North America’s National Lacrosse League has agreed rights deals for its 2015 season with US sports broadcasters Universal Sports Network and ESPN, along with Canadian pay-television broadcaster TSN, and will launch a new online subscription platform.
The NLL said Universal Sports Network will showcase an ‘NLL Game of the Week’ during the upcoming regular season. The new agreement, which marks the league's first full season on Universal Sports Network, makes 18 games available live on UniversalSports.com to all fans in the United States, including non-subscribers of Universal Sports Network. A repeat presentation of the NLL Game of the Week will also air every Thursday on television.
A total of 21 NLL games will air live on ESPN platforms during the 2015 season via the ESPN3 and WatchESPN online streaming services.
The NLL’s agreement with TSN will allow Canadians to watch the league’s entire 81-game regular season plus the Champion’s Cup playoffs and final. As part of the deal, TSN will broadcast 12 regular season games and select post-season games, including the Champion's Cup final. The remaining 69 regular season games will be available exclusively to TSN subscribers through online streaming platform TSN Go. TSN Go also allows TSN subscribers to access live streaming and on demand viewing of the network’s total NLL package.
In other news, the NLL has launched NLL Live, an online subscription package of over 40 NLL games. The service will be available to US fans via computer, tablet and mobile devices for a fee of $30 (€24).
The 2015 NLL season gets underway on January 2 as the New England Black Wolves take on the Buffalo Bandits.