Growing up, Michael Nute was a goalie. That helped him prepare for his now 8-year-old son, who decided to do the same thing.
"I have mixed feelings about it," Nute said. "But when he really wanted to play goalie, I was like, 'Playing goalie is awesome, dude. I don't blame you.'"
Nute (Hopkinton, Mass.) was the head coach of his son's Minuteman Flames team for the first time last season. He wanted to make sure that his tendency to keep a watchful eye on the net didn't impact his ability to coach the rest of the players.
That's where LiveBarn — a video service that streams games from many rinks — came in.
"I would review the video just to make sure I understood what the kids were doing right and wrong," Nute said.
Nute got the most out of his LiveBarn Premium subscription, which allows him to download games. On top of that, if Nute was away, he could watch practice.
For Nute, LiveBarn was an important tool — one that many hockey families across the region have relied on in recent years because of its presence in the vast majority of rinks. But now that reliance on LiveBarn has been disrupted by growing competition from Black Bear TV.
A challenger moves in
Nute's Flames play out of New England Sports Center in Marlboro, Mass. His LiveBarn subscription is now far less valuable since the eight-rink behemoth switched to Black Bear TV before this season.
Sean Flaherty knows this feeling, too.
The Rutland, Mass., native has an 11-year-old son who is a defenseman with the Central Mass. Outlaws, who play out of New England Sports Center. Flaherty used his LiveBarn subscription for the 30-second clips to show his son what he was doing right and wrong.
"I try to glorify the good things," he said. "And then just discuss he should've taken the man here or played more defensive or go to the center of the ice and force him outwards. Simple things. LiveBarn was great for that."
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LiveBarn started in 2015 and has been in hockey rinks — seemingly all around New England — since. It features typically one fixed, robotic camera at center ice that follows the action. Subscribers can watch any rink at virtually any time.
Last fall, Black Bear TV was launched by the Black Bear Sports Group, which is the largest owner-operator of hockey rinks in the United States, according to the company. Black Bear Sports Group was formed by Murry Gunty and Blackstreet Capital Holdings, LLC in 2015.
Another thing that has settled alongside Black Bear TV in New England's hockey streaming landscape: High prices and costly add-ons.
Black Bear TV says they are improving the product that hockey streamers are getting.
"The cameras are close to the ice, follow the play almost perfectly and deliver a picture that we believe is the best in the industry," said Tony Zasowski, the vice president of leagues and teams for Black Bear Sports Group. He leads Black Bear TV.
According to Blackstreet Capital Holdings' website, they are "a privately held diversified operating company that owns and manages lower middle market businesses." They say they aren't a private equity fund, but instead a "permanent holding company that seeks opportunistic investments in debt and equity of lower middle market businesses that are typically underperforming, under financial distress and/or in out of favor industries."
Black Bear Sports Group owns arenas like The Rinks at Exeter in Exeter, N.H., and Adelard Arena at Mount St. Charles in Woonsocket, R.I. They own various rinks in Connecticut, such as Bolton Ice Palace, Champions Skating Center, Enfield Twin Rinks, Milford Ice Pavilion and Newington Arena.
Black Bear TV has replaced LiveBarn in various rinks around the United States. This year, they've made a push into Massachusetts.
"We are always looking to show rinks, teams, leagues, coaches, players and parents what true streaming should look like," Zasowski said.
Adding on
With LiveBarn, there are two plans: Basic and Premium. With Basic, subscribers pay $239.40 per year (or $25.95 per month) to watch on one device at a time, live stream unlimited video, access on-demand video from the past 30 days and share 30-second clips, among other features. The Premium option costs $323.40 per year ($35.95 per month) and allows two devices at a time and the ability to download and save 30 hours of video per month.
Black Bear TV is a bit different. The base plan can be cheaper ($209.99 for the year; $25.99 monthly), and it allows access to a 30-day on-demand file and gives one login. The Premium plan ($319.99 for the year; $36.99 monthly) offers live DVR, clipping and sharing highlights, downloading highlights, downloading games and two logins.
"One could say it is among the most affordable in the industry on a per-user basis," Zasowski said. "Unique to Black Bear TV, two people on the same account can watch on separate IP addresses at the same time, cutting the stated price in half per person. Also, with Black Bear TV, more of the streaming revenue stays with the rink owners rather than going to a third party outside company. That in turn keeps down the cost of youth hockey."
But there's another — expensive — catch.
If you have either Black Bear TV subscription, you don't automatically have access to all games. To watch USPHL/NCDC games, you must have the USPHL+ add-on, either Premium ($200 per year) or Basic ($100 per year). To watch Eastern Hockey Federation games, you must have an EHF+ pass, which is $100 per year.
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"The USPHL is the only junior hockey league spanning all of North America," Zasowski said. "Junior hockey league broadcasts include play-by-play announcers creating a higher-level broadcast experience. Even with the added expense, the USPHL, on an unrestricted per user basis, is among the lowest cost, best values in the industry.
"The EHF is also one of the biggest, best and most high-profile leagues in the United States and feature the hockey stars of tomorrow. They each deserved their own platform because of the heightened competition, world-class showcase events, scouting element and overall exposure they bring."
You can also pay for a single game through Black Bear TV if you don't have a subscription. For a USPHL+ game, it's $19.99. An EHF+ game is $16.99. Any other game is $14.99. Nute found this out the hard way.
There was a game he wanted to watch, and the rink had Black Bear TV. So he paid for it and went to watch the game three days later, only to figure out that he only had access to the game for 48 hours.
"I went and paid for it again," Nute said. "I went back and realized that yes, I had paid for the same game twice, and I was so mad about it.
"So I kind of came to the whole thing with kind of a negative taste in my mouth about Black Bear generally."
Flaherty and the parents of his son's Outlaws team aren't happy either. He wrote to New England Sports Center, LiveBarn and Black Bear TV.
"There's real anger about it," Flaherty said.
LiveBarn declined to comment for this story, but a spokesperson said they are upgrading their products, including new camera technology.
Juggling the new landscape
Some families, who have multiple kids on multiple teams in multiple leagues at multiple rinks, may have to foot the bill to watch games on both LiveBarn and Black Bear TV. Two premium subscriptions together would be $643.39. Add in an EHF+ pass for Black Bear TV, and the bill is $743.39.
"Much like the cable monopolies of the past, youth hockey had no choices when it came to watching games," Zasowski said. "Now, in the same way there are multiple subscriptions for TV watching, there are multiple choices for various rinks and leagues. Competition is good for the youth hockey industry. It forces companies to think outside the box and deliver the best product possible, which is what we aim to do every day at Black Bear."
Parents may disagree.
"That's maddening, having to buy both of them," Nute said.
In November 2024, LiveBarn sued Black Bear Sports Group. Oral arguments were held in May in Delaware.
Nute laments the effects of private money on hockey. "It's everywhere," he said. "But does it have to be the one thing I enjoy doing with my kid?"
Nute initially thought he would never buy Black Bear TV, but recently did. He plans to cancel his LiveBarn subscription. Flaherty, however, is standing firm in not purchasing a Black Bear TV subscription. He will continue with LiveBarn.
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Will Flaherty ever get Black Bear TV?
"I was about to sign up," he said. "But I decided that my marriage was more important."
