NHL New TV Deal

[microbrew]

NHL has a new TV deal, with NBC. The NHL is also negotiating a new deal with ESPN.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportsbusiness/news/story?id=1804362


In particular, as with the AFL deal, the NHL will not get the upfront fees common to most broadcast agreements but rather will share in any revenue[.]

What I'm really interested in is what the projected numbers are.

[okcomputer]

its hard to believe MLS can't get a deal like this when you see the NHL and afl getting them.

[Danks81]

With the NHL leaving ABC will there be more coverage from ABC for the MLS?

[SoFla Metro]

its hard to believe MLS can't get a deal like this when you see the NHL and afl getting them.
I don't even know what to say here.

[geordienation]

With the NHL leaving ABC will there be more coverage from ABC for the MLS?


There will be as much coverage on ABC as MLS is willing to pay for.

[Renegade of Funk]

From the article:"It's a big win for NBC, which puts the network back on the map as far as the major sports," Sean Badding, a media analyst with market researcher Carmel Group in Monterey, Calif., told Bloomberg on Tuesday. "The NHL isn't the top ticket, but it's up there after football, baseball and basketball."

What a dumb********. Hey, you know, lunch, then dinner, follow breakfast. Sunset comes after sunrise. Cats and dogs are favorite household pets in America.

IIRC, NBC specifically rejected contracts with the NFL, the NBA and other major American sports leagues a few years ago because the price of the licensing packages had gotten too expensive for Ebersol's tastes.

Notably absent from the ESPN article is a reference to the cost of the new deal. It's a critical inflection point--because it either means that a major U.S. sports league has had to cut its price/limit inflation, or alternately, sporting vehicles are so essential to the success of modern broadcast networks that they can rise indefinitely.

If I could only remember the terms of the last NBA deal. Did it get a hike in the move to Disney?

[da_cfo]

its hard to believe MLS can't get a deal like this when you see the NHL and afl getting them.

The Stanley Cup Final on ABC gets anywhere from a 2.0 to a 4.0 rating for up to 5 nights.

The MLS Final on ABC gets anywhere from a 0.6 to a 1.0 for only 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon, with only 20% of the ad inventory compared to the NHL for each 2-hour block.

MLS isn't anywhere close to where the NHL is.

MLS will get time on ABC as long as MLS is willing to pay $300000 for each 2-hour time slot. That won't change for the next 3 years, if not the next 10 years.

===

Back to the NHL: ESPN is not willing to offer NHL anything other than ESPN2 with the exception of games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Final beginning next season. Also, NHL 2 Night will be discontinued.

With NBC taking over management of USA Network (from Vivendi Universal), NHL could conceivably sign a deal with NBC Cable for time slots on USA Network, or more likely, CNBC (which gets awful ratings during prime time and weekends, especially Saturday nights). NBC can save money by using Canadian NHL TV feeds (i.e. CBC) or NHL TV feeds from Cablevision's regional affiliates (MSG, FOX Sports Net New York, FOX Sports Net Florida, FOX Sports Net Ohio, FOX Sports Net Bay Area) during the regular season. NBC owns a percentage of Cablevision's regional sports networks.

[okcomputer]

You cant compare mls cup ratings to stanley cup ratings because MLS cup goes up against the NFL every year. If the stanley cup was going against the NFL it would get MLS type ratings. Besides, ratings of the 2 leagues are near identical on ESPN2 this year with MLS getting no promotion and the NHL getting loads of promotion. I don't think its that far fetched especially in another 5 years.

[skipshady]

You cant compare mls cup ratings to stanley cup ratings because MLS cup goes up against the NFL every year. If the stanley cup was going against the NFL it would get MLS type ratings. Besides, ratings of the 2 leagues are near identical on ESPN2 this year with MLS getting no promotion and the NHL getting loads of promotion. I don't think its that far fetched especially in another 5 years.
A few things:
- Stanley Cup Finals compete with NBA Playoffs. MLS Cup Final competes with NFL regular season. Both face tough competition, NHL's might be tougher depending on the matchup.

- Stanley Cup Finals are 4-7 games long. MLS Cup Final is a one-off. All things being equal, one-offs draw better ratings than a Best-of-7.

- Stanley Cup Finals draw better than MLS Cup Final, neither the NHL nor MLS regular season games draw well. But the difference is, NHL regular season games double as promos for the Stanley Cup, while MLS regular season does the same for MLS Cup.
Now, you have 2 products, X and Y. X makes more money for you than Y. You've invested money in X, but not Y. Now, if you were a businessman, which product are you going to spend money promoting, X or Y?

[Andy_B]

What I'm really interested in is what the projected numbers are.

I doubt we will ever see that information but I would not think it would be a stretch to say the this new deal along with the expected ESPN deal will result in significantly less revenue than the last 600 million contract got the league.

The real depressing message everyone should take from this is that MLS needs to significantly raise its ratings well past the NHL's due to commercial time difference in the sports, before it can even garner a "revenue sharing" deal much less a pure rights fee.

God help us if anywhere on MLS business/survival plan are the words "tv revenue"

Andy

[SoFla Metro]

What a dumb********. Hey, you know, lunch, then dinner, follow breakfast. Sunset comes after sunrise. Cats and dogs are favorite household pets in America.

IIRC, NBC specifically rejected contracts with the NFL, the NBA and other major American sports leagues a few years ago because the price of the licensing packages had gotten too expensive for Ebersol's tastes.

Notably absent from the ESPN article is a reference to the cost of the new deal. It's a critical inflection point--because it either means that a major U.S. sports league has had to cut its price/limit inflation, or alternately, sporting vehicles are so essential to the success of modern broadcast networks that they can rise indefinitely.

If I could only remember the terms of the last NBA deal. Did it get a hike in the move to Disney?
There's a very good reason why the amount wasn't mentioned - it's almost or entirely contingent on revenue sharing, so the more money they make via ads, etc. the more the deal is worth to both the NHL and NBC.

It could end up being worth $50 or $50 million.

[DAGSports]

Note that the ESPN 2 telecasts will be EXCLUSIVELY LIVE starting next year, a combination of NBA on ESPN (no blackouts) and NBA on TNT (no local broadcast permitted). Not to mention that ESPN and ESPN 2 have basically identical carriage (85 million subscribers or so). So the real loss is in cash, the rights fee will be between $60-70 million a year for two-four years (NBC and ESPN have options after the first two years, but any NBC revenue depends on ad sales, which while existent, are limited after Nextel, Bud Light, Samuel Adams, Labatt Blue, Dodge, Southwest Airlines, General Motors, and Coca-Cola).

[da_cfo]

Note that the ESPN 2 telecasts will be EXCLUSIVELY LIVE starting next year, a combination of NBA on ESPN (no blackouts) and NBA on TNT (no local broadcast permitted). Not to mention that ESPN and ESPN 2 have basically identical carriage (85 million subscribers or so). So the real loss is in cash, the rights fee will be between $60-70 million a year for two-four years (NBC and ESPN have options after the first two years, but any NBC revenue depends on ad sales, which while existent, are limited after Nextel, Bud Light, Samuel Adams, Labatt Blue, Dodge, Southwest Airlines, General Motors, and Coca-Cola).

So the NHL took what ESPN gave it: 40 slots on ESPN2 plus 3 slots on ESPN1.

FOX Sports Net, NBC Universal (CNBC, Bravo, USA Network), and Viacom (Spike TV) must have all told the NHL to take a hike.

During the NHL's heyday, ESPN gave the NHL 40 slots on ESPN1 and over 100 slots on ESPN2, not to mention a dozen slots on ABC.

That's how far that NHL has fallen.

The NHL now gets less time on ESPN1 than "Dream Job" and "World Series of Poker". Yikes. You can't get any lower than that and still have the chutzpah to call yourself a "major" sports league (unless of course you are MLS).

[SoFla Metro]

The NHL now gets less time on ESPN1 than "Dream Job" and "World Series of Poker". Yikes. You can't get any lower than that and still have the chutzpah to call yourself a "major" sports league (unless of course you are MLS).
I wouldn't be terribly surprised if these shows (and shows like them) got more time than almost anything on ESPN. These are the "World's Strongest Man" shows of 2004.

In other words, I'm not sure what your point is.

[DAGSports]

So the NHL took what ESPN gave it: 40 slots on ESPN2 plus 3 slots on ESPN1.

FOX Sports Net, NBC Universal (CNBC, Bravo, USA Network), and Viacom (Spike TV) must have all told the NHL to take a hike.

During the NHL's heyday, ESPN gave the NHL 40 slots on ESPN1 and over 100 slots on ESPN2, not to mention a dozen slots on ABC.

That's how far that NHL has fallen.

The NHL now gets less time on ESPN1 than "Dream Job" and "World Series of Poker". Yikes. You can't get any lower than that and still have the chutzpah to call yourself a "major" sports league (unless of course you are MLS).
I just read the press release. It suggests that ESPN will have Conference Final games and possibly games from the first two rounds as well, but that is irrelevant.

I heard an interview with the President of NBC Sports today. He said that NBC Cable WAS interested, but not at the price ESPN paid. Remember, NBC does not enter into any venture it can't make a profit on, and $60-70 million could be tough to get back, much less the $120-140 million of the past.

[kenntomasch]

Somewhere around here I have the quote from Bettman that he absolutely was certain they wouldn't have a rights fee reduction in their next TV deal. And I have Bornstein saying the last time around that they would absolutely make money on the NHL.

So Gary Thorne is a Disney guy. I wonder who NBC will get for its, what, 13 telecasts? Maybe Mike Emrick or somebody like that.

[dcajedi]

So Gary Thorne is a Disney guy. I wonder who NBC will get for its, what, 13 telecasts? Maybe Mike Emrick or somebody like that.

Is he really, though? Because he, Clement, Pang, and I believe Davidson all worked the 2002 Olympics.

[DoyleG]

I heard an interview with the President of NBC Sports today. He said that NBC Cable WAS interested, but not at the price ESPN paid. Remember, NBC does not enter into any venture it can't make a profit on, and $60-70 million could be tough to get back, much less the $120-140 million of the past.

If that is the case , NBC has shown a great lack of judgement over the past couple of years.

[kenntomasch]

Obviously, you go where the work is, and guys have crossed over before. I believe Disney let those guys do the Olympics (after Emrick had to beg off because...his freaking Yorkie needed a kidney transplant), so maybe they'll let them cross over and do NBC games. If they don't want to reinvent the wheel and get their own guy, maybe they'll get those guys for instant recognition. Don't know.

[CrewSchmack]

Obviously, you go where the work is, and guys have crossed over before. I believe Disney let those guys do the Olympics (after Emrick had to beg off because...his freaking Yorkie needed a kidney transplant), so maybe they'll let them cross over and do NBC games. If they don't want to reinvent the wheel and get their own guy, maybe they'll get those guys for instant recognition. Don't know.


Or do you just pull guys from the CBC to pull double duty?

The CBC puts on a better show, would they be willing to drop Canadian jingo, and slap an NBC logo next to theirs if the NHL/NBC asked them to.

Ultimately, is the cost for NBC to put on their own show much more than paying CBC to help out...especially for the Cup Finals.