Jan. 23--GoPro, the maker of wearable video cameras, has signed a deal with the National Hockey League to let viewers at home see games from the perspective of the players and referees.
In the company's first such deal with a professional sports league, players and referees will have the option to wear one of GoPro's waterproof action cameras during games. The deal does not require game participants to wear the cameras, but if they do, footage from the cameras will be spliced into game broadcasts.
"Game broadcasts will use the content to provide deeper layers of storytelling and to showcase the skating, stick handling, goal scoring and net-minding skills of some of the biggest names in the NHL," the NHL said in a news release.
The first use of the cameras is expected to be during the live broadcast of this weekend's NHL All-Star event in Ohio.
GoPro's senior director of lifestyle marketing, Todd Ballard, said in a statement that the partnership marks a "significant first step" for GoPro's involvement with sports teams.
"Together we will push the boundaries of video content production in hockey and provide fans of the sport with unique, immersive perspectives of the game that they've never seen before, from players and officials to in-goal and rinkside," he said.
GoPro spokeswoman Kelly Baker said the company sees an opportunity to work with other major sports leages to incorporate GoPro into their live broadcasts, but "at this time we do not have any formalized plans that we can speak of."
