WHL Announces Free YouTube Streaming for 2026-27 Season
The league shifts regular season broadcasts to the platform starting next season.
TLDR
The Western Hockey League announced that regular season games will stream for free on YouTube beginning in the 2026-27 season. The move is interim while the league seeks a long-term solution. Commissioner Dan Near stated the audience is growing rapidly and easy access is critical to expand reach. Multiple teams posted the announcement. The league said it remains committed to a premium livestreaming experience. One reply questioned whether background arena music could create licensing issues on YouTube.
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10 Sources, first seen ago
Sources
MG 
Michael Gerl@mikegerl@shawnmullin I went off of YouTube for this reason, all of my games and live streams were being blocked and shut down. Been a little better lately but not much.
CE CenterIceView@CenterIceView@TheWHL Very sad news. Watched a ton of games on Victory + and sorry to see the network collapse. We will see if You Tube accessibility is as good as Victory +.
SJ SidneyCup: Hockey God Genius (Jeff)@Jeffs_Penguins@Pete___Hughes I love this so much as an American fan that has always wished I could watch more JRs Canadian Hockey
FS JE JetEffect@JetEffectWPG@TheWHL This is fkn awesome.
DB Dr.Randall Bobandy, MD@smonrova@TCAmericans Great news, Go Ams