By
Stephen Dupej
(Contributor) on August 8, 2009
As a Canadian myself, I find the NHL and ESPN affair very interesting. While the NHLPA desperately want the game back on ESPN, (and I understand many U.S. hockey fans do too) one thing keeps popping into my head; Does ESPN want the NHL? Are they going to make a bid for a share of the NHL TV rights?
After all these stories I've heard of ESPN not showing any hockey highlights on SportsCenter, It gives me the impression they are not interested in bidding when the NHL cable and broadcast rights expire in 2011, perhaps the most important TV deals the NHL will make.
It leads to think about an article on Sportsmediawatch called "How Disney out foxed the NHL." In the summer of 1998, talks for a new NHL TV contract for 1999-00 began to heat up between FOX and ESPN. FOX wanted to televise all games of the Stanley Cup Finals, as early as 1999, the first U.S. broadcast network to do so. FOX also wanted to bring their network FX, in the game to bid for the rights as well. ESPN, alarmed by this, made a massive $600 million offer which called for ABC to pick the network TV rights.
To make a long story short, the NHL went for the money and less exposure too. ABC only televised four regular season games in their first season (five in their last four), down from eleven in Fox’s final two seasons in the NHL, and NBC's present day coverage of ten games, while ESPN covered the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals, and ABC carrying the rest.
Minimal coverage on network TV did not help the NHL progress, both in ratings and in interest. Perhaps the reason was because when ESPN made their massive bid to retain the NHL rights, ABC said they had little desire to have the NHL. But ESPN didn't sound like a committed home for the NHL either.
Almost four years later, ESPN acquired the cable and network rights for the NBA which spelled death knell for the NHL on ESPN. ESPN cut their NHL schedule from over a hundred games on both ESPN and ESPN 2 in 2001-02, to 71 for 2002-03. When talks for re-newel came up, ABC wanted to rollback on their already minimal coverage windows (which led to the NHL making a revenue sharing agreement with NBC), and ESPN admitted they made a mistake by paying $600 million, and was only offering $60 million a year for two seasons, and only 40 games, all on ESPN 2. (Note that NHL 2night was pulled off the air before the NHL and ESPN officially cut ties.)
Let's get off hockey for a few minutes. When ESPN won the NBA cable and network, it was almost similar to the ESPN/ABC NHL deal: Taking many games off network and putting them on cable. The NBA's former network home, NBC, showed about 33 regular season games a year, several first and second round games, and the majority of the conference finals.
ABC in their first season of NBA coverage showed 14 regular season games in their first season. (They have recently announced to televise only 15 games for the 2009-10 season.) The NBA has seen TV ratings plunge to all-time lows, and fan interest decrease ever since ESPN/ABC won the TV rights for NBA.
Currently, ABC shows very few first and second round playoff games compared to NBC's 12 year bond with the NBA, and ABC only shows weekend games of one conference final series while the rest of the conference finals are on ESPN, and the entire other conference final is televised on the NBA's other cable partner, TNT, a format that has been disliked by NBA fans who lived through the NBC and CBS days.
On the whole Versus thing, in my opinion hockey should stay there. There is no doubt they treat hockey the right way, not the second, third, or even the fourth string if the NHL was on ESPN. The network's availability is only at 75 million homes a far cry from ESPN's 96 million, but the availability is growing, and so are the ratings.
If ESPN gets back into the NHL, there are no guarantees that they’ll put games on the main ESPN, or put more highlights on SportsCenter. There is also no way they’ll pay $90 million a year to put all games on ESPN 2, and miss a few nights a week of the Stanley cup playoffs due to other commitments. They’ll possibly want to move the entire Stanley cup Finals to cable. (Bad idea, it would show you ESPN is only doing what’s right for themselves, and not for the NHL long term.)
Don’t start on if ESPN would bid on the NHL again, they’ll bring ABC back to NHL. Ever since ESPN’s takeover of ABC’s sports division in the late 1990’s, it’s been evident they want nothing to do with ABC. If ESPN truly cared about ABC, ABC’s NBA and NHL broadcast windows wouldn’t be at a minimum, and ABC Sports would’ve never dissolved to become “ESPN on ABC.” (In my opinion “ESPN on ABC” is stupid, confusing, and major waste of marketing.)
Drop it with the great broadcast duo of Gary Thorne and Bill Clement, okay? They can be hired by Versus or NBC tomorrow and you’ll be raving over how great Versus/NBC are.
Even if ESPN will bid on the NHL TV rights again, and somehow make a time-buy arrangement with ABC, they’ll probably use the shameful tactic of using musical acts for their intros, just like in their NBA coverage. ABC has used such artists including Rob Thomas, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and The Pussycat Dolls. Who would be on their list if they televise the NHL again? Hilary Duff? Katy Perry? The thought sounds more horrifying and dumber than Fox’s glow puck.
But oh well, sounds like American hockey fans, the NHLPA, players, and owners want the NHL to return to ESPN, whatever the cost. Even if it's a Disneyfied disaster.
