Apparently, the NHL is no longer satisfied with its revenue-sharing deal with NBC.
Ken Campbell of The Hockey News reports that the NHL’s revenue-sharing agreement with NBC is “about to end,” as the league now believes it has “the leverage to begin charging a national broadcaster for its product.”
The NHL and NBC first began their revenue sharing deal in 2004. Per the agreement, “NBC doesn?t pay the NHL any money, but guarantees that it will cover production costs. Any money made by the broadcasts first goes to covering those costs and if any profits are left over after that, 80 percent go to the league and 20 percent go to NBC.”
Similar deals have been struck between NBC and the Arena Football League earlier this decade, and between The Baseball Network, NBC and ABC in the mid-1990s.
Off of momentum from the highest rated Stanley Cup Finals in six years and two highly rated Winter Classics, the NHL is in its best position in years to attract interest from major networks. Still, it may be difficult for the league to find an alternative to NBC.
Campbell says that “[i]t?s doubtful that CBS or NBC would be interested” in paying for the rights to air NHL games, though “there are indications that Fox might want the NHL back.” A deal with FOX is unlikely, as the network has the rights to MLB telecasts on Saturdays and NASCAR races on Sundays through the spring. That would leave ESPN/ABC, though the latter appears to be less of a focus in TV rights negotiations after last fall’s ESPN-only BCS and British Open deals.
This news is a major reversal on the NHL’s part, as it was reported as recently as December that the league and NBC were close to signing an extension through 2009-10. NBC has expressed interest in using the NHL to promote the 2010 Winter Olympics, which means that the network could have some incentive to keep the NHL for at least one more season.
Link to The Hockey News article found on Puck the Media.
