NHL and ESPN talking

[Guest jaytan]

Eklund was right!!!!

How the hell is that news? Eklund's always right.

[Hank 0]

Well, what do you want me to say? I have yet to see how ESPN would actually cover hockey/and or the Wings, so I can't be too sure they would cover every playoff game. If not, then there's your two solutions. Expensive, yes, but I can't think of anything else.

Exactly! If anyone's relying on ESPN, VS or NBC to give them loads of Wings coverage then you'd better get a newspaper subscription.

Paying $150 for the Centre Ice Package is a good bargain for me. I don't have a lot of money to spend either but I'd rather blow $150 to watch every single Wings game, plus other NHL games. Besides, it's a much cheaper alternative than to actually go to games where the price of tickets is rediculous.

There's nothing better than putting the kids to bed and then settling down in front of a fire with some cold pops, nachos and firing up the Wings game.

And remember, almost every home game was in HD last year. My wife and I both said it's the next best thing to being at the Joe - but without the long lineups for the bathroom, $8.50 watered down beers, $20 parking and seats that barely fit a 4-year-old.

$150 is not that much if you think about it. In a 4-month off-season that's basically $10 a week you need to save up.

Well worth it in my books.

Edited July 31, 2007 by Hank

[Viperar 16]

Exactly! If anyone's relying on ESPN, VS or NBC to give them loads of Wings coverage then you'd better get a newspaper subscription.

Paying $150 for the Centre Ice Package is a good bargain for me. I don't have a lot of money to spend either but I'd rather blow $150 to watch every single Wings game, plus other NHL games. Besides, it's a much cheaper alternative than to actually go to games where the price of tickets is rediculous.

well said buddy

[StevieY9802 6]

Well, what do you want me to say? I have yet to see how ESPN would actually cover hockey/and or the Wings, so I can't be too sure they would cover every playoff game. If not, then there's your two solutions. Expensive, yes, but I can't think of anything else.

I was talking about moving to Detroit. You can't be serious about that. Getting center ice.. I was just making a point that it is expensive which it is. Some people don't want to spend it. Thats all.

How many people who do you know that have a TV but don't have cable or a satellite dish? I don't see how that's a reason for NBC to not broadcast games. The 2% of the population that are still living like cavemen aren't going to break the ratings if they were lost.

I wouldn't shed a tear if NBC lost coverage, because I think the way they handle it sucks. Cancelling the game right when it's going on for a pre-game show of a horse race? I'm sorry, but that really airs on the side of lame in my opinion.

ESPN, for as much as it's ragged on, does get a lot of the casual sports fans watching it, no matter the sport sometimes. You put the NHL back on there, and the casual sports fan now becomes a viewer. And that, my friend, is a ratings boost, which is what the NHL needs.

NBC may seem like an attractive offer, because it's a big time national TV corperation, but let's be serious here. Most people who watch sports in general aren't going to watch NBC, unless Olympic swimming, PGA golf in Georgia, or horse racing is their sport.

I wasn't saying anything switching off NBC would hurt them. I was saying that it wouldn't hurt to go over to ESPN. I was making the point that you were. Switching off NBC wouldn't hurt because it would only hurt the people who didn't have cable, which is a small amount of people so it wouldn't matter.

[Dixie Wingslover 0]

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/

The NHL and ESPN are in discussions about bringing the league’s games back to ESPN2 as soon as the 2008-09 season.

:banana: :carrot: :colorbounce: :colorbounce: :colorbounce:

[Opie 308]

Thanks Mods!!!!

Edited August 2, 2007 by Opie

[Cicada 4]

I don't usually do this but this one was still on the first page:

http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=44840

lol...beat me to it

[Dixie Wingslover 0]

Taking NHL games away from NBC is something I am all for....... Putting the games on ESPN takes the broadcast out of the locals hands...... I missed 2/3 of a playoff game against Calgary because of the Charlotte NBC local. They thought their weatherman needed that time on a loop, to advise people there was a storm..... I barely had a cloud in the sky over my house. And they considered hockey a sport they could pre-empt. In MIchigan, a tornado warning gets a beeper and a scroll......unless they have film of people dying. Here, a few tree limbs blow down, and the sky is falling...... as long as it's hockey that is on, not football or NASCAR.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

u know, i think hockey has grown since leavin espn...but the one thing i think we need is a new commissioner...i hate that guy with a passion

[NC WINGS FAN 5]

If this is true then good. The NHL needs the exposure and what better way to get that then getting on the "world wide leader in sports". I hope they can still stay on VERSUS to because I like their coverage of the games much better. I can hear Skip right now saying " what are you kidding me?!!!! what were their ratings? .000000001? or something crazy like that?!! This is stupid!! lets talk about tennis or something!!" Ah well, the NHL has hit rock bottom and will rebound and make people like him look like even bigger asses. Imagine that After all, it is the second oldest league behind the MLB and has endured much struggle throughout most of its existence in fighting for exposure and respect.

[Kp-Wings 3]

u know, i think hockey has grown since leavin espn...but the one thing i think we need is a new commissioner...i hate that guy with a passion

Grown? The ratings for this years SCF were the worst I've ever seen them.

Of course, again, look at the two teams playing...

[aflac9262 211]

Here's another article on it.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...rts/Television/

I didn't know Bill and Ray were dropped. I already knew about the Brett Hull thing. It also notes less coverage (rather than three regional games, it'll be one game of the best matchup, which I guess isn't a bad idea in NBC's case).

I really hope something works out between ESPN and the NHL. The NHL shouldn't be so finicky with ESPN, I mean look what NBC did to their content when a horse racing pre-game show was involved. On top of that, the NHL was generous enough to have a revenue sharing deal in place! Yet NBC still bullied the NHL! The fact is, the NHL took ESPN for granted.

Edited August 3, 2007 by aflac9262

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

If this is true then good. The NHL needs the exposure and what better way to get that then getting on the "world wide leader in sports". I hope they can still stay on VERSUS to because I like their coverage of the games much better. I can hear Skip right now saying " what are you kidding me?!!!! what were their ratings? .000000001? or something crazy like that?!! This is stupid!! lets talk about tennis or something!!" Ah well, the NHL has hit rock bottom and will rebound and make people like him look like even bigger asses. Imagine that After all, it is the second oldest league behind the MLB and has endured much struggle throughout most of its existence in fighting for exposure and respect.

As I think I stated in this thread, or a similar one...for me personally I could care less what station NHL games are being played on, I just want to see them somewhere. I don't care as much about commentary/discussion as seeing the action on the ice.

VS has done a very solid job, minus an extremely rocky start in the first season, showing NHL games. Pretty dedicated to broadcasts, especially during the playoffs. VS also started broadcasting college football games last season in the Mountain West Conference, and a few basketball games as well, and they did a solid job there as well.

That being said though, I'm all for hockey being brought back to ESPN, if it can be done. If not, I won't cry over spilled milk, I'll still find ways to watch it.

[GoHabs007 0]

Not to ***** and moan, but what's the point of putting hockey on ESPN if it's going to be the butt end of every joke?

But that's the point, if the NHL is on ESPN, they're gonna tell their on-air personalities to stop bashing the NHL so much, because it's bad for business. They joked about NASCAR on ESPN until it was announced NASCAR was coming back to ESPN, now it's all over the place and nobody is making fun of it. The NHL on ESPN would most assuredly decrease the jokes on ESPN about the NHL.

This idea is a great one, Versus and ESPN teaming up on hockey like ESPN and TNT do for basketball. Versus would still show two games a week with ESPN picking up other games. They would advertise each other, creating more publicity. More homes would have access to NHL games. It's sad, but in order to surviv, a major sport pretty much has to align itself with ESPN if it wants decent national coverage. Versus' coverage is great and they care about the game, but it's simply not a widespread enough network for it to be the only national coverage for the sport.

Ever dance with the devil?

So the NHL is going there so it can be regulated to the back burner, and treated like a red-headed step-child.

Hmmm yeah makes sense to me.

Let's see here, which is better treatment? Only having games on Versus or having games on Versus and ESPN. An idiotic statement from an offensive person.

Edited August 6, 2007 by GoHabs007

[auxlepli 17]

But that's the point, if the NHL is on ESPN, they're gonna tell their on-air personalities to stop bashing the NHL so much, because it's bad for business. They joked about NASCAR on ESPN until it was announced NASCAR was coming back to ESPN, now it's all over the place and nobody is making fun of it. The NHL on ESPN would most assuredly decrease the jokes on ESPN about the NHL.

This idea is a great one, Versus and ESPN teaming up on hockey like ESPN and TNT do for basketball. Versus would still show two games a week with ESPN picking up other games. They would advertise each other, creating more publicity. More homes would have access to NHL games. It's sad, but in order to surviv, a major sport pretty much has to align itself with ESPN if it wants decent national coverage. Versus' coverage is great and they care about the game, but it's simply not a widespread enough network for it to be the only national coverage for the sport.

Let's see here, which is better treatment? Only having games on Versus or having games on Versus and ESPN. An idiotic statement from an offensive person.

ESPN brings numbers, as in households is all. When that's coupled with It's treatment of the NHL, which has been poor at best - pre- and post- lockout, it spells disaster. ESPN talking heads bashed the NHL when they had it, why would their attitude automatically change? I don't buy into your philosophy for a second. I don't trust anybody at ESPN. It's obvious they're more into entertainment now than sports, which is fine that's what the E signifies. ESPN = the worldwide ENTERTAINMENT, not sports, leader. Sportscenter showed very few highlights of the NHL when it was on the Mickey Mouse network. So I'll stand by my backburner statement. Call me an idiot and an offensive person all you want, but I haven't gotten personal, you have.