ESPN signs 7 year deal with the NHL

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OG6ix

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Noticed today that ESPN now has the NHL featured on their front page when you visit the site. Previously, you had to use the drop down menu and even then, it was almost buried at the bottom.

I know you can have preference on what sports/leagues you want to see at the top if you're logged in, in this case I wasn't logged in & was a random visitor.

They actually had NHL behind MLB for a couple of months - until last week where they moved soccer and Olympic Sports infront of it. Not sure why they put soccer there but I understand the olympics - maybe it's a seasonal thing?
 

oknazevad

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It's definitely seasonal, and with the Euro championship having just wrapped, the CONCACAF Gold Cup ongoing, and MLS regular season, there's probably strong traffic for the soccer section.
 

OG6ix

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It's definitely seasonal, and with the Euro championship having just wrapped, the CONCACAF Gold Cup ongoing, and MLS regular season, there's probably strong traffic for the soccer section.

Yeah but the other three leagues seem to be static all parts of the year. I have never not seen MLB move from the third spot and the NFL/NBA from 1/2 respectively.
 

BigT2002

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Yeah but the other three leagues seem to be static all parts of the year. I have never not seen MLB move from the third spot and the NFL/NBA from 1/2 respectively.

People need to just face facts. Hockey is never going to more than a niche sport. Soccer is only 300k viewers from tying Hockey for viewership (Sports in the United States - Wikipedia). Give it about 2-3 more years and hockey will be relegated to the same discussion as racing and some of the extreme sports. Once people accept that, the amount of being upset about this will dwindle.
 
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OG6ix

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People need to just face facts. Hockey is never going to more than a niche sport. Soccer is only 300k viewers from tying Hockey for viewership (Sports in the United States - Wikipedia). Give it about 2-3 more years and hockey will be relegated to the same discussion as racing and some of the extreme sports. Once people accept that, the amount of being upset about this will dwindle.

Doubt soccer ever catches up to the NHL unless the EPL expands to the states or if MLS becomes the EPL. Neither of which will happen. Soccer is actually more niche and more minority game than the NHL. Sure people get their kids to play it but it's cheap babysitting at that point.

Also the NHL's viewship will grow in this new agreement due to exposure and simply having a true exclusive game (not allowing regionals to carry the game for the teams in the markets that are playing) can make the ratings go up easily 20%.

It's actually not very impressive how much soccer ratings have grown consider the amount of exposure it has had compared to the NHL.
 

Voight

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People need to just face facts. Hockey is never going to more than a niche sport. Soccer is only 300k viewers from tying Hockey for viewership (Sports in the United States - Wikipedia). Give it about 2-3 more years and hockey will be relegated to the same discussion as racing and some of the extreme sports. Once people accept that, the amount of being upset about this will dwindle.

Heck, even if the MLS on its own is catching up the NHL in terms value. Still $1.5-2.5bn behind IIRC but thats not bad given the MLS really only started getting popular 15 years ago.

US Mens team is also not too bad and has a young star in Pulisic so thats going to help them as well, as will hosting the 2026 World Cup. (Technically co-hosting but most of the games will be in the USA)
 

BKIslandersFan

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People need to just face facts. Hockey is never going to more than a niche sport. Soccer is only 300k viewers from tying Hockey for viewership (Sports in the United States - Wikipedia). Give it about 2-3 more years and hockey will be relegated to the same discussion as racing and some of the extreme sports. Once people accept that, the amount of being upset about this will dwindle.
People like you been making that same noise for last decade while NHL was on NBC.

Hasn't happened yet.
 
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OG6ix

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People like you been making that same noise for last decade while NHL was on NBC.

Hasn't happened yet.

It won't happen - they expec the NHL to stay stagnant but they haven't stayed stagnent either lol. So as the MLS grows so do all other sports leagues including the NFL, NBA etc. The MLS has to catch up to the EPL in the states nevermind NHL. Soccer is a niche sport in America - every where else in the world it's not. Soccer fans don't get this because the lore of how big soccer is worldwide. Doesn't really do much for the US outside international tournaments.
 
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46zone

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The NHL has large fanbases in most major markets, and is able to compete with the NBA at the local level. The same cannot be said for the MLS.
 

BigT2002

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People like you been making that same noise for last decade while NHL was on NBC.

Hasn't happened yet.

What hasn't happened yet? MLS was just starting to pick up steam as more teams were created in the 2010's. 13 new teams since 2010, and another 3 are slated in 2022/2023 seasons. It'll put the overall total at 30.

I'm not sure "what noise" I'm making? Is it because

Report: NHL regular season viewership hits low in final year of NBC deal

Games averaged TAD of 391,000 across NBC and NBCSN, according to SBJ.

According to SBJ’s figures, the highest average TAD on NBC during the outgoing ten-year deal came in the 2012/13 season, which averaged 590,000 viewers.

That isn't stellar....
 

OG6ix

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What hasn't happened yet? MLS was just starting to pick up steam as more teams were created in the 2010's. 13 new teams since 2010, and another 3 are slated in 2022/2023 seasons. It'll put the overall total at 30.

I'm not sure "what noise" I'm making? Is it because

Report: NHL regular season viewership hits low in final year of NBC deal





That isn't stellar....

What's the average ticket price in the MLS? The 13 new teams are fine but the ownership is single entity so how much are the owners truly getting. I'm not sure how you think the ratings for NHL are bad when the MLS never gets anywhere near close for their cup finals (Which is one game all hands on deck). Honestly, MLS fans have been saying this since the mid 2000s.
 

BKIslandersFan

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What's the average ticket price in the MLS? The 13 new teams are fine but the ownership is single entity so how much are the owners truly getting. I'm not sure how you think the ratings for NHL are bad when the MLS never gets anywhere near close for their cup finals (Which is one game all hands on deck). Honestly, MLS fans have been saying this since the mid 2000s.
There is no doubt MLS has seen huge growth since their inception.

But they have a ceiling of growth in that they will NEVER be the most talented league in the world.
 

OG6ix

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There is no doubt MLS has seen huge growth since their inception.

But they have a ceiling of growth in that they will NEVER be the most talented league in the world.

Soccer is definitely accessible and even if the MLS start paying the future Messi's of the world - there is still something that is against the sport. Americans don't like it - more than they don't like many other sports - including hockey. Whether it's the immigrants game, or it's too slow, not physical, not enough goals, weird clock rules - there are far more people that won't give it a chance than people who will. They will tune into the world cup finals because it's an event, or the Euros but that's the extent of what they will want.

Seattle radio is all over the Kraken, MLB, and NFL for the last month I've been listening. I don't hear much of anything for the sounders other than score recaps and quick news bulletins. This is also the team and market which is the flagship of MLS.
 

SnowblindNYR

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Soccer is definitely accessible and even if the MLS start paying the future Messi's of the world - there is still something that is against the sport. Americans don't like it - more than they don't like many other sports - including hockey. Whether it's the immigrants game, or it's too slow, not physical, not enough goals, weird clock rules - there are far more people that won't give it a chance than people who will. They will tune into the world cup finals because it's an event, or the Euros but that's the extent of what they will want.

Seattle radio is all over the Kraken, MLB, and NFL for the last month I've been listening. I don't hear much of anything for the sounders other than score recaps and quick news bulletins. This is also the team and market which is the flagship of MLS.

To be fair the Kraken are a new expansion franchise, there's more excitement for that than a regular day for a soccer franchise. This might not be the case in a year.
 
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OG6ix

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To be fair the Kraken are a new expansion franchise, there's more excitement for that than a regular day for a soccer franchise. This might not be the case in a year.
That fair but I have heard more NBA and basketball talk than I have heard about the Sounders. It's like they don't exist. That to me makes no sense. Sonics left on bitter terms and the sounder have been winning championships.
 

eddygee

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That fair but I have heard more NBA and basketball talk than I have heard about the Sounders. It's like they don't exist. That to me makes no sense. Sonics left on bitter terms and the sounder have been winning championships.

I've told you before the Sounders are big in Seattle they have as almost as many Twitter followers as the Mariners they're big in the Pacific NW. Unlike many MLS markets where people go it's only 20-25k lets see them do it for 41 home games. Seattle is getting almost double that on averaging and are more than capable of selling out Century Link. Been on record before that I think the Kraken will do well but I don't get the need to find some sort of anecdotal evidence to minimize a very successful MLS market in the Pacific NW region just cause there's a new team in the market. The Sounders and Kraken aren't in contention its not basketball they are in different seasons largely and won't be seriously fighting for seasonal attention they'll both do well in the Sounders case continue to.

I just think you are letting your Canadian show a bit if I may poke at you a bit. Seattle is just a great sports town.
 
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OG6ix

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I've told you before the Sounders are big in Seattle they have as almost as many Twitter followers as the Mariners they're big in the Pacific NW. Unlike many MLS markets where people go it's only 20-25k lets seem them do it for 41 home games. Seattle is getting almost double that on averaging and are more than capable of selling out Century Link. Been on record before that I think the Kraken will do well but I don't get the need to find some sort of anecdotal evidence to minimize a very successful MLS market in the Pacific NW region just cause there's a new team in the market. The Sounders and Kraken aren't in contention its not basketball they are in different seasons largely and won't be seriously fighting for seasonal attention they'll both do well in the Sounders case continue to.

I just think you are letting your Canadian show a bit if I may poke at you a bit. Seattle is just a great sports town.

I didn't mean to hit a nerve - I just listened to KJR/710 for almost a whole month as background noise (I did this when Vegas came into the league as well) just to see what the sporting scene is like and this is what I have noticed. This is not a knock on the sounders (I am sure you see this too if you are from seattle). I understand MLS has hardcore fans and Seattle probably has a lot - I lived in New york for a while and it was the same with the Red Bulls. Toronto FC also have a lot of hardcore fans - Toronto FC is probably the second biggest MLS franchise (maybe it's Atlanta now?) . It also doesn't seem like the Mariners are any good but people still care they call into KJR, there is discussion on KJR about the mariners.
 

eddygee

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To be fair the Kraken are a new expansion franchise, there's more excitement for that than a regular day for a soccer franchise. This might not be the case in a year.

Yup exactly I mean what could have just happen to draw a lot of Buzz for the Kraken this past week or so. Only paying attention for the last few weeks with all the Kraken expansion buzz leading up to the expansion draft can distort reality a bit. The Sounders aren't more a MLS flagship than a Seattle Flagship. This happened a few month ago.

The Seattle Times Sports had one of those twitter poll with tens of thousands of replies where they asked followers and Seattle Twitter "What Jersey are you excited to get the most". They listed the following jersey choices Seahawks/Mariners/Kraken/Others. "Others" won going away soundly. The replies where so full of people pissed, posting pics of a newly limited edition release Sounders Purple Rain Jimmy Hendricks jersey, the Times took down the poll and apologize sighting accidental oversight lol. They released a new one and the Sounders won but they took off Kraken which ticked off Kraken fans in the reply. Moral of the story don't do Twitter polls for sports lol.
 
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OG6ix

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Yup exactly I mean what could have just happen to draw a lot of Buzz for the Kraken this past week or so. Only paying attention for the last few weeks with all the Kraken expansion buzz leading up to the expansion draft can distort reality a bit. The Sounders aren't more a MLS flagship than a Seattle Flagship. This happened a few month ago.

The Seattle Times Sports had one of those twitter poll with tens of thousands of replies where they asked followers and Seattle Twitter "What Jersey are you excited to get the most". They listed the following jersey choices Seahawks/Mariners/Kraken/Others. "Others" won going away soundly. The replies where so full of people pissed, posting pics of a newly limited edition release Sounders Purple Rain Jimmy Hendricks jersey, the Times took down the poll and apologize sighting accidental oversight lol. They released a new one and the Sounders won but they took off Kraken which ticked off Kraken fans in the reply. Moral of the story don't do Twitter polls for sports lol.

Fair enough - same thing happens in Toronto and I think FC has some of the most passionate fans. Twitter polls are always a good time.
 
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S E P H

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You can make a good case that a decent part of MLS's growth could be on part due to ESPN and themselves advertising it properly. That same advertisement should also affect the NHL as well, which could initiate another gap between either sport.
 

jkrdevil

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Lol, ESPN doesn’t advertise MLS games. They bury it against late afternoon NFL games. MLS is a classic example of ESPN buy the rights to something because they didn’t want another network to grow it.
 

IU Hawks fan

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Lol, ESPN doesn’t advertise MLS games. They bury it against late afternoon NFL games. MLS is a classic example of ESPN buy the rights to something because they didn’t want another network to grow it.

Not to mention that the rights to USMNT are tied to MLS through SUM, so essentially ESPN is forced into a package they don't care about just to get those 10 or so games a year that are a draw.
 

eddygee

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Lol, ESPN doesn’t advertise MLS games. They bury it against late afternoon NFL games. MLS is a classic example of ESPN buy the rights to something because they didn’t want another network to grow it.
Yup thats what ESPN does they were dead set on destroying NBCSN, they went as far at the time it was noted during the deal they worked with Fox Sports to package the MLS deal from NBCSN. They got their kill shot with NHL. The money paid was well worth it, killing off the 3rd TV Sports Channel. History shows there must be only room for 2.
 
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