NHL Productions' Centralized Broadcast Operation Hits Its Stride Across Six Clubs

In-house local telecasts have added new camera angles, graphics package, and deeper NHL Edge data, and Steve Mayer says the shows are continuously improving

One month into the 2026-27 season, the NHL's bet on centralized local production is on the air, and, according to the league, it is getting better with every game.

We're really happy with the way things are going from a production standpoint so far, says NHL President, Content and Events, Steve Mayer. We're encouraged because every single game has been better than the last. The progress each team is making as they get comfortable with this setup has been truly amazing. We're having fun, and now it's up to us to keep this up for a whole year.

The Dallas Stars are among the six clubs whose local broadcasts are produced by NHL Productions.NHL Productions, the league's in-house media and content arm, is now producing local broadcasts for six clubs: Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, and St. Louis Blues. The league had taken a crawl-walk-run approach heading into the season, but Mayer says the operation is already past the crawl stage.

I think we're walking already, he says. We've changed everything from camera complements to graphics and animation packages to music and features. We realize it's going to take time to integrate the whole package into the broadcast, but we're off to a great start, and there's much more to come.

A Network Look, a Local Voice

NHL Productions is supplying comprehensive production services - game production, studio-show programming, graphics and replay capabilities, and technical and engineering support - for all six clubs this season. The move follows the closure of the Main Street Sports Group-operated FanDuel Sports Network RSNs and the streamer Victory+.

The division of labor is designed to give the six telecasts a shared identity without turning them into a world feed. The league supplies the bulk of the production assets, including graphics, music, features, profiles, bumpers, and stats delivered through the scorebug. Each club runs its own content unit and has hired its own producers, directors, and on-air talent, with local crews supported by PPI (Program Productions Inc.).

At the end of the day, we're setting up a full-fledged network, Mayer points out. The goal is that, when you're watching at home and going from NHL game to NHL game, you'll clearly know which ones are the NHL-produced games. We're going for, one, consistency; two, uniformity; and three, a rejuvenated energy within these broadcasts that makes them feel fresh and exciting.

He credits the clubs' local hires for much of the early quality. I've now done the circuit of all six teams, and they have really strong support staff. Each team's content unit is producing packages, pieces, features, and all kinds of other content, and so are we. That combination makes for a vibrant telecast, which is exactly what we're seeing so far.

Trucks, Cloud Rooms, Studios

Mobile TV Group supplies a mobile unit in each home market: 44FLEX for Anaheim, 29HDX for Carolina, 52FLEX for Columbus, 38FLEX for Dallas, 54FLEX for Minnesota, and 45FLEX for St. Louis.

All six clubs use cloud control rooms for road-game productions. Carolina, Columbus, and St. Louis have built theirs inside their arenas, Dallas and Minnesota have them at their studio locations, and Anaheim uses an offsite location near its home arena.

Studio-show models also differ from market to market. Anaheim, Carolina, Columbus, and St. Louis host pre/postgame and intermission shows entirely onsite for both home and road games. Minnesota and Dallas produce road-game shows from studios in their home markets: Minnesota built its studio at its practice facility, and Dallas works with third-party provider AMS Productions.

All six teams are also using an iPad-based telestrator from Stripe, which integrates easily into either booth or studio coverage for on-air analysts.

More Cameras, New Angles

Camera complements vary somewhat by budget and venue, but every club's coverage has grown, according to Mayer.

We're trying to make these as close to the national broadcasts as possible, as a point of comparison, he explains. That's quite the upgrade compared with coverage in the past.

The six clubs have the same core camera complement, controlling five hards, one handheld, one Fletcher robotic, and two Cosm C360's.The core setup is consistent across the six clubs. Counting visiting-team feeds, centralized league resources, and in-house cameras, 25-30 video sources are focused on game coverage. Each home production controls five hard cameras, one handheld, one Fletcher robotic camera, and two Cosm C360 cameras. Columbus and St. Louis have also added an RF handheld.

At the top of the glass, the Fletcher robo sits at center ice in the speed position, and a Cosm C360 is behind each net in the rocker position.

This is the first time the C360 is being used regularly in regional telecasts. The camera captures a view of more than 180 degrees, so nothing in the attacking zone is missed. Its built-in playback lets an operator zoom in on any part of a play after the fact, effectively isolating a player once the outcome is known.

A Graphics Package Built in Weeks

The league also had to build new graphics and animation packages and music beds for the six clubs, which required an on-air graphics system flexible enough to support all six teams, their individual variations, and any future expansion.

With a heavily condensed timeline to launch, the league turned to Gameday Creative to design a hub-and-spoke infrastructure and build the full package from scratch. We had only a few months to put this together. We had weeks, says Mayer. What they

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