Rogers’ GamePlus puts hockey fans on ice during NHL games

Imagine having the capability to replay key moments of NHL games at your fingertips, or being able to get exclusive camera angles of a game.

Rogers Communications Inc. announced Monday the launch of GamePlus, part of Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE, which will let mobile users watch a hockey game in a revolutionary way.

GamePlus features various camera feeds and multiple-angle replays, allowing fans to feel like they are on the ice, in the centre of the action. It will also include exclusive video of interviews, analysis, and original video-on-demand content.

The mobile service’s “second-screen hockey experience” provides users to watch the game live on television while they engage the unique camera angles and other features on their mobile devices.

“GamePlus is a game changer. It combines the latest in broadcast technology together with mobile app technology and we’ve invested more than $10 million to create this outstanding experience,” Keith Pelley, president of Rogers Media said in a release.

Fans will have access to different camera angles that they can use in various ways at games. They include:

• Follow the puck from one end to another at six metres per second via a Sky Cam, which sits at the 200 level in the Air Canada Centre
• Referee’s helmet features a Ref Cam that lets fans see the face-offs, breakaways and goals
• Goal Line Cam gives a overhead view of the ice, right above the offensive rush
• Get an inside view of the players’ benches, and catch the action from inside the blue line, which is what separates one team’s defensive end from the another
• Follow any player during the game via a Star Cam

NHL Hall of Famer Mark Messier, who is Rogers’ NHL Ambassador, said the “view from the ref’s helmet makes me feel like I’m back on the ice.”

“The new camera angles really bring you inside the game, and give you a feel for the speed and intensity the players experience. Each camera gives the fan a different and unique perspective,” he said in the release.

One of the star features of GamePlus, with its multiple camera angle capability, allows fans to act like a referee and decipher tough calls, and also get different views of goals, power plays, and penalty kills.

“It puts customers in control and gives them access to angles they’ve never had before on any screen. Fans who disagree with a ref’s call can now see the game exactly as the ref sees it. They can also watch multiple replay angles of the main plays in the game,” Pelley said.

Pelley said a crew tested Game Plus last week. They were able to “create up to eight camera replay angles of major plays and have them available on mobiles and tablets in less than three minutes after the action happened.”

The service will be available on select NHL games each week, as well as the Stanley Cup playoffs, NHL All Star Game, and the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic.

Customers who subscribe to Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE will be able to access GamePlus on their mobile devices and tablets. Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE is already available for download on Google Play and the App Store.

The beta version will launch on Oct. 8, in time for the NHL season opener and the puck drop between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.

Rogers GameCentre LIVE

Rogers GameCentre LIVE will live-stream more than 1,000 NHL games throughout the 2014-2015 hockey season, live including all playoff games. It can be accessed through a new mobile app as well as NHL.com, and is also available on desktops, smartphones and tablets.

Rogers wireless data and Hi-Speed Internet customers will get a free subscription until Dec. 31, 2014. For non-Rogers customers, NHL GameCentre LIVE will cost $199.99 for the full season. A French-only package that includes les Canadiens (60 games) and les Sénateurs (54 games) regional games for $59.99 will also be available.

Click here for more information on Rogers GameCentre LIVE

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