Rising Junior Hockey Costs Go Beyond the Ice
Written By Dan K and Dan K Show Staff - 4/17/25
The past few weeks we’ve noticed an uptick in outreach from hockey scouts, NIL agents, advisors and other hockey industry leaders regarding the ever growing cost to watch and scout youth and junior hockey. Most wanted our guidance on the best way to invest their resources to cover the game, with many citing that certain leagues may be cut out of their recruiting altogether due to the intense monetization of their own game video and scouting software.
As we answered these questions privately, we figured some light could be shed on the upcoming costs for families in 2025-2026 as they attempt to watch their children play youth and Junior Hockey.
If all subscription costs hold for the 2025-2026 season, a person who would like access to ALL US Junior Hockey games can expect to pay the following. Paying monthly for all necessary services at a premium access level, a subscriber will be making a $1,679.04 investment. Paying annual one-time fees, for that same access, subscribers can cut that cost down to $1,209.38 upfront for annual subscriptions. While there are basic plans that can cut these costs slightly for two of these services, below we detail what hockey consumers are looking at cost-wise solely to watch and clip highlights of their players in 2025-2026.
BLACK BEAR TV – NCDC, USPHL Premier and Elite and THF Hockey
Subscription cost: $34.99 per month (PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION)
In 2025-2026 Black Bear TV will become the exclusive broadcaster of USPHL hockey. In 2024-2025 without the USPHL as part of its offering, Black Bear TV was already the second-most expensive broadcast service in this space at a whopping $34.99 per month. To put this into perspective, ESPN+, a subscription service that allows you access to nearly every NCAA Division I athletic event played in some capacity, worldwide professional soccer to the depths of the German Bundesliga 3, access to every non-nationally televised NHL game, exclusive PGA Tour major and event coverage and a multitude of other pro sports and programming, costs you just $11.99 per month.
The biggest question yet to be answered in the upcoming season is whether the subscription costs will rise with the addition of over 100 Junior Hockey teams to the Black Bear TV service? If subscription costs hold for the 2025-2026 campaign, families that can afford to do so can pay $199.99 annually for a basic plan or $299.99 annually for a Premium Plan. Note that without a premium plan, you cannot clip game clips, download highlights or pause/rewind live games; all services vital to scouts, advisors and most importantly players and their families. For the many who cannot afford a lump sum of $299.99 per month for the annual premium subscription, it will run you $34.99 per month for premium, totaling $419.88 annually.
At this time, the suggested broadcast route for teams onboarding to Black Bear TV, is to utilize Spiideo auto-cameras. Anyone who has watched a broadcast on auto-camera before certainly has seen some of the limitations that come with this broadcasting style. The positive spin: all of the games broadcast through this service will look the same.
NATV – NAHL, NA3HL and NAPHL
Subscription cost: $59.99 per month (PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION)
The NAHL was the first league to spin off into its own streaming service, paving the way for this massive shift in US Junior and Youth Hockey streaming costs. Black Bear TV currently sits as the second-most expensive subscription in Junior Hockey due to the $59.99 per month it costs to be a NAHL “Insider” as of the 2024-2025 season. An Insider Plan subscriber receives the necessary ability to download games and highlights for their player, and can attend video stream “watch parties.” An additional perk to the Insider Plan is automatically sent highlights of your designated player(s), making the highlight clipping process a bit easier on busy scouts, coaches, parents and advisors.
NATV offers a Basic plan as well for viewers similar to Black Bear that solely allows access to viewing games that runs $29.99 per month. For people who want the premium access to NATV an annual subscription of $579.99 is available as a one-time payment. For those who cannot afford the one-time fee and decide to pay $59.99 monthly for premium, they will pay $719.88 over a 12 month period.
FloHockey – USHL, EHL and EHL Premier
Subscription cost: $29.99 per month (PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION)
Since transferring HockeyTV over to FloSports and its FloHockey offering, the NAHL and USPHL brands have left to their own solo streaming options. Part of this seems to be motivated by the inability to clip highlights directly from the Flo platform, which is not as necessary for their other sports broadcast options. Due to this limitation in service, Flo comes in at a slightly lower cost than its new competitors in the space. Subscribers can pay a one-time annual fee of $150 or can settle for $29.99 per month which totals $359.88 total over a 12 month period.
Despite Flo’s downside for those trying to clip highlights straight from the service; the subscription does also cover all of FloSports game offerings. Flo covers sports of all-kinds from the youth, to college and even professional ranks. Hockey fans can also access professional hockey through the service and the ACHA National Championships.
We will see if Flo can upgrade its offering to Junior Hockey in the coming months, or we may see more leagues and teams continue their move to more niche services targeted directly at hockey.
LIVEBARN – Youth Hockey
Subscription cost: $14.95 per month (PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION)
LiveBarn can be covered quickly in this conversation as its biggest strength over the years has been its presence in most rinks around the country. It doesn’t hold any broadcast deals with US Junior Hockey leagues currently and now has a direct competitor in Black Bear TV that is working to supplant it in rinks around the country; already doing so in all rinks taken over by Black Bear Sports Group. It will be interesting to watch LiveBarn’s response to this competition over the next few years in this space.
For now LiveBarn will run subscribers $14.95 monthly, totaling $179.40 over 12 months.