NHL.com Benches Inaugural Video Player In Favor Of Sleeker, More Social Model
Like other leagues, the NHL continues to see a major uptick in video use and is looking for ways to make the most of it with fans and advertisers. Once heralded as the up-and-coming video player for the National Hockey League, the NHL Network Online is being benched today in favor of NHL VideoCenter, a less-cluttered, higher quality, more social contender with expanded content.
VideoCenter was developed with NeuLion, as was the predecessor that launched for the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs. The most visible change at first is the environment. The distracting, rotating ad panels are gone in favor of bolder pre-roll or banner ads, leaving more space for the player and a better chance for the advertiser to be noticed. The video window is larger. Sharing was available before but this player includes buttons for Twitter, Digg and Facebook plus the ability to resize the embedded player. A single highlight can be shared or the package.