THUNDER BAY – Tbaytel, in partnership with Fort William First Nation and the City of Thunder Bay has installed cameras in five local hockey rinks and arenas to provide spectators a way to watch their favourite athletes remotely from anywhere.
“We know how important it is to see a grandchild’s goal, a friend’s double axel or your child’s first strides on the ice. As COVID-19 continues to present some obstacles to watching activities in person, Tbaytel’s Arena Live will make sure we never have to miss those moments again,” said Tbaytel president and CEO Dan Topatigh.
“We hope that by leveraging our technology and our infrastructure to make Tbaytel Arena Live possible, Tbaytel is able to bring a sense of normalcy back to the hockey and skating community in Thunder Bay.”
Cameras will provide a static 180-degree fish-eye view of the entire ice surface without audio for all ice times between 7 a.m. and 12 a.m. and will stream directly to the Tbaytel YouTube channel free of charge.
“We’re certainly hoping to expand, we’re in talks, you know, I think that the more people that get to kind of see their child do their thing, or their friend or their family member, the better, so, yeah, hopefully in the future we’ll be able to announce some more places,” said Tbaytel communication coordinator Jamie Smith.
“We posted about it yesterday, we were very excited on our social media channels and there are already people thanking us for this service, so, it’s been a really great response so far, we kind of anticipated that, simply because a lot of people have been missing their time on the rink.”
Live streaming service will be available 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. Monday to Sunday at the following arenas:
- Fort William First Nations - Rink 1
- Fort William First Nations - Rink 2
- Delaney Arena
- Current River Arena
- Port Arthur Arena
To view the live streams, visit their website
