Devils and Islanders MSG Question

[rkhum]

I hate the Islanders and am not a Devil fan.
Yet, I kinda feel those teams get unfairly shafted in their own market.

Consider most teams have a network which airs their games and caters to their fans be it "inside the Rangers", "Rangers classics", and so fourth.

The Islanders and Devils get none of that on MSG, pretty much they are stand alone.

Are the organizations going to do anything to demand more promotion, visibility, and content?
I mean, I'd like if they both left but if they are going to be here it really minmizes their presence.

Ideally, if both had to stay in NY, one should be one YES and one on SNY so they could really have a home.

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[Tawnos]

The contracts those teams have with MSG are probably lucrative enough to offset any gains they might make being on another network and being more visible.

That might change depending on how well the Isles in Brooklyn ends up working out. Wouldn't be surprised to see them on YES or SNY whenever the current Isles/MSG contract runs out.

 

[smitter88]

You can add the Sabres here too.

 

[SI90]

of course they do...THe Rangers own MSG so they choose what to produce and not to produce....Also nobody put a gun to Wang's head to sign the cable deal...The deal is very lucrative but at the expense of his teams exposer and advertising...

 

[blamebettman*]

The last few days we have been inundated by Ranger garbage on the network. I mean it is MSG, but the Rangers are the least successful franchise of the 3. All we've seen the past 3 days in the run up to the season opener is games from 1994. Do they even broadscast Islander/Devils classics? Both teams have played more memorable games in the past several decades.

 

[Devils Trap]

Still wish we had signed that deal with YES a few years back

 

[Colin226]

I hate the Devils being on MSG.. They promote the heck out of the Rangers and give them all the good programming.. Everyday they play reruns of big Rangers wins over the Devils and Islanders.. Most of their reruns are from 1994 just FYI.. They even show commercials for Rangers games during Devils broadcasts (though not as frequently as they do Knicks commercials)

I'll admit that they did have an 8 game series of "Devils Summer Ice" whereby they showed some big Devils wins from the season (they do this every summer) but I think those were literally the only reruns on MSG where the Devils won.. They've also occasionally run a few special episodes on Devils history, but I don't think they ever do shows on the Cup championships and they'll certainly NEVER show the Devils beating the Rangers in 2012.. Plus, these shows aren't promoted at all by MSG so you have to be a Devils nut to actually know about them (and you usually need a DVR).. They also love to show these Devils specials during things like big Monday Night Football games involving NY teams, or at like 1pm on a Saturday in the summer when no one is home.. Then they go "oh look the ratings for those programs weren't that great".. It's partially a self-fulfilling prophecy that they love to indulge

The money from MSG is huge for the team and, at the end of the day, no Devil or Islander fan can complain because it makes the franchises incredibly more valuable and really helps our bottom lines.. That said, we now have 2 more local sports networks in YES and SNY, so I fully expect a decent bidding war to ensue when these contracts expire many years from now.. My hope is that one of those other networks picks up the team and creates a lot of solid programming.. The fans are there and they want it, but MSG simply will not allow a local competitor to get more programming than their baby

To be fair, I give MSG huge props this preseason for having a dual Devils/Rangers broadcast team for our game against them, and I was also very appreciative that they picked up the Flyers' feed and aired our preseason game in Philly..

To again rant, it's utterly ridiculous that when the Devils played the Rangers last season the Rangers got played on 2 HD channels while the Devils were played on MSG+2 (standard def for many NJ folks).. I'm sure many Devils fans sucked it up and watched the Rangers' feed cause hockey needs HD.. I'm also sure that MSG went "wow we crushed the Devils' feed in ratings. this clearly means we have a mandate to continue such practices"

 

[kdb209]

of course they do...THe Rangers own MSG so they choose what to produce and not to produce....Also nobody put a gun to Wang's head to sign the cable deal...The deal is very lucrative but at the expense of his teams exposer and advertising...

Wang did not negotiate or sign the cable deal - and it wan't originally signed with MSG. It was signed back in 1982 between Picket and SportsChannel and the extension (through 2031) was signed in 1997 during the brief tenure of John Spano prior to the SportsChannel MSG merger.

 

[manilaNJ]

One thing that was incredibly bizarre to me is that MSG showed every Ranger pre-season game, but dropped the ball on two head-to-head matchups between the Devils & Islanders... one of them being in Brooklyn.

I have no problem with them not showing every preseason game, but you'd think the head to heads between 2 of the 3 teams would be televised.

Granted, it's preseason but it's 2 of their local hockey teams when they were showing nothing other than poker on 3 (maybe 4) of their channels.

 

[The Korean*]

Signing with MSG may have been great for Devs and Isles money wise but for fans it sucks ass. Wish Devils signed with YES and Isles with SNY or the other way around.

 

[Taro Tsujimoto]

You'd think SNY would go hard after one or the other, if just to give them some actual programming during the Mets' offseason.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

You'd think SNY would go hard after one or the other, if just to give them some actual programming during the Mets' offseason.

Again...

Wang did not negotiate or sign the cable deal - and it wan't originally signed with MSG. It was signed back in 1982 between Picket and SportsChannel and the extension (through 2031) was signed in 1997 during the brief tenure of John Spano prior to the SportsChannel MSG merger.

Not sure the terms of the Devils deal, but clearly the Isles aren't available.

 

[manilaNJ]

Devils are with MSG long term as well, until 2024.

 

[MartysBetterThanYou]

MSG pushed these big contracts right as YES and SNY were starting up and wanted to squash them before they got rolling, so they overpaid massively for Devils and Islanders TV rights as a result. Those contracts are extremely lucrative for the organizations and in the Islanders case is the only thing keeping them financially afloat since Nassau Coliseum gives them so little revenue. Considering the financial situations the two organizations were in in the late 90s/early 2000s when they signed their deals, they couldn't turn those down. That being said, if I was director of MSG Networks I would rebrand MSG+ as Metro-Hockey or something and have more Devils and Islanders and hockey-specific programming in order to win mor ancilliary viewers for non-gametime. All the good Rangers and Knicks stuff already gets shown on MSG, so MSG+ could go do its own thing and make more money I imagine.

 

[Wingman77]

As already mentioned, would it be nice to get more coverage, absolutely considering we just get pre and post games, the actual games and hockey night live which is more league oriented than Devils or Islanders oriented - but the contracts considered it's whatever

I couldn't careless what MSG aired Rangers wise, but the amount of 1994 programs they show, and there is almost a new one every year thrown into the rotation is laughable

 

[The Korean*]

MSG pushed these big contracts right as YES and SNY were starting up and wanted to squash them before they got rolling, so they overpaid massively for Devils and Islanders TV rights as a result. Those contracts are extremely lucrative for the organizations and in the Islanders case is the only thing keeping them financially afloat since Nassau Coliseum gives them so little revenue. Considering the financial situations the two organizations were in in the late 90s/early 2000s when they signed their deals, they couldn't turn those down. That being said, if I was director of MSG Networks I would rebrand MSG+ as Metro-Hockey or something and have more Devils and Islanders and hockey-specific programming in order to win mor ancilliary viewers for non-gametime. All the good Rangers and Knicks stuff already gets shown on MSG, so MSG+ could go do its own thing and make more money I imagine.

I hope your team signs with SNY next contract year. 2024 was it? 11 years go by fast.

Hoping Isles go with YES because they are gonna be sharing arena with the Nets.

Screw James Dolan and screw MSG.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Devils are with MSG long term as well, until 2024.

Thanks

 

[Colin226]

I hope your team signs with SNY next contract year. 2024 was it? 11 years go by fast.

Hoping Isles go with YES because they are gonna be sharing arena with the Nets.

Screw James Dolan and screw MSG.

I could see that.. I mean if the contracts were up this year I'd say that, with Lou being on the Yankees' Board of Governors, he'd probably have enough pull to get them to offer the Devils a sweet deal.. But he's probably not going to be the GM then so that connection will be gone

I'd love to have all 3 of my favorite teams covered by SNY

Totally agree on the screw Dolan and MSG comment

 

[The Korean*]

Not to get Devils fans all panicky but I doubt Lou will be around in 2024. Hes probably gonna retire before that.

Isles will still have Nets connection to YES.

Either way I hope both teams leave MSG ASAP.

 

[FourRings]

They've been showing replays of 1994 games since the Rangers were eliminated. Not the Rangers or MSGs fault though. Wang took the money. I think Brooklyn will help the Islanders as well. They've got posters and billboards of John Tavares all over the LIRR platforms and trains.

 

[19NYSports91]

I hate the Islanders and am not a Devil fan.
Yet, I kinda feel those teams get unfairly shafted in their own market.

Consider most teams have a network which airs their games and caters to their fans be it "inside the Rangers", "Rangers classics", and so fourth.

The Islanders and Devils get none of that on MSG, pretty much they are stand alone.

Are the organizations going to do anything to demand more promotion, visibility, and content?
I mean, I'd like if they both left but if they are going to be here it really minmizes their presence.

Ideally, if both had to stay in NY, one should be one YES and one on SNY so they could really have a home.

I hate everything about MSG. The fact that the Isles aren't on HD for the fios channel is absolutely insane. Devils get the game over them, which pisses me off as well. The fact that the rangers get preseason games and the Isles and Devils don't is absurd.

 

[Kane One]

One thing that was incredibly bizarre to me is that MSG showed every Ranger pre-season game, but dropped the ball on two head-to-head matchups between the Devils & Islanders... one of them being in Brooklyn.

I have no problem with them not showing every preseason game, but you'd think the head to heads between 2 of the 3 teams would be televised.

Granted, it's preseason but it's 2 of their local hockey teams when they were showing nothing other than poker on 3 (maybe 4) of their channels.

One of those games would pretty much be MSG promoting Barclays Center. They made the smart business move not showing that game.

 

[The Korean*]

One of those games would pretty much be MSG promoting Barclays Center. They made the smart business move not showing that game.

They are gonna have to do it once Isles move in anyway.

Maybe they can work something out and get Isles off MSG then? And Isles can sign with another RSN.

 

[Kane One]

They are gonna have to do it once Isles move in anyway.

Maybe they can work something out and get Isles off MSG then? And Isles can sign with another RSN.

They will have to do it, but then they would have no choice, unlike now, where they do have a choice.

Why would they let the Islanders leave MSG? SNY would be the obvious network for the Islanders to play on, so why will MSG want SNY to get bigger?

When the Yankees (and later the Mets) were going leave MSG, Cablevision (then the owner of MSG) wanted to buy the Yankees (and later the Mets) because MSG would lose viewership.

 

[KevFu]

nobody put a gun to Wang's head to sign the cable deal...The deal is very lucrative but at the expense of his teams exposer and advertising...

Wang did not negotiate or sign the cable deal - and it wan't originally signed with MSG. It was signed back in 1982 between Picket and SportsChannel and the extension (through 2031) was signed in 1997 during the brief tenure of John Spano prior to the SportsChannel MSG merger.

MSG pushed these big contracts right as YES and SNY were starting up and wanted to squash them before they got rolling, so they overpaid massively for Devils and Islanders TV rights as a result.

That might be true for the Devils, but not the Islanders (See kdb's post).

The Islanders deal was negotiated because there were two clauses in the contract causing problems for one side or the other...

SportsChannel gave the Islanders an option for the extension to shift from a flat rights fee to 18.5 percent of the company's revenues in 2001. That clause was a huge problem, because when it was written, the company was SportsChannel. But it was open for interpretation... on if "Company" meant MSG Network or Cablevision (because MSG hadn't been split off into its own company by Cablevision yet).

But if the Islanders tried to exercise the option, MSG was ready to bring up another poorly worded clause (from 1982) that the network could find the Islanders in breach of contract if they didn't provide an "entertaining product."

Since the Islanders sucked out loud, they quickly reached the long term extension on a big TV deal that protects the Islanders if they suck and no one watches, and is for a lot of money, but a dodged bullet for MSG because it's still way less than 18.5% of MSG Company or Cablevision.

Had each side decided "Screw it, let's go all or nothing" it would have been one of the most game-changing battles in hockey history. That sounds like hyperbole, but imagine a world in which the NY Islanders TV contract last season was worth $1.4 billion dollars