WHL Is Bringing Free Hockey Games to YouTube This Season Following Victory+’s Shutdown

The Western Hockey League is bringing its games to  YouTube this season, giving fans a free way to watch live WHL hockey after the sudden shutdown of Victory+.

The WHL announced that its 2026-27 regular-season games will stream for free on YouTube on an interim basis. The move comes after uncertainty surrounding Victory+, which had been the league’s exclusive streaming partner since March 2025.

The news comes just ahead of the 2026-27 WHL regular season, which begins Friday, September 18. According to the league, more information about its YouTube coverage will be announced before the season begins.

WHL Commissioner Dan Near said the league wanted to make sure fans would still have easy access to its games.

“The WHL’s audience is growing rapidly. We continue to believe that providing easy access to games is of critical value and importance as we look to expand our reach and deliver WHL excitement to our fans,” he said in the announcement.

Near added that moving games to YouTube on a short-term basis will help the league “protect” access for fans as the new season gets underway.

Additionally, the league says the move to YouTube won’t mean a major change to the production itself. WHL teams have invested in additional content, intermission programming, camera angles and other production improvements, and the league says it plans to maintain consistency with its game broadcasts.

The WHL Had Been Streaming on Victory+

For WHL fans, the interim move to YouTube continues the league’s strategy of making games available for free online. The league spent one regular season and two playoff runs on Victory+, where it says millions of viewers tuned in.

According to the WHL, the partnership generated significant exposure for its teams and players, while giving fans easier access to games.

“While we are disappointed to part ways, our time with Victory+ resulted in remarkable growth and exposure for the WHL as a result of the increased accessibility for fans,” Near said.

He added that the league still hears from fans who discovered the WHL because of its partnership with Victory+, which had Western Canadian roots. Now, instead of moving to another dedicated streaming service, the WHL is taking its games to a YouTube, which is platform most cord cutters already know.

Victory+ Has Shut Down as More Sports Leave the Service

Furthermore, WHL’s move follows a dramatic few weeks for Victory+. The free, ad-supported sports service had already lost several major partners this summer. The NWSL terminated its agreement with Victory+, while the Texas Rangers and Anaheim Ducks also announced they were leaving the platform.

At the same time, Victory+ replaced its founding CEO, raising questions about the future of the service. Those questions were answered this week when Victory+ was dissolved by its parent company. The shutdown also left the service’s planned Texas high school football coverage without a streaming home.

For hockey fans, the WHL isn’t the only league whose teams have skated from Victory+. The Dallas Stars have joined the Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues as NHL teams that will have local games streamed by Prime Video during the 2026-27 season.

More information about the WHL’s new streaming setup is coming before the puck drops on September 18. The good news for fans is that the league’s games aren’t disappearing behind a new paywall.