NHL/ESPN roundup.

Commentary on the news that the NHL and ESPN are discussing a new television deal that would place National Hockey League games on ESPN2 starting in 2008.

Eric McErlain, The FanHouse, “Can the NHL and ESPN Kiss and Make Up?“

“As you might recall, ESPN and the NHL went their separate ways after the lockout, with the league taking its programming to the eager, but ratings-challenged Versus network. The result: A constant drum beat of stories declaring the sport’s increasing irrelevance, as ESPN drastically cut back on its hockey coverage amidst growing evidence that the network was doing its level best to kill the sport in the U.S.

In light of those actions, it’s easy to see how going back to ESPN, hat in hand, might strike some folks as the television rights equivalent of “Stockholm Syndrome”. In essence, any relationship between the network and the league wouldn’t so much function as a mutually beneficial relationship, but rather would simply exist to get the network to stop beating on the sport so hard.”

PB, One Fan’s Perspective…, “ESPN Wants Hockey Back“

“After the NHL’s departure from ESPN, SportsCenter aired 29 fewer minutes of NHL highlights than they did in 2004, leading many to believe that if it’s not on ESPN, then it’s not sports. Now the influential World Wide Leader of Sports wants to return thus increasing hockey’s exposure. So, in terms of economics, hockey then must relevant enough for ESPN to crawl back. The numbers prove it to be true: increased merchandise sales, and increased attendance.

What do I say when reading the news that ESPN is interested again? Big deal and thanks for helping out. ESPN did they real heavy lifting here, and we’re better now that ESPN wants to come back. [/sarcasm]

If were Versus, I would demand that in order to drop the exclusivity, ESPN must enter the same arrangement that it has with TNT and the NBA – cross promotion. Without that aspect to the deal, if I were running things at Versus, I would not give up exclusive rights that I negotiated to a leauge that was on life-support.”

Rob Brodie, The Ottawa Sun, “NHL Courting ESPN Again?“

“That’s the kind of thought that’s been put forward in this space in the past, that getting on ESPN2 would be better than any network deal because of the promotional opportunities that would be available. SBJ pointed toward an ESPN study that indicated the NHL’s airtime on SportsCenter declined by 28% this season over 2004, the last year it owned rights to league games.

And it’s hard to really put a price on that kind of exposure.”

Ray Slover, The Sporting News, “ESPN is back in NHL’s TV picture“

“Unless I see something that tells me otherwise, I’d rather see the NHL leave games on NBC and Versus. Yeah, an ESPN connection would raise the league’s public-relations image. And if NBC wants out of the deal, the NHL is right to do something to assure its TV presence on a high-level U.S. broadcast outlet, preferably one available to the highest number of viewers. Free TV, rather than cable.

Hard-core fans aren’t the NHL’s primary concern. They are hooked and in the creel. It’s casual fans the league needs to grow its base and popularity. And realigning with the magical machine that is ESPN would seem a bonanza in the making.

Nah. Leave the games on Versus. Better yet, go through with the proposed NHL Network. It’s better than being a second citizen on ESPN.”

Calvin, Rangerland.net, “The NHL going back to ESPN?“

“Now, I don?t have a lot of respect for ESPN, and I completely believe the rumors and fearmongering that ESPN would like nothing better than to crush the NHL for daring to compete with it. The NHL is not an ESPN property, and so it is in ESPN?s direct interest to squish the NHL. It is, in fact, for exactly these reasons that I would like to see the NHL get back to ESPN.

I know it probably sounds a little crazy to say I?d like the NHL to get back into bed with a network that despises it. But at the moment, ESPN has a very solid hold on the tempo of the sports world. More importantly than anything, ESPN is immediately accessible to almost everyone with cable or satellite television, and that more than anything is the selling point here. They?ve earned the title ?Worldwide Leader in Sports? by force, and despite the drastic decline in the quality of their reporting, ESPN is still the behemoth to reckon with in the sporting world.“

Tags: Roundup