The game venue must be equipped with the infrastructural facilities listed below. The capacities and quantities mentioned below are minimum requirements. The respective capacities must at least correspond with the actual accreditations and access authorizations issued by the home club. If any of the following defaults cannot be implemented due to constructional reasons, the home club has to report that to the league office until August 15th, of each respective season. A coordination / adaption that meets the defaults best possible, has to be made between the club and the league organization until beginning of the season 

  1. Press box
    The press box shall be located on the main stands or the opposite stands. The press box must have individual numbered seats. Important facilities for the media, such as work rooms or the press conference room, must be easily reachable from the press box, and clear signage must be ensured.

    At least 10 fixed workstations with a desk, power connection and wireless LAN connection must be made available for media representatives. For games which attract high levels of media interest and for playoff games, it must be possible to increase the number of workstations to at least 15.

    Additional 5 workstations for press guest must be provided from each club. These workstations will be allocated by the media ranking.

    The press box should only be accessible for the writing press. Seats for photographers, officials of the guest team and representatives of authorities, should be reserved in a different location.

    In the case of television broadcasts, the following applies:

    A closed commentators' box with space for at least two persons, or alternatively a sufficiently large section of the stands which is set on level pedestals, must be provided at a location overlooking the center of the rink and with an unobstructed view of the entire ice surface. The commentators' position must always be on the same side as the lead camera. In addition, four observers' seats for statisticians from the graphics service provider must be made available at a location overlooking the center of the rink and with an unobstructed view of the entire ice surface. These seats must also be on the same side as the lead camera.

  2. Media area
    1. Accreditation desk
      A central point of contact must be established for picking up accreditation documents and for other media-related matters.

    2. Press conference room
      If the home club holds a press conference in accordance with Paragraph (3), a press conference room should be made available for at least 20 media representatives if possible. This room should be easily reachable from the players' area and from the mixed zone. Coaches and other club members should be able to access this area without having to cross the areas accessible to spectators and/or they should be accompanied by usher personnel.

      The press conference room should be separated from the VIP area and be equipped as follows:

      • On one side of the room, there should be a podium for at least four persons. A presentation wall is to be set up behind the podium; the ICE Hockey League main sponsor logo and the ICE Hockey League Live TV partner logo must feature prominently on this presentation wall.

      • The room must be equipped with a PA system.

    3. Media work room / break room
      A separate media work room should be made available. For this purpose, it is also possible to use a specially equipped part of the press conference room.

    4. Photographer's work room / technical infrastructure for photographers / bibs
      The ice arena should also be equipped with a work room for photographers. If this is not the case, photographers must have the right to shared use of the media work room. A wireless LAN hot spot (with a big bandwidth) should be available for photographers. In addition, photographers must also be provided with a suitable rink-side working area. The photographers' bibs provided by the ICE Hockey League must be distributed and administered by the ICE Hockey League club in the course of accrediting photographers. Photographers without bibs do not have access to the rink-side photographer's zones or to the mixed zone and press conference rooms; such photographers are to be refused entry by the usher personnel.

  3. Mixed zone
    The mixed zone must be situated in a central area between the locker rooms and the team exits; this zone must be permanently marked as such. The mixed zone must be easily reachable from the locker rooms as well as the press box and the media work room. The mixed zone must not be accessible to spectators. The home club must ensure that the players and coaches can pass through the mixed zone safely and without contact with the spectator areas.

    The mixed zone is to be used for interviews conducted by all television broadcasters directly after the end of the game or during the intermissions. Interview backdrops will be made available by the ICE Hockey League.

    For TV broadcasts, interview requests made by the ICE Hockey League Live TV partner will take priority over those of other media representatives.

  4. Television production and camera positions
    In the ice arenas, it is necessary to ensure that the cameras required in order to produce television signals have fixed positions, if necessary on pedestals, in the stands and possibly also along the boards of the rink. All camera positions must enjoy an unobstructed view of the entire rink at all times. Any obstructions of view, for example due to structural elements of the arena, advertising banners, advertising stickers, spectators, photographers or other persons moving in front of the camera positions must be prevented.

    The number and positions of cameras (and microphones) will be based on the production standards of the television broadcasting partner. In this context, it is necessary to ensure that no cameras or microphones protrude into the rink.

    The home team has to ensure that the security glass in front of camera positions (TV and photographers) is cleaned before the game and during breaks on both sides. If the security glass is not cleaned by the home club this violation is forwarded to the ICE Hockey League Disciplinary Senate.

    For TV broadcasts, the ICE Hockey League catalog of requirements for TV ICE Hockey League broadcasts also applies.

  5. Car parking spaces
    A sufficient number of parking spaces close to the arena should be made available for media representatives (corresponding to the number of fixed work stations in the arena). The photographers and ICE Hockey League teams which carry heavy equipment should be provided with preferred parking spaces.

  6. Exceptions
    At the request of a club, the ICE Hockey League may permit temporary exceptions to the requirements above in special justified cases.