What is a Regional Blackout?
Regional Blackouts are geo-location restrictions imposed on broadcasting-specific programs regionally to protect local broadcasters from competition from outside markets. This will often show as "The scheduled program is not available in your region." or “This game is blacked out in your area.” when trying to watch a program on TV.
What sports do Regional Blackouts affect?
Blackouts mainly impact Hockey in Canada at this time.
How does it affect hockey?
The National Hockey League blackout rules mean only regional broadcasters have the right to show a specific game in specific locations. Each NHL team sells to a regional broadcaster and is then only made available to those in the 'broadcast' area. National games are available coast-to-coast.
National Game - the broadcaster owns the rights to air the game across Canada.
Local Game - the broadcaster owns the rights to air that game within the designated broadcast area as determined by the NHL (as per the regions broken out in the map below)
How does this impact my service?
Blackouts are determined by where you reside at the time of streaming the game and which regional team is in your broadcast area. If you live outside a broadcast area (as seen on the map) you will see a blacked-out message if the game is not regional to you or a national game.
You can see which teams service which areas below:
Regional restrictions do not affect Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Can We Do Anything if a Game is Blacked Out?
We have no way to 'resolve' this issue as it is regulated by the NHL.
But the service/site/application says this is because you are geolocating incorrectly - now what?
IP geolocation services are provided by third-party companies - not affiliated with TekSavvy. Because of this, IP geolocation issues, including blocking of access to websites/services/streams and black-out of sports events cannot be resolved by TekSavvy. The website/service/app is using less-than-accurate data to decide where you reside and change access accordingly. If you are experiencing an issue caused by IP geolocation, you must contact the support team for the website/service/app that is blocking you.
I can not watch a game that should be in my region - help!
If you think you have been incorrectly affected by a regional blackout please reach out to our support to for assistance.