Deciding to take a break this afternoon, I sit down on my nice leather couch, put up my feet, turned the channel to TSN and relaxed in front of my TV. "What did you watch?", you ask. Well, I was treated to ESPN's coverage of championship ping pong! Now, the purpose of this blog isn't to talk about the flawless technique of World Champion Wang Hao (the Toronto Sports Guys will save that discussion for another day), but watching those guys pound the ball back and forth really made me upset at the fact that a "sport" like ping pong can get onto ESPN while the NHL has been off of the network since the lockout.
Now, I'm not trying to knock the existing American coverage, I happen to think that Versus is in fact doing a good job on their coverage. Their analysis and commentary on the game has greatly improved since they first started covering NHL games five years ago. However, the market saturation that Versus occupied cannot compare to that of ESPN. According to Wikipedia, ESPN is broadcast in about 20 million more homes than Versus is. Also, in 2009, DirecTV stopped carrying Versus' signal, thus costing the NHL 14 million potential viewers.
Unfortunately for the NHL, the league and ESPN could not agree on a new deal. ESPN wanted a revenue-sharing agreement, however, the NHL rejected this and instead accepted a $120 million dollar agreement from Comcast, the company that owns Versus.
It seems to me that with the NHL trying to solidify it's base in the southern U.S., that the only way to do this is to get back onto ESPN. The breadth of NHL does not have to be extensive, however, something similar to what the MLB or NHL has currently would make sense: a featured game one night a week, coverage of special events, such as the draft, playoffs, and all-star festivities. Let's not re-invent the wheel here, but just follow what has worked.
If Gary Bettman wants to be remembered as the Commissioner who lead the league into new American markets, then this is an obvious step to take. Then again, Gary Bettman isn't one to follow what's obvious (like to bring the game to markets where the sport is already thriving), so who knows when the NHL will return, if ever, to the U.S.'s largest sports network.
Now, I'm not trying to knock the existing American coverage, I happen to think that Versus is in fact doing a good job on their coverage. Their analysis and commentary on the game has greatly improved since they first started covering NHL games five years ago. However, the market saturation that Versus occupied cannot compare to that of ESPN. According to Wikipedia, ESPN is broadcast in about 20 million more homes than Versus is. Also, in 2009, DirecTV stopped carrying Versus' signal, thus costing the NHL 14 million potential viewers.
Unfortunately for the NHL, the league and ESPN could not agree on a new deal. ESPN wanted a revenue-sharing agreement, however, the NHL rejected this and instead accepted a $120 million dollar agreement from Comcast, the company that owns Versus.
It seems to me that with the NHL trying to solidify it's base in the southern U.S., that the only way to do this is to get back onto ESPN. The breadth of NHL does not have to be extensive, however, something similar to what the MLB or NHL has currently would make sense: a featured game one night a week, coverage of special events, such as the draft, playoffs, and all-star festivities. Let's not re-invent the wheel here, but just follow what has worked.
If Gary Bettman wants to be remembered as the Commissioner who lead the league into new American markets, then this is an obvious step to take. Then again, Gary Bettman isn't one to follow what's obvious (like to bring the game to markets where the sport is already thriving), so who knows when the NHL will return, if ever, to the U.S.'s largest sports network.
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