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MNJHL reaches three-year broadcasting agreement with MSBN

By Nick Clark/MnJHL Director of Media Relations, 08/04/11, 12:37PM CDT

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All games to be broadcast at mnsportsnetwork.com

In a summer immersed with a heightened focus on continuity, the Minnesota Junior Hockey League has reached a deal with an online production company that promises to take that togetherness to a literal level.

The MnJHL is pleased to announce a three-year agreement with the Minnesota Sports Broadcasting Network (MSBN), which will broadcast all 168 regular season games plus the playoffs through a website (www.mnsportsnetwork.com) that has become a stable for online sports viewing.
 
Formed in the fall of 2005 to aid the promotion of high school sports across Minnesota, MSBN has since broadcast nearly 3,500 sporting events ranging from the prep level to college athletics to its minor league baseball coverage of the St. Paul Saints.
 
In the past year alone, more than 350,000 visitors have made their way to mnsportsnetwork.com, setting a viewing and/or listening stage for over 1 million people around the world.
 
“I'm excited to be working with MSBN,” said MnJHL president Ralph Hayne. “Their presence in the Minnesota sports scene makes them an ideal partner for us on a league-wide level. They have a desire to be professional as possible, and we are all anxious to get this off the ground when the season begins Sept. 9.”
 
The hockey-portion of MSBN’ coverage was already extensive. Home to unparalleled exposure for the both the boys and girls high school state hockey tournaments in Minnesota, they reach equal an depth at the youth levels by serving as the state tournament home for the Bantam and Pee Wee level on the boys side – as well as U12 and U14 levels for the girls.
 
Many of those same players could very well try-out for Minnesota’s oldest junior hockey league, meaning the agreement also comes with a new level of exposure to Minnesota hockey fans the MnJHL has coveted with its online presence.
 
“We believe it is going to be a real win-win for both sides,” said MSBN director of operations Nick Walsh. “MSBN is gaining a great quality product to add to our network programming, and the MnJHL is gaining the ability to promote themselves on MSBN's 1,200 to 1,500 broadcasts per year. MSBN broadcasted more than 300 youth, high school and college hockey games last year, and there are going to be kids and parents from the Pee Wee and Bantam levels all the way up the ranks who are going to be seeing a lot of MnJHL coverage for the next several years, and that can only help promote and grow both the league and its players to a very key demographic.”
 
For the players skating in the MnJHL these next three years, the deal will also come with advantages that go well beyond the X’s and O’s of game night.
 
Games will be connected to the MnJHL’s main page (www.mnjhl.com), and teamswill have the option of building personal video shorts for playersthat will be accessible for coaches and scouts – plus family and fans.
 
Each game will also be archived for no fewer than five years.
 
And, for the first time in league history, all of it will be available in one place.
 
“We as a league have been talking about the advantages of this type of move for more than a year,” said Hayne.  “This essentially creates our own network, with the first benefit being to the viewer and giving them a single source to watch all our league’s games. The benefits are endless.”