Hockey is no longer a major sport in the US

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by DanS


Smallish homes, to be sure. I don't know why you're pimping minor league towns. Having one team in a Green Bay is great. But to build a league on such towns seems foolhardy to me.

A Canadian city should count x4 a nontraditional American city for hockey sustainability.

Take Regina, for instance.

The Green Riders draw from the entire province (2 million) and they are fanatics. They'd pay per view til the cows come home.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by DanS
What exactly is a mutt network?

A network that thinks poker is a great game and should continue being televised when the strike is over.

You know, ESPN.

[Seeker]

Poker IS a great game.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by notyoueither
ESPN wants to keep showing poker and let OLN have NHL?

Fine. Let's see who pulls more viewers in 5 years.

Easy... ESPN.

Poker is drawing MASSIVE ratings. I don't think you understand the numbers poker is getting. There is a reason that it is on channels like the Travel Channel, etc. Easy way to get big time viewers with little cost.

ESPN didn't get where it is by being dumb. They kept the game asking for less and drawing far higher ratings. OLN, simply, overpaid for the product, hoping that it can help them to respectability. Unfortunatly, OLN is going to need more than that and bull riding and Survivor reruns (their highest rated program, IIRC) ain't it.

[notyoueither]

I'll note that Winnipeg moved before PPV was viable.

If the Jets were still in Winnipeg, there'd be no digging them out of there.

The Oilers are just getting into PPV. There's no way the Oilers are ever going anywhere. There's half a province who can pay to watch who can't make live games.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


Easy... ESPN.

Poker is drawing MASSIVE ratings. I don't think you understand the numbers poker is getting. There is a reason that it is on channels like the Travel Channel, etc. Easy way to get big time viewers with little cost.

ESPN didn't get where it is by being dumb. They kept the game asking for less and drawing far higher ratings. OLN, simply, overpaid for the product, hoping that it can help them to respectability. Unfortunatly, OLN is going to need more than that and bull riding and Survivor reruns (their highest rated program, IIRC) ain't it.

So why should the game continue to play the mutt's game?

I'd rather have the NHL get something out of TV contracts than play second fiddle to whatever the mutt network comes up with.

[DanS]

Originally posted by notyoueither
The Green Riders draw from the entire province (2 million) and they are fanatics. They'd pay per view til the cows come home.

Could they build and fill a new 20,000 seat arena 41 times a year?

PPV doesn't seem like a viable and sustainable business model.

[notyoueither]

How many poker channels can there be?

I can assure you that the next channel will be able to grow in the NE and MW with ther NHL as an anchor.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by notyoueither
So why should the game continue to play the mutt's game?

I'd rather have the NHL get something out of TV contracts than play second fiddle to whatever the mutt network comes up with.

Soo... the NHL should get some quick money now and sacrifice future profits rather than get more exposure, show off the new rules to some who have been turned off by the clutch n' grab of the NHL prior to this season, and get more profits in the long run?

Remind me never to put your in charge of a business.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by DanS


Could they build and fill a new arena 41 times a year?

PPV doesn't seem like a viable and sustainable business model.

Yes, and more.

Take a Canadian city and multiply by 4 for the equivalent hockey paying fans over any US city outside a very few.

Add to that an entire province paying to watch on TV many times per year.

PPV is a very viable business model. It is part of why the Rangers and Detroit were able to buy teams before the cap.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


Soo... the NHL should get some quick money now and sacrifice future profits rather than get more exposure, show off the new rules to some who have been turned off by the clutch n' grab of the NHL prior to this season, and get more profits in the long run?

Remind me never to put your in charge of a business.

The league is getting exposure from NBC.

Why so focused on just one thing?

OLN gives them money for a majority of games.

NBC gives them exposure.

Are you an ESPN shareholder?

[notyoueither]

Edmonton metro is ~1 mil.

The Oilers sold out 18,3xx 40 times. the 41st was during a blizzard.

10 games were on PPV. Next year probably 20. 1.5 million people in Edmonton and Northern half of the province, and many, many TVs will be paying $10 to watch an Oilers game on TV.

[Imran Siddiqui]

NBC gives them exposure for a handful of games a year. For a vast majority of regular season games, they are throwing in their lot with a channel which has far less penetration than ESPN.

And, no, I'm not an ESPN shareholder, just someone who has the sense to realizes that for a niche sport in the US, greater exposure is better than short term financial gain.

What happens when the OLN contract ends, and OLN demands a far lower rate because of lackluster ratings? Then the NHL gets paid what ESPN would have offered, with far less penetration. Yeah, that's a great business model. Just admit it, the NHL screwed the pooch by going with OLN, which is commonly acknowledged as a horrid failure on the part of the NHL.

[notyoueither]

You're assuming ESPN won't want them back. I'm gonna bet they do like the CBC is gonna want curling back, and be willing to make some concessions.

You're also discounting local TV contracts. I know the owner in Chicago is nuts, but I take the complaints about Wirtz to indicate that the games are available in other markets.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by notyoueither
You're assuming ESPN won't want them back. I'm gonna bet they do like the CBC is gonna want curling back, and be willing to make some concessions.

You're also discounting local TV contracts. I know the owner in Chicago is nuts, but I take the complaints about Wirtz to indicate that the games are available in other markets.

ESPN making concessions? I wouldn't hold my breath. The NHL may have to come back with its tail between its legs to get ESPN to take them back.

And what about local TV contracts? Local TV deals are not going to increase exposure of the league. It'll just show it in the bigger markets to where it already had an established base (ie, preaching to the congregation). Local TV channels ain't ESPN.

Also,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NHL_on_OLN

OLN averaged 611,000 households (or 610,836 to be exact) for Game 1 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. That's fewer households than ESPN2 drew for an Arizona-Northwestern college women's softball game that same night. It is 39% fewer households than ESPN drew for the Stanley Cup series opener two years earlier. Game 2 was seen in an even less amount of households with 605,501.

Ouch! How can the NHL possibly see OLN as a plus after that is a mystery.