Almost one year into a "landmark digital media rights partnership," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred yesterday said that they believe the deal "has benefited both sides," according to Adam Kimelman of NHL.com. The two league bosses spoke yesterday at the Paley Center for Media in N.Y. about the agreement, which was signed last August and allows MLBAM "to serve as the host of all of the NHL's digital properties." Bettman said MLBAM has been "extraordinary," noting MLB President of Business & Media Bob Bowman "has made it the leading enterprise for streaming live sports." Bettman: "They're cutting edge, extraordinarily professional. They're great at what they do." Manfred said that the partnership with the NHL "has pushed MLBAM to another level." He said, "There's some natural synergy seasonally for us. We had network capacity, studio capacity, things that made sense for both organizations to use more fully. … There's two business models there. We do provide vendor services for people, but the NHL and the deal with the PGA Tour are more content-acquisition deals in our perspective and I think were important signals to the market as to what we thought the business could be." Kimelman noted as the partnership "continues to evolve, there will be more growth on all platforms." That includes the "relaunching of the club websites in September, and the continued refining of a ubiquitous user experience regardless of how you access NHL.com, whether it be through desktop computer, tablet or mobile device" (NHL.com, 7/20).
