US NHL TV Coverage to stay with NBC/Versus
It appears that Comcast beat out ESPN in the bidding war for the NHL TV rights. Reports say it's a 10-year ~$2 billion deal. While I would have liked to see ESPN to grab at least a share of the rights so they would make more of an effort to legitimately cover hockey, there's a bit of satisfaction in the NHL sticking it to the network that abandoned it when it went through the lockout. Good news? Bad news? Couldn't care any less? Sound off below.
about 1 year ago
nyynygnjd
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Good moves
Competition is good, and anything that makes ESPN compete is good
Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble.
-John Madden
This looks like a good deal for the NHL. With NBC throwing more weight behind the cable network, the NHL will start to reach even more households. Versus is already included in most digital cable packages but I imagine “NBC Sports” will start making it’s way down towards even more basic packages/recognizable channel numbers.
Plus I like that every playoff game will be nationally televised now. I was with some friends from Buffalo over the weekend who were bummed out that they couldn’t see the BUF-PHI game because it wasn’t nationally televised.
I will admit, I was kind of hoping for ESPN/ABC to get a few games. After watching NCAA hockey I missed Gary Thorne and Bill Clement calling the games.
Made me think of 2001 Playoffs and Gray Thorne saying “Elias centers, shot SCORES! The New Jersey Devils have won the Stanley Cup! Jason Arnott with the game winning overtime goal!”
Joshd12
Brock University
BA. Sports Management, 2014
BA. Recreation and Leisure Studies, 2011
right, i thought I corrected it after I typed it. 2001 was a sad year.
Joshd12
Brock University
BA. Sports Management, 2014
BA. Recreation and Leisure Studies, 2011
Stumbled upon a post in an article at On the Forecheck about the contract that broke down every team’s appearances on NBC/Versus this year.
NJ played 5 games, or 2.75% of all nationally televised games.
Interestingly, but not surprising:
…7 teams account for over 54% of the games. Boston, Chicago, Detroit, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington total 99 of the teams out of the 182 teams that played on TV this year.
This tends to be the trend in all sports though. The Yankees have already had like 6 or 7 nationally televised games in three weeks in MLB. It’s all about maximizing ratings; they just mix in enough of the other teams to avoid a big backlash. Assuming the Devils don’t bomb out of the gate again next year, I’m sure they’ll’ get a few more games than that though.
Understood, though it becomes a bit of a catch-22 of sorts:
We won’t give Team X nationally broadcast games because they don’t have the national draw, so Team X is hamstrung to draw national interest because they’re rarely seen nationally.
I’m not surprised at all by the teams that got the most coverage; but I am a bit surprised by just how much coverage they got.
And, to think, only 10 more years of Crosby v. Ovechkin in the “Game of the Week.”
Overall, I love the deal because it’s a sign that the NHL has grown (recall that at the last TV contract, Versus/NBC was the only offer to actually pay the NHL as opposed to the other way around) and it’s for significant dollars, which is good for everyone.
And, to think, only 10 more years of Crosby v. Ovechkin in the "Game of the Week."
That’s fine, that’s a match-up to treasure and it’ll be sorely missed when it’s gone. It’s the extra Rangers games that I’m nonplussed about since early indications are that they’ll be a bubble team for a while.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The New Jersey Devils SBN Blog
by John Fischer on Apr 20, 2011 8:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Do we really want nationally televised Devils games?
I’m OK with Doc and Chico for 82 + a year
Ilya Kovalchuk is good at hockey
We could get Doc on Versus/NBC, with the added benefit of NO Chico.
Personally, I’m usually tired of Chico by Game 2.
I get that but I personally love chico. I also think docs at his best with chico next to him
Ilya Kovalchuk is good at hockey
by 3 already on Apr 20, 2011 7:13 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Chico makes my head hurt, and not in a good way.
The only problem with the idea of “no national televised games for the Devils” is that we don’t get Doc for 82 games. Emrick is the go-to-guy for NBC and does a lot of Versus telecasts as well, because he’s the lead U.S. hockey voice…. which is why Cangialosi subs 15+ games a year now. When they talk about Doc being “on assignment”, they mean he’s doing someone else’s television gig.
It could be worse, however. We could have Matt Laughlin and Sherry Ross doing the television.
“It could be worse, however. We could have Matt Laughlin and Sherry Ross doing the television.” - It’s brutal
Ilya Kovalchuk is good at hockey
Matt is still a thousand steps up from Sam “It’s a POWER PLAY goal” Rosen
Go Devils
Go Jets
Need to lose weight?
That guy’s nasally voice gives me hives.
The other day the Rangers/Caps game was on MSG with Rosen/Micheletti and the Penguins/Lightning game was on Versus with Steigy/Errey doing the call and I was flipping back and forth between them, watching both games. I’m convinced that if there is a hell and I end up there… that is the soundtrack I’ll have to listen to for eternity.
I’ll repeat what I’ve been saying – this deal is good for CURRENT NHL owners, which is how the deal got finished. 10 years from now, many owners will have sold their teams, and they don’t care about hockey long-term. What would have been smart is to sign a short deal with ESPN, watch ratings increase and then cash in with a longer deal with ESPN, knowing the league’s on-ice product will continue to be strong. But again, this is a good deal that could have been much better if anyone bothered to consider the league long-term.
The bottom line is that the NHL needs owners for many teams, and this deal helps them.
DownGoesAvery. Check out the hockey blog that's shaking the world: Down Goes Avery and on Twitter (@DownGoesAvery ).
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