Parents who can’t make it to the arena can now watch their children’s hockey games from home, thanks to a new streaming service available in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
In late August, the town announced it has partnered with LiveBarn to install and operate cameras at Meridian Credit Union Arena and Centennial Arena. The cameras, which overlook the ice rinks, began recording on May 23.
LiveBarn offers a subscription service for $27.95 per month for a basic package and $37.95 for a premium package. Subscribers can use the promo code NOTL-LIVE to receive 10 per cent off.
“It’s like Netflix,” said Kevin Turcotte, the town’s manager of parks and recreation. “You can watch your son or daughter play hockey. You can tune into one of our rinks when they’re playing at a certain time and you can watch the camera follow the puck — they have puck-following technology.”
Turcotte said the service is also a valuable tool for coaches, who can use video footage for training purposes.
Although the system has been active since May, the town chose to announce the partnership at the start of hockey season.
“I think we wanted to have another boost for it,” said Turcotte. “Just because we’d make more users than just for lacrosse (in the summer).”
He confirmed there was no cost to the municipality. LiveBarn provided and installed the equipment and operates it independently, including handling the internet service.
“They only asked that you kind of promote the service within the municipality,” Turcotte said. “But it’s all LiveBarn’s equipment. They do their own internet service.”
The town has signed a contract with LiveBarn for four years, said town spokesperson to Marah Minor.
LiveBarn operates in more than 2,000 sports venues across 49 U.S. states and all 10 Canadian provinces. Turcotte said Niagara-on-the-Lake is following the lead of other municipalities in the region.
“The majority of rinks in the Niagara Region use LiveBarn,” he said.
Turcotte called the project an exciting opportunity for the town.
“We were excited that there was no financial obligation for the town and [that it] provided an additional service to users on the facility.”
You can learn more and subscribe to LiveBarn at livebarn.com
daniel@niagaranow.com
