NHL shopping international TV/etc. rights

[Jonas1235]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nhl-shops-foreign-tv-rights-188682

Click to read more...

 

[LadyStanley]

From article

The pro league on Monday unveiled a tender process for international media rights to live hockey games to be sold throughout Europe and the hot tropics of the Middle East and Africa.
The NHL said Evolution Media Capital will conduct an open auction for the foreign rights to live NHL games covering the 2011-12 through 2014-15 seasons.
The open bidding process will run from May 17 to June 8.

 

[macavoy]

From article

If the NHL finds a taker for international rights, will that increase the number of illegal streams available?

 

[Jonas1235]

Probably the most important keyword in that article is the "live games" part.

A 7:30pm eastern start is like 1:30 am in Africa. In the Middle East, it's like 4 am.

The best times would be in Asia, in which games could be seen live at 7:30 am.

 

[LeftCoast]

I wonder if this is part of a strategy to cut the legs out from under the IIHF and IOC?

I'm really just thinking out loud, but if the "rights" include all games involving NHL players, under contract, during the regular season or playoffs, it could be an avenue through which the NHL demands compensation from the IIHF and/or IOC for NHL players appearing in the Olympics.

 

[LadyStanley]

http://puckthemedia.wordpress.com/2...-writes-in-europe-the-middle-east-and-africa/

PTM on negotiations

The NHL’s appeal to international broadcasters has never been higher. With 26 percent of its players coming from outside of North America, the League is truly global, drawing millions of fans and viewers from around the world, including in the 142 countries and territories where NHL games are broadcast. Since 2007, the NHL has staged more than 35 exhibition and regular season games in Europe attended by over 400,000 fans.

Demand for NHL video content is very strong among NHL’s international fans. International visitors to NHL.com have grown 32 percent year-over-year. They account for 20 percent of all traffic to the League’s website and consume video on NHL.com at more than twice the rate of North American fans (up 116 percent year-over-year).

Guess that folks are willing to stay/get up to watch the games.

 

[knorthern knight]

NBC's Sunday 1:00 PM games would be Sunday evening/night in Finland/Sweden and the former USSR, where a lot of current NHL players hail from.

 

[kdb209]

I wonder if this is part of a strategy to cut the legs out from under the IIHF and IOC?

I'm really just thinking out loud, but if the "rights" include all games involving NHL players, under contract, during the regular season or playoffs, it could be an avenue through which the NHL demands compensation from the IIHF and/or IOC for NHL players appearing in the Olympics.

No. The NHL cannot sell what it does not own.

The NHL does not own any broadcast rights to international games (Olympics or World Championships) just because NHL players are participating.

Broadcasting rights to the Worlds and Olympics are owned solely by the IIHF/IOC and sold by them alone.

 

[Jonas1235]

There are billions of people around the world who are unfamiliar with hockey. If the league can get some of those to follow the game and stay up late to watch games and drive traffic to its website during the weak times of the night/morning, then good on them. Will definately add to the revenue.

 

[LeftCoast]

No. The NHL cannot sell what it does not own.

The NHL does not own any broadcast rights to international games (Olympics or World Championships) just because NHL players are participating.

Broadcasting rights to the Worlds and Olympics are owned solely by the IIHF/IOC and sold by them alone.

It's true - IIHF and IOC own the rights to the games.

But what the NHL does "own" is exclusive rights to the NHL players during the NHL season; the IOC can not have NHL players at the Olympics without the cooperation of the NHL. If (big if) the NHL is able to use this leverage to get the IOC to agree to share "some" broadcast revenues, when it comes down to negotiating the "how much", it doesn't hurt the NHL's position if that the regular NHL games, that would normally be broadcast during the Olympics are sold in Canada, the US and Internationally as well.

 

[kdb209]

It's true - IIHF and IOC own the rights to the games.

But what the NHL does "own" is exclusive rights to the NHL players during the NHL season; the IOC can not have NHL players at the Olympics without the cooperation of the NHL. If (big if) the NHL is able to use this leverage to get the IOC to agree to share "some" broadcast revenues, when it comes down to negotiating the "how much", it doesn't hurt the NHL's position if that the regular NHL games, that would normally be broadcast during the Olympics are sold in Canada, the US and Internationally as well.

True. The NHL may make some demands as conditions for going to Sochi (and wherever is awarded the 2018 games), but the NHLPA also has a say in it - it is a point which will be negotiated in the next CBA. From what I've read, the NHL is not necessarily looking for money, but rather access - availability of the players during the games and the ability to use Olympic footage to promote & market the NHL before, during, and after the games.

However, any demands the NHL may make to the IOC w.r.t. Sochi and beyond have absolutely nothing to do with the NHL marketing its international TV rights now.

 

[not a trapdoor]

It'd be interesting to see what sort of sums the NHL would be able to get for international rights. Obviously places like Finland, Sweden & Russia would have appreciable demand, but I suspect that outside of a few European countries, the money on offer would be fairly low.

We get a few games a week here on cable TV (which has maybe a 30% penetration), but NHL is very much the poor cousin to local sports & even other international sports - Sharks-Canucks game 1 wasn't shown, as some MLB game was shown instead (Yankees vs Red Sox I think, not that I paid much attention). I can't imagine that the channel which shows NHL games will have paid much if they'll bump a conference final for an early season MLB game.

NHL (& MLB) has a miniscule following here, and most hockey fans speak with a North American accent (I'm one of the rare native hockey fans here). I suspect that much of the demand in many Asian countries would be similar to that in Australia - expats from Canada & NE United States.

I'd love hockey to grow more in this part of the world, mind you. I'm just not sure that the NHL would get a lot for the rights. Some countries in this region just don't do sports well (Malaysia, Singapore) or simply don't have the disposable income (Indonesia, Vietnam). Others have saturated sports markets (Australia, Japan) or have their own national sports & others just don't get a look in (Rugby in NZ, Cricket in India).

I applaud the NHL for making the effort to make themselves more accessable - the video highlights on the website are a wonderful way to allow those living outside North America to stay in touch, and I hope that they _do_ find a way to get international rights happening. Both as an added revenue stream and a way to grow hockey beyond it's traditional national markets.

 

[DeathToAllButMetal]

There are billions of people around the world who are unfamiliar with hockey. If the league can get some of those to follow the game and stay up late to watch games and drive traffic to its website during the weak times of the night/morning, then good on them. Will definately add to the revenue.

Yeah, I'm sure loads of folks will be staying up all night in Dubai to catch the Panthers and Lightning.

Seriously, is this auction going to generate any real money? The league can't get anything serious for prime time in the US, yet suddenly this is a hot property in Eurasia?

 

[obsenssive*]

We get a few games a week here on cable TV (which has maybe a 30% penetration), but NHL is very much the poor cousin to local sports & even other international sports - Sharks-Canucks game 1 wasn't shown, as some MLB game was shown instead (Yankees vs Red Sox I think, not that I paid much attention).

really? I didn't even know the NHL was broadcast in Australia, let alone on a weekly basis! is it a rebroadcast of versus?

 

[Boomfish]

I'm in the UK. Hi. On cable I get ESPN America (related only by branding I think to US ESPN) which has 2-4 games a week in the regular season including both HNIC games usually. Best believe I stay up (especially Friday and Saturday - it's only till like 2:30 for the early game) and of course we get the weekend matinees at a nice early evening time.

We've also had loads of playoff games. Every night for Round 1 and then whenever games have been on (2 games when there is a later pacific game). We get Canadian and US broadcasts so I think from reading these boards we actually get more playoff games than in parts of the US. Don't ask me how the rights are negotiated coz I've no earthly idea.

Hope this sale/ auction won't mean I need to pay any extra or lose games. Trust I love what I get right now (used to be like one game a week on a wednesday night on Channel 5 in the old days - gah - pre-internet too).

Anyway I don't know if this is interesting to anyone....

 

[not a trapdoor]

really? I didn't even know the NHL was broadcast in Australia, let alone on a weekly basis! is it a rebroadcast of versus?

It used to be once a week only, which I loathed because one live game at 10am or so on a Wednesday with no replay meant I never got to see it. Now it's 3-4 a week often rescreened late at night when I'd actually be home

And yeah, it's usually Versus or various region FS channels (since the local cable is also Fox).

 

[AlanHUK]

I'm in the UK. Hi. On cable I get ESPN America (related only by branding I think to US ESPN) which has 2-4 games a week in the regular season including both HNIC games usually. Best believe I stay up (especially Friday and Saturday - it's only till like 2:30 for the early game) and of course we get the weekend matinees at a nice early evening time.

We've also had loads of playoff games. Every night for Round 1 and then whenever games have been on (2 games when there is a later pacific game). We get Canadian and US broadcasts so I think from reading these boards we actually get more playoff games than in parts of the US. Don't ask me how the rights are negotiated coz I've no earthly idea.

Hope this sale/ auction won't mean I need to pay any extra or lose games. Trust I love what I get right now (used to be like one game a week on a wednesday night on Channel 5 in the old days - gah - pre-internet too).

Anyway I don't know if this is interesting to anyone....

I use the espn player for center ice. £70 a year for all the regular season games live or on demand for the next few days.

I think all season i missed maybe 4 oiler games, and I got to watch a bunch of other teams too.

 

[Jonas1235]

Yeah, I'm sure loads of folks will be staying up all night in Dubai to catch the Panthers and Lightning.

Seriously, is this auction going to generate any real money? The league can't get anything serious for prime time in the US, yet suddenly this is a hot property in Eurasia?

I believe 10 million people watched the CAN USA gold medal game last year in China. So there is some appetite at least to watch hockey over there. Maybe not regular season hockey, but definately playoff calibre hockey.

There are premiership games like Wolverhampton vs. Hull City on North America television on the weekends. People could care less about these teams yet they make it to tv overseas. It's more about the brand than teams involved.

Panthers/Lightning wouldn't be on national tv anyway. Games that these countries would get would be NBC/Versus game of the night kind of games. Also possibly HNIC since they already broadcast games in Punjabi.

There's also tons of Americans/Europeans in Eurasia who do like hockey. Even countries like Israel who play hockey recreationally now.

I think it's more about get people to the website and sellings advertisements as it is tv ratings though.

 

[NJDevilsZG]

I have ESPN America too via my cable provider, and NHL does get somewhat "meh" coverage. Playoffs are good, but regular season gets killed by NFL (which I understand) and MLB (please ... do they seriously think that Europe is interested in that?) As for the Devils, if there were no streams, I would see like 2-3 games in regular season ...
I can't make myself throw the money for center-ice, cause there is no pre/post game show, plus I loose quality of a picture when I forward it from PC to big TV. And you can bet that I stay up for probably 90% of the games even during working days. So if they would come up with something better, I believe there will be people willing to pay for it.

 

[Jazz]

Utilize the Punjabi broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada

.... Also possibly HNIC since they already broadcast games in Punjabi.....

Regarding these Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts in Punjabi, the NHL should literally give these tapes away to Indian broadcasters in the northern states of India where Punjabi is understood.

Notably:

• Punjab itself - as there are a large number of Canadian Punjabi's who visit Punjab during the winter months
• Jammu & Kashmir - where Ice Hockey is actually played in India (don't believe me, click here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=65580870691 and here (video): http://www.facebook.com/video/?oid=65580870691
• Haryana
• the northern portion of Rajastan
• Himachal Pradesh

And I don't mean an English channel that covers Sports, but an actual Punjabi language channel. Even if these games are on in the middle of the night, there will be a segment of the population that will watch. This is a ready-made language product that has the potential to open up a segment of a market of over 75 million people who live in these areas.

But this is 'outside-the-box' thinking and when have we seen that from the league...