Victory+ streaming numbers have been painting positive picture for Stars and Ducks
Another update on the Stars and Ducks move to the free in-market streaming platform.
So far the Victory+ experiment seems to be working.
After splitting ways with traditional regional sports network (RSN) model, the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks went with a free direct-to-consumer model this season, powered by A Parent Media Company for in-market streaming.
I’ve been covering this story for a while now, and for the first time we have quantitive data on whether it’s actually working — something beyond the anecdotal.
According to APMC, there have now been more than 500,000 app downloads across all platforms for Victory+. Stars viewership is now servicing triple the number of households it served last season on Bally Sports, and viewership for the Stars has gone over 125,000 viewers for a single game.
For the Ducks, the move to Victory+ and the free streaming has seen viewership quadruple from last season on Bally Sports according to APMC.
This lines up with what happened when the Ducks moved to a free 24/7 audio network, Ducks Stream, audio listenership of games increased by 40 percent.
In the long-term local sports television question, this is a positive, especially with other teams closely watching what’s happening in Dallas and Anaheim with the completely free in-market streaming.
I recently spoke with Jeremy Mason, the chief brand officer for APMC, who said the biggest challenge early on has been onboarding a new audience to Victory+, which was both expected and echoes what I’ve heard from those within the Stars and Ducks organizations.
Mason also said the key for APMC with Victory+ has been open about managing feedback. Believe it or not, they comb through the social media and reddit posts about Victory+ for feedback, trying to find as much unbiased opinion as possible on the platform.
Mason said the goal is to best serve teams serving their fans, which is why APMC has sought out feedback from all avenues. So, yes, they’ve heard your complaints about Samsung TV, and they are working on it.
Stars president Brad Alberts has told me before this is a two-year process to diagnose for his team, which lines up with what Mason said about keeping an eye on the long-term vision vs. short-term numbers.
That being said, for APMC, the plan right now is to try to build more and more of a 24/7 network feel to Victory+ when it comes to team content, a place Mason said fans go to for more than just watching the game.
Victory+ officials won’t and can’t comment on other NHL teams, but I’ve heard other NHL teams have had more “intriguing” talks with both the Stars and Ducks on how things have gone, while it seems like common sense that APMC would aggressively try to add more teams to their portfolio in the future, especially if they want to build an overall hockey destination.
In general, I usually access the app to watch Stars games via Firestick with my TV. But the overall experience has not been particularly good. The app Home Screen and menu are very pedestrian, in my view, and often don’t update, so you have to go searching for the game that’s coming on. Hopefully the interface and the experience will improve over time.
What are the financial effects to the Stars if more teams come on board to this specific platform and how might it affect hockey ops (outside of salaries which are capped obviously)?