How do you get rid of/reduce commercials without losing revenue?

[Nalens Oga]

I hate commercials, after previously owning a DVR and then having to watch hockey live, there's a huge difference. I think that they interrupt the flow of the game and I'd rather just watch games on-demand now with the commercials removed. Taking them out has to increase viewership of the sport. Not to mention the 18 minute waste that is the two intermissions which are usually never worth watching.

I'm assuming commercial revenue is irrelevant to the NHL itself but the networks airing the games obviously need the $. Would it be possible for the networks+NHL to reduce the amount of breaks in the future while finding other ways to advertise? The advertisements would obviously have to get revenue to the network (so things like ads on jerseys are off since that's NHL revenue). Also would it even be possible to do until the NHL's TV network in whichever region expires which isn't for another decade almost in the US I think?

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[skeena1]

Commercial revenue translates directly into rights fees paid to teams. PPV anyone?

 

[Butch 19]

can I have my 30 seconds back?

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Maybe it's because I grew up watching football and baseball...but the commercials in hockey are downright reasonable.

I'm not willing to let the players turn into billboards and the thought of PPV regular season games makes me physically ill.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

Of all the major sports, actually I think the NHL handles the TV commercials situation the best. Play is generally continuous except for 3 90 second breaks during each period at known intervals, and the 2 intermissions. Compare that to:

MLB - not terrible, but that one inning where a team changes pitchers, pitches to one batter, changes pitchers again...
NBA - usually okay up until the last 5 minutes, and the inevitable string of timeouts...
NFL - don't get me started. Score, 4 commercials, kickoff, 4 more commercials...

 

[Tackla]

I think the NHL also handles commercials well compared to others, but I'd rather put logos on every inch of uniform and all over the arenas than have commercial breaks.

 

[Doan Jidion*]

There seems to be a disconnect between North Americans and Europeans on this one. Euros would rather hoouh out the uniforms than have minimal commercial interruption, while North Americans will gladly put up with small breaks relative to the barrages of ads in football and baseball if it means the uniforms are respected.

 

[n00bxQb]

I'd love it if we cut the ice scrapes down to twice a period (14 and 7 minute marks) and did some short 15-second commercials during whistles.

Would speed up the game and more people would watch the commercials.

 

[kdb209]

Commercial revenue translates directly into rights fees paid to teams. PPV anyone?

Actually not.

RSNs make the majority of their revenues (AIUI 75%+) from subscriber fees, not advertising.

 

[skeena1]

Actually not.

RSNs make the majority of their revenues (AIUI 75%+) from subscriber fees, not advertising.

Subscriber fees tend to be flat....a good team will produce huge numbers among subscribers - and thus increased revenue through advertising.

 

[MarkGio]

Well how come the Flames foundation and Scotia Bank are always airing commercials during the hockey games. Its the same commercial like every time it goes to commercial break. I'm sure the Flames are in on it somehow

 

[Doan Jidion*]

I'd love it if we cut the ice scrapes down to twice a period (14 and 7 minute marks) and did some short 15-second commercials during whistles.

Would speed up the game and more people would watch the commercials.

I've noticed that games on Rogers Sportsnet fit mini-commercials in between whistles. I guess American teams are just doing live reads for things during that time. It just has a different feel to see pre-recorded spots in those windows.

 

[cheswick]

Maybe the OP should become a football fan (soccer). There are no commerical interuptions during the course of a match.


The league / teams indirectly gets the revenue from commercials via tv deals. The more revenue a tv deal can generate the higher people will be willing to pay for it. Personally don't see a way that the commercial revenue will be able to be supplemented very easily. Plus live sports has far less of an issue of people watching it off DVR then tradional shows do where you see incresed product placement.

As someone pointed out removing a revenue stream for the broadcaster would have a combination of decreasing the price obtained by the league/teams and an increase in the subscriber fee for the channel. I think the majority of people would rather watch the commericals then to pay more for the channel.

 

[Tommy Hawk]

They could do like F1 Racing does on NBC sports, they keep the race going in a spit screen.

 

[Beef Invictus]

The commercial breaks do serve a use; it's not unusual to see some minor ice maintenance going on.

It's a good time to run to the bathroom or the beer vendor/fridge too.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

The commercial breaks do serve a use; it's not unusual to see some minor ice maintenance going on.

Hello exactly! There are rules about how often the ice shavings need to be shoveled. Also, letting the players breathe so they have more energy. Both of these lead to a better quality of play.

 

[Riptide]

Start a game 20-30 minutes behind live. Fast forward through each commercial and intermission. Use intermissions to grab snacks, bathroom breaks, etc. You'll catch up sometime during the 3rd period.

I couldn't live without my PVR. Okay, well I could, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to.

 

[PCSPounder]

Seattle Sounders get $4 million a year to have X-Box on their flagrantly ugly kits.

Portland Timbers have Alaska Airlines; the rumor is $2 million to $2.5 million a year, but it's not public information.

I'd think Toronto gets tingly thinking about what they'd catch. I'd think it could be done without sacrificing the leaf on the sweater, too.

 

[PensPlz]

For the first 2 months of Pen's games, I had to see this commercial every. single. break.



I went insane. Thank God that it's moved on to the creepy person in the laundry mat stalking some girl.

But yeah... aside from the quality of commercials, I have no problem with how the NHL handles it. They have to mop up the ice and stuff anyways, so unless they dress the ice girls in ads while they shovel the snow off the ice and we watch them instead... I don't think it can get any better.

 

[brec7]

I have no issue with commercials in the NHL, but if you wanted to make it better/were worried about flow, actually having MORE breaks would probably be the way to do it. Rather than have three set breaks, just have nine 30 second spots. It would actually make the game shorter if done right- teams would just proceed to change as they normally would and the ref would hold up play until the break was done (which would only be 5 to 10 seconds.) It's kind of weird it doesn't work this way anyway, you'd think more fans would watch the ads then.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

I have no issue with commercials in the NHL, but if you wanted to make it better/were worried about flow, actually having MORE breaks would probably be the way to do it. Rather than have three set breaks, just have nine 30 second spots. It would actually make the game shorter if done right- teams would just proceed to change as they normally would and the ref would hold up play until the break was done (which would only be 5 to 10 seconds.) It's kind of weird it doesn't work this way anyway, you'd think more fans would watch the ads then.

Again though, you're leaving out the fact that the league sees the benefits that the full TV timeouts have on the game. For one, you can't sweep the ice in 30 seconds. Secondly, it allows teams to fully 'reset' energy wise, which means more ice time for top players, rather than having them catch their breath amid the flow of the game.

 

[powerstuck]

But but...it is proven that showing a Subway/McDonalds/BK/Friday's ad 20 times during a 2 hour hockey game that's aired between 10PM and midnight will make me get up, go out and buy one meal from each of them.

 

[Section337]

It also gives the crowd, particularly frequent attendees, a nice break to get out or back to your seats.

 

[Mungman]

It also gives the crowd, particularly frequent attendees, a nice break to get out or back to your seats.

TV timeouts are awesome in the arena. I wait for the first timeout of a period for the bathroom dash, I can make it from my seat to the can and be back at the top of the tunnel for puckdrop. Trying to get to the can during intermissions in the upper level at the MTS Centre is basically mission impossible.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

But but...it is proven that showing a Subway/McDonalds/BK/Friday's ad 20 times during a 2 hour hockey game that's aired between 10PM and midnight will make me get up, go out and buy one meal from each of them.

That's not really the point of advertising.