Thanks to Kukla’s Korner, we learn that ESPN is talking with the NHL to bring hockey back to one of its channels. How nice. The ESPN family of networks left their relationship with the NHL because they could not justify programming a league with an undetermined period of possible inactivity. When the lockout concluded, they still didn’t want the NHL or its programming back and Versus (then OLN), picked up the ball…er puck…and ran…um skated away with it.

Say what you want about the Versus network, and I agree with the complaints of no one knows where to find the games, not all cable/satellite households carry the station, the schedule is not well known, and on and on, but they were the only national programming company in the States to regularly air hockey games. NBC had its coverage too, but they didn’t air the same amount of games due to their commitments with the NFL. Versus picked up the slack when the other sports network did not.

Due to the fact that they needed to fill air time, ESPN used to be that renegade sports network that showed anything remotely related to competition. Years later the channel morphed into a sister station of ESPN2, created ESPN News (because SportsCenter aired at very inconvenient times for most of the country), and even acquired a Classic Sports channel so that we return to the nostalgic times of sports yore.

Now Versus, who acquired college football programming rights, could be using the same model that ESPN used to use before they became corporate - schedule as many sports as possible and just maybe consumers would clamor their cable companies to add Versus thus increasing their Nielsen footprint.

After the NHL’s departure from ESPN, SportsCenter aired 29 fewer minutes of NHL highlights than they did in 2004, leading many to believe that if it’s not on ESPN, then it’s not sports. Now the influential World Wide Leader of Sports wants to return thus increasing hockey’s exposure.
So, in terms of economics, hockey then must relevant enough for ESPN to crawl back. The numbers prove it to be true: increased merchandise sales, and increased attendance.

What do I say when reading the news that ESPN is interested again? Big deal and thanks for helping out. ESPN did they real heavy lifting here, and we’re better now that ESPN wants to come back. [/sarcasm]

If were Versus, I would demand that in order to drop the exclusivity, ESPN must enter the same arrangement that it has with TNT and the NBA - cross promotion. Without that aspect to the deal, if I were running things at Versus, I would not give up exclusive rights that I negotiated to a league that was on life-support.

Clearly both parties, Versus and the NHL, needed something with the current business relationship, and that point is still taken with me. However, if I were risking my business model on anemic United States Nielsen ratings, whereby the NHL hasn’t solved to improve fan and viewer support, I would figure since I offered something to commissioner Gary Bettman that no other company did not, I should be thrown a bone here.

Therefore, if the NHL returns (and notably John Buccigross, and Barry Melrose with it), I guess Bill Simmons will begin to care after all.

Original post by PB

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