to all of the excitement and drama of the new NHL,” said Doug Perlman, NHL Executive Vice President, Media. “What a great way to showcase the talent of our athletes.”

“By delivering a wide array of daily programming to YouTube, the NHL will be able to connect with its existing fan base and reach a vast new audience that is passionate about hockey,” said Kevin Donahue, vice president of content for YouTube. “Today’s agreement demonstrates how major sports leagues are realizing the powerful benefits YouTube offers in terms of growing their audience and creating a new channel for generating revenue.”

Through its partnership with YouTube, the NHL will be able to take advantage of YouTube’s “Claim Your Content” program, which features an advanced content identification architecture and reporting system allowing the league to identify and protect its copyrighted content. The league will have the option to remove the content from YouTube or allow it to remain and share the revenue from the advertising placed adjacent to the content.

NHL will provide the YouTube community and hockey fans in general, a wide range of free, short-form entertaining clips. The NHL also will have its own Brand Channel on YouTube at www.youtube.com/NHL that will allow fans to easily access content in one centralized place. Additionally, the NHL will have Branded Watch Pages, which allows YouTube content partners to brand the pages on which their videos play.

NHL scores YouTube deal
League seeking younger U.S. fans
Pact addresses copyright issues

The National Hockey League has signed a deal with popular video-sharing website YouTube Inc. to market highlight clips in a bid to boost fan interest in some U.S. markets..

Trumpeted as the first of its kind between a professional North American sports league and YouTube, the agreement has wide-ranging implications both for the NHL and for the upstart California-based company.

The NHL is hoping to widen its fan base through an Internet site that's proven popular with young potential viewers. Earlier, in an effort to develop a larger profile, the league changed its rules to make the game more interesting.

For YouTube, which recently agreed to be acquired by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion (U.S.), the pact represents a chance to further legitimize itself, even as some major TV networks and sports leagues assail it for posting copyrighted content.

VERSUS First to Use Rail Cam in National U.S. NHL Telecast

STAMFORD, CT (November 16, 2006) — VERSUS, the national cable television home of the NHL, today announced that the network will debut a high-definition rail camera (Rail Cam) on Monday, November 20, when the Colorado Avalanche take on the Dallas Stars at 8 p.m. ET at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, host of the 2007 NHL All-Star Celebration. The Rail Cam, which was developed and supplied by the technology firm of Fletcher Chicago, runs on a small rail system situated just above the glass on one side of the arena. The camera shot will be used extensively during live-action play, as well as in replay sequences. VERSUS is using the Monday, November 20, game as a trial run for the Rail Cam and, if the new technology proves successful, VERSUS will use the Rail Cam during the NHL All-Star Game on Wednesday, January 24, in Dallas.

“The Rail Cam gives viewers a unique perspective, bringing them significantly closer to the action," said Marty Ehrlich, Vice President of Production and Executive Producer for VERSUS. “The camera gives viewers an appreciation for the speed and strategy of the game with the way it tracks the action on the ice. We’re excited to introduce this new technology and we could not have done it without the help of the NHL, the Dallas Stars and the dedicated operations staff at the American Airlines Center.”

Although there have been some experiments with Rail Cam in other hockey telecasts—previously during the nationally televised Frozen Four, a college level hockey tournament—this is the first time that the camera is being used extensively in a nationally televised NHL game in the U.S. It is also the first time that the Rail Cam has been used in native high-definition. Recent improvements to the Rail Cam provide better and smoother-moving shots than ever before.

VERSUS is the national cable television home of the National Hockey League (NHL), presenting 54 regular-season games this season. The schedule includes a Game of the Week, wherein VERSUS is the only place on television to catch an NHL game in the U.S. at that time. With one exception, every Game of the Week will be produced in high def. Additionally, the Young Stars NHL Skills game and the NHL All-Star game as well as select early-round playoff coverage, all of the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final games will be available in high def.