TNT Sports, Warner Bros. Games and the National Hockey League have announced that an animated alternate broadcast will air on Sunday, April 14 at 3:30 p.m. EST on truTV and streaming on the B/R Sports Add-On through Max. The MultiVersus NHL Face-Off will include several Warner Bros. Discovery characters appearing in the MultiVersus video game, some of which include Bugs Bunny, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Warner Bros. and DC Comics characters will take the ice for the Western Conference matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights utilizing the NHL EDGE tracking technology to simultaneously replicate the action. The contest will be officiated by the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes.
During the NHL on TNT postgame show on Sunday, April 7, a draft of the MultiVersus characters will take place ahead of the game the following week. Pittsburgh Penguins radio play-by-play announcer Steve Mears and television in-game color commentator and studio analyst Colby Armstrong will call the action. They will remain on the air during the first and second intermissions to share their thoughts on the gameplay and deliver analysis to prepare fans for the forthcoming action. The traditional broadcast of the game, which will feature broadcasters Kenny Albert, Eddie Olczyk and Brian Boucher, will air simultaneously on TNT and is available to stream using the B/R Sports Add-On through Max.
The setting for the ice rink within the MultiVersus NHL Face-Off Draft will include rotating surrounding elements based on parts of the game. Examples of such include the court from Space Jam, tree fort from Adventure Time and Sky Arena. Avatars of NHL stars such as Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche and Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault of the Vegas Golden Knights will be implemented into the broadcast. The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022, while the Golden Knights are the league’s defending champions and hoisted the trophy for the first time in franchise history in 2023.
In addition to positional data pertaining to puck and player tracking within NHL EDGE technology, the broadcast will also equip Hawk-Eye Innovations. This will allow the broadcast to effectively present realistic character and player avatar movements that will closely resemble what is ensuing on the ice. NHL innovation partner Beyond Sports will be involved in producing these animations for the broadcast. The MultiVersus video game, developed by Player First Games, is set to be officially released on May 28.
For TNT Sports, the endeavor represents the first animated broadcast for its NHL on TNT broadcast property. The National Hockey League has worked with The Walt Disney Company and ESPN to present two editions of the NHL Big City Greens Classic on ESPN+, Disney+, Disney XD and Disney Channel. Outside of NHL games, the National Football League recently worked with Disney and ESPN for a Toy Story Funday Football broadcast when the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars played from Wembley Stadium in London, England, which streamed on Disney+, ESPN+ and through the league’s NFL+ platform.
TNT Sports recently introduced a new programming lineup for truTV that includes a sports block of shows that aims to broaden the reach of its content. Aside from sports movies and documentaries within the lineup, new programs including TNT Sports Tonight, The Line are now part of the regular schedule. Video podcasts from Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal also comprise the offerings in addition to MotoGP races. Commercial rights to MotoGP were recently acquired by Liberty Media, the same media conglomerate that owns Formula 1 and has an ownership stake in the Atlanta Braves.
