sawchuk1971
Registered User
- Jun 16, 2011
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NHL US TV deals...an analysis
- Thread starter sawchuk1971
- Start date
n 1967, the NFL had 12 teams, with 9 more AFL teams. There were 20 teams in Major League Baseball. There were 12 NBA teams and 11 more in the ABA.
The NHL had six.
Every city, town, and borough in America has a high school team playing football, baseball, and basketball. All feeding nearby college teams - with 130 schools playing in the top division for football, and over 300 playing basketball.
There are 64 Division I men’s hockey programs. Total.
The “Gary is the bogeyman” trope is just a lazy argument. Hockey just doesn’t have the built in fan base and feeder system like the rest of the Big Four in the States. The NHL has been facing an uphill battle since WELL before Gary became the commissioner. But, they’re getting there. The comparison is apples and oranges, for a litany of reasons. This was just one.
Bixby Snyder
IBTFAD
The NFL and NBA had been on national TV for decades before Bettman took over the NHL which hadn't been on US national TV since the mid 70's.
If you told me 15 years ago the NHL would have national TV/media deals worth One Billion a year in 2024 I might not have believed it. (410 million ESPN, 225 million Warner Brothers/Discovery, 350 million US funds (500 million Canadian) SportNet. There is an element of a rising tide lifts all boats as live sports programming in general is at a premium. The NHL has benefited from that as well. If you add in local TV rights (800 million as a guess for 32 teams, I could be off on that figure). That is 1.8 billion or 30% of league revenue. Some teams like Toronto, Montreal and New York Rangers are around 100 million a year for a combined national and local rights (30 million national/70 million local) which is pretty good. When the next TV/ media rights deals are completed it is reasonable to think it will jump to at least 1.6 billion total and go from 30 million to 50 million a year per team. Local deals are a bit of a question mark with cord cutting/streaming but won't go down over time. I would think national TV rights and what the next deals will bring in are part of the cost justification of over a billion dollars for a new franchise
Golden_Jet
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- Sep 21, 2005
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Actually not for the NBA.
NBA salary cap 136 million
NBA TV revenue per year 2.6 billion
2.6 billion / 30 teams = 86.7 million per team.
Now factor in the league gets half the money,in a 50/50 revenue split, that’s 44 million per team.
So looks like the cap is about 90 million a year short per team from paying for player’s salaries. So not even close to covering salaries.
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I don't think that's the case. The league would likely receive 1/31 of the national tv revenue. Why would it get 1.3 billion per year?
Teams also have their local tv deals as well. The average regional tv deal is likely $25 - $35 million per year. There are also tv rights fees for international markets like China.
Add this all up, and it's likely teams' salary cap expenses are covered by these tv deals.
Golden_Jet
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- Sep 21, 2005
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It’s a 50/50 revenue split, that’s why.
The league (30 teams) will get 50% of all TV revenue,
Meaning 50% goes to the players, which is one part that determines the yearly cap number, and 50% goes to the teams.
