National Hockey League to team with Major League Baseball on streaming app, cable TV channel

The National Hockey League is passing its digital puck to Major League Baseball in an unusual sports partnership.

Major League Baseball will distribute the hockey league's Internet streaming service and run the NHL's cable-television network as part of an alliance announced Tuesday.

Terms of six-year contact between the two sports leagues weren't announced.

The deal entrusts the baseball league with the NHL GameCenter app that allows fans to watch most hockey games live on smartphones, tablets and other Internet-connected devices. Annual subscriptions to the NHL app typically have cost $160, though the pricing for the upcoming year wasn't announced Tuesday.

Major League Baseball is taking over the app rights from NeuLion in January. The NHL's cable-TV network will operate from the Secaucus, New Jersey, headquarters of the MLB network.