It’s time.
Since our forced departure from Vox Media, we’ve mentioned a few times that some of our content would ultimately move behind a paywall so we can generate the funds necessary to keep this place functional for the long haul. Thanks to the most fortunate of bounces on Monday night, we found the perfect inspiration for the subscription tiers that will carry this place through the upcoming chapters of Blackhawks hockey that have been made significantly more interesting in the last 18 hours.
Our plan is to continue for the next month or so with everything available for free at the site. Upon completion of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final during early/mid-June we will begin publishing content behind paywalls as detailed below. Yes, this is a change from the way Second City Hockey has operated since its inception in 2007 and it’s also the only way we could keep this online community together. Every single penny that comes our way will go back into the site or the people maintaining it, not to the pockets of some weird corporate exec you’ll never meet.
You can also support our website by heading over to the Second City Hockey Store and picking up some of our online merch! If you have suggestions on merch items, let us know, because we have a lot of space to explore here.
All that said, here are the tiers:
The Community Tier (free)
A simple sign-up at the website, which is required to participate in the comment sections. Members at this level will have access to all basic content such as news articles, game previews and game recaps.
The Corey Crawford Tier – $5/month or $50/year
See what we did there?
Members at this tier will have access to all articles that go beyond the basic levels of analysis: things like postseason player reviews, trade analyses, deep dives on draft picks, our upcoming Top 25 Under 25 update, prospect updates and more.
The Connor Bedard Tier – $10/month or $98/year
Timing!
Members at this tier will have access to everything in the above tiers and will receive a welcome package as a tangible sign of our eternal gratitude for supporting this website. Additional premium content available at this tier will focus heavily on extra podcasts, such as previews of upcoming games with representatives of our sibling sites and league-wide looks with people in and around the hockey world.
To sign up for any of these tiers, either select “Account” from the navigation bar at the top of the page or click on the icon with your avatar on the bottom-right corner of the page and then select “View Plans.” Or keep an eye out for little buttons like the one below:
And if none of that works for you, a direct donation via GoFundMe remains another way to support Second City Hockey’s future:
On behalf of myself, Mil, LBR and Eric, we thank you for your continued support of Second City Hockey. We cannot wait to see where this path heads next.
And Happy Connor Bedard Day to all who celebrate.
A quick note: There were nine people who signed up at the $50/year tier between the creation of this site and Tuesday morning. We mistakenly left that option available and will be working on a special way to thank those people accordingly.