Report: Habs Playoff Watch Party In Gatineau Shut Down Over Senators' Territorial Rights
NHL territorial restrictions have benched a large Habs fans viewing party in Gatineau for Game 2 of the Eastern Final on Saturday.
Montreal Canadiens fans across Ottawa and Gatineau are absolutely pumped that their team has advanced to the NHL Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes this week. So much so that a group in Gatineau was hoping to gather for a Game 2 watch party on Saturday with 4,000 of their closest friends in the city’s biggest rink. However, the scheduled gathering at Centre Slush Puppie has been put on ice.
According to an article by Thomas Gerbet and Martin Comtois at Radio-Canada , the groups organizing the event got the required permission from TVA Sports, the French-language TV rights holder, whose live game feed would be shown in the arena. The organizers reportedly believed they were good to go after that, but when you broadcast a team’s NHL game to that many people in a rival team’s market, and charge a fee to boot, it becomes a territorial rights issue. The rule is that NHL teams control territorial rights within their city and roughly an 80-kilometre radius surrounding it, and the organizers didn’t get proper authorization.
It’s something you can usually get around by seeking timely permission and, most importantly, cutting the aggrieved team and the league in on some of the action. But with these teams, maybe not. There would naturally be some sensitivity about local events that help the Habs further build their fan base here.
The event was organized by Les Grand Feux du Casino Lac-Leamy , along with Outaouais en Fête and Vision Multisports Outaouais . The plan was to sell $13 tickets, with proceeds going to charity. Senators director of communications Sylvain St.