In a new deal between the Latvian Hockey Federation (LHF) and Sportway Media Group (SMG), the parties have reached a multi-year agreement to launch a new platform for streaming Latvian ice hockey games from youth leagues, junior leagues, and lower-tier senior leagues.
This is SMG’s first deal in a country across the Baltic Sea having already established outstanding success and partnerships with the ice hockey federations in Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark, and Belgium.
CEO of Sportway Media Group, Daniel Franck, thinks this is a great partnership:
“Going across the Baltic Sea is a clear goal we have had for a while. But we didn’t want to rush it, we have looked for the right partnership, and LHF is the ideal partner. They have worked amazingly well these past years and their bronze medal in the latest World Championship illustrates that. They, like us, are on a growth journey, which makes this partnership something I am very much looking forward to.”
General Secretary of the Latvian Hockey Federation, Roberts Pļāvējs agrees:
“The Latvian Hockey Federation (LHF) is very happy and proud to sign an agreement with Sportway Media Group. This modern solution system they offer will allow you to follow all hockey games in online mode. SMG’s video innovation will also be useful for coaches and players themselves allowing them to analyze their own hockey games. This solution will help Latvian hockey to develop and reach even greater heights.”
Starting this upcoming season, it will be possible to watch almost all ice-hockey games played in 25 arenas across Latvia. SMG will, in close cooperation with the Latvian Ice Hockey Association, launch a “one-stop-shop” for ice-hockey fans to visit and experience all the action.
Joonas Saari, the Country Manager for Sportway in Finland and the Baltics, is eager to get started and says:
“We will be busy this summer installing the production equipment in all the arenas and preparing for the launch of the service for the 23/24 season. We are very excited to work together with the Latvian Hockey Federation in preperation for welcoming all hockey fans to the new state-of-the-art ice-hockey streaming service.”
Sportway Media Group (https://sportwaymediagroup.com/) is a well-established company engaged in media rights acquisitions as well as the owner of technology and software supporting streaming services. Sportway Media Group operates streaming services in 5 countries, within all major team sports, with close to 1,000 cameras installed. Sportway Media Group has offices in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki, and Prague. For the 22/23 season, SMG is estimated to stream between 150-200,000 games from ice hockey, handball, floorball, basketball, volleyball, and rinkball across all markets.
