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