Apr 12, 2010 at 04:18 PM
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The NHL Wants To BBM With You

The NHL has announced that BlackBerry will be the exclusive sponsor of the league's online All-Access Pre Game Show, starting this Wednesday.


The Blackberry All-Access Pre Game Show, a playoff game-day web show will air every day through the Stanley Cup Final on which a playoff game is played.

Deb Placey will host the show from the NHL Powered by Reebok Store in New York. Remote reports from writers and broadcasters at team practices, insider features, interviews with special guests and a break-down of all the need-to-know game day facts and figures will all be featured on the show, which BlackBerry hopes will raise the consumer profile of BlackBerry Messenger.

MediaWeek quotes Larry Gelfand, svp, NHL digital ad sales, on the deal:

“The idea is to demystify Messenger and show how easy it is to use,” said Gelfand. “We also want to show how it can be relevant to NHL fans during the playoffs. To that end, users will be able to set up Messenger groups, such as “NY Ranger Fans.”

The show, published on NHL.com on the afternoon of each game day, will feature Blackberry product integration through live reports sent via Blackberry Messenger (BBM) from correspondents onsite at team venues. Viewers also will have the opportunity to gain access to exclusive content, get the insider "tip of the day" and receive breaking news through BBM by adding Stanley10 to their list of friends on their Blackberry smartphones.

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