at least for part of the contract...

will be so great to hear this music again...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PReim0Axt4

Plenty of games left, including playoff games every year and the finals in alternating years, for a second national broadcaster, whether it's NBC or Fox or Turner.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/3103...tform-deal

Quote:ESPN and the NHL announced a seven-year deal on Wednesday, returning hockey to ESPN for the first time since 2004. Included will be 25 regular-season games on ESPN or ABC, early-round playoff series and one conference final each year, four Stanley Cup Final series on ABC and more than 1,000 games per season streaming on ESPN+. ESPN+ and Hulu will be home to 75 ESPN-produced exclusive telecasts per season.

The deal also includes opening-night games, the NHL All-Star Game and Skills Challenge and other special events. The NHL's out-of-market streaming package (NHL.TV) is also moving to ESPN+ as part of its subscription offerings.

Also note ESPN signaling that they want future rights deals with other sports leagues to include lots of games for streaming, like the claimed "1,000 games per season streaming on ESPN+" in the NHL deal:

Quote:"This agreement clearly underscores The Walt Disney Company's leadership in the sports media landscape and serves as a blueprint for sports deals in the future," Jimmy Pitaro, the chairman of ESPN and sports content for Disney, said in a statement. "We know the power of the NHL and are thrilled to welcome it back as a significant new pillar across our platforms, and we look forward to connecting more deeply and directly with some of the sports world's most passionate fans."

This will be interesting. ESPN has some guys who love the NHL but more who take a dump on the NHL any chance they get. The latter’s been a problem for 15+ years.

NHL on ESPN music is far better than NBC though. Hope they bring that back.

How does ESPN manage NBA and NHL coverage? They didn't have NBA last time.

Also notes the use of ESPN+ .... this will be an interesting beast as to how they start playing games with their college sports coverage....

(03-10-2021 09:06 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  Also notes the use of ESPN+ .... this will be an interesting beast as to how they start playing games with their college sports coverage....

For sure. Disney is putting the Stanley Cup Finals on ABC in exchange for landing all those NHL games for ESPN+ and incentivizing puckheads to get ESPN+. They'll do something similar any time they can from now on.

so old deal from NBC was 2 billion for 10 years or 200 million per

NHL deal is 2.8 billion for 7 years or 400 million per- and it only has about half the rights.

NHL going to get probably nearly triple what they used to get.

(03-11-2021 12:19 AM)stever20 Wrote:  so old deal from NBC was 2 billion for 10 years or 200 million per

NHL deal is 2.8 billion for 7 years or 400 million per- and it only has about half the rights.

NHL going to get probably nearly triple what they used to get.

If you have to prefer one, better more hockey and less basketball on TV at least when it comes to the pros. (College hockey is pretty good sometimes, though, yet too regional for most.)

ESPN was crap to the NHL the last time they had a deal. They've always treated the NHL like a red-headed step child since I've been around.

I'm also annoyed the deal is split.

This might be the straw that breaks the camel's back as far as a permanent shift in the NBA calendar. Let the NHL have June, the NBA can go into July or August.

The real question is, could the NBA strong-arm the IOC into putting basketball into the Winter Olympics?

(03-16-2021 09:54 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  This might be the straw that breaks the camel's back as far as a permanent shift in the NBA calendar. Let the NHL have June, the NBA can go into July or August.

The real question is, could the NBA strong-arm the IOC into putting basketball into the Winter Olympics?

The NBA finals TV audience is 3 times the size of the audience of the NHL finals. But you think the NBA should delay its entire season by two months to accommodate the NHL, rather than the other way around.

(03-17-2021 01:37 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(03-16-2021 09:54 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  This might be the straw that breaks the camel's back as far as a permanent shift in the NBA calendar. Let the NHL have June, the NBA can go into July or August.

The real question is, could the NBA strong-arm the IOC into putting basketball into the Winter Olympics?

The NBA finals TV audience is 3 times the size of the audience of the NHL finals. But you think the NBA should delay its entire season by two months to accommodate the NHL, rather than the other way around.

The NBA has been tossing around a later start and finish for a while now to get into a less crowded part of the sports calendar. Because even if the NBA makes a lot of money, they always will take more.

(03-20-2021 08:37 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  

(03-17-2021 01:37 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(03-16-2021 09:54 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  This might be the straw that breaks the camel's back as far as a permanent shift in the NBA calendar. Let the NHL have June, the NBA can go into July or August.

The real question is, could the NBA strong-arm the IOC into putting basketball into the Winter Olympics?

The NBA finals TV audience is 3 times the size of the audience of the NHL finals. But you think the NBA should delay its entire season by two months to accommodate the NHL, rather than the other way around.

The NBA has been tossing around a later start and finish for a while now to get into a less crowded part of the sports calendar. Because even if the NBA makes a lot of money, they always will take more.

Some fans have been tossing it around. But it's asinine. TV viewership in July and August is far lower than in other months. TV doesn't want the NBA finals or anyone else's finals then.

Either it's just a dumb idea from people who naively think TV viewership is the same all year round, or it's people with a hidden agenda who don't like the NBA and want them to hold their playoffs when the TV ratings would be lowest.

I'd prefer if NBA was more of a summer sport. More things to watch other then MLB.