RIP NHL on NBC/NBSN

[John Price]

NHL on NBC had it all, from a great theme to great broadcasters.



The montage played last night

 

[GoldiFox]

I'd be very surprised if it could get worse. NBC was hot doodoo butter for hockey. The product was the antithesis of direction that entertainment is heading and got worse every year. Good riddance.

 

[Mike in Houston]

Most of the on air personnel are good at they do...it's the production/decisions that drag it down. I really hope Tappen finds a spot with someone (maybe she has and I'm living under a rock?).

Tappen is staying at NBC. She's got plenty to do.

 

[HarryLime]

Pretty uneventful but it's not totally their fault. I honestly do believe the NHL lost a lot of its luster and have been in a multiple decade slump, similar to MLB and WWF/WWE. Product became garbage in the mid to late 90s and we've seen surges here and there I guess. NBC was pretty generic but I don't blame them too much.

 

[CutOnDime97]

NBC was alright. Generic is a great word to describe what they did. They never seemed to try much new and didn't do a great job marketing in my opinion.. or maybe the amount of people that would flip on NBCSN was just capped.

I think ESPN brings more eyes to the game. Put McDavid on TV and people will enjoying watching hockey.

 

[Hmmm]

ESPN and the NHL are like oil and water, cant see this being good for us NHL fans

 

[Ozz]

I'm definitely in the minority that liked NBCSN. It might be a bad memory but I don't recall better coverage/more available games on Versus, Outdoor Network, and certainly not ESPN. I fear ESPN is going to make between/post-game coverage unbearable, like those clips of the guy screaming the entire time acting like he's making TikTok videos

 

[Jetsfan79]

ESPN and the NHL are like oil and water, cant see this being good for us NHL fans

I think the time has come to give ESPN another try. Allot has changed in the media landscape since they were an NHL partner. Don't discount the competition with Turner Sports will push them to up their game with the production value. (and vice versa)

I think the NHL made the right decision to go with only a 7 year deal. That's really not a very long time. If they don't like how it goes, NBC or other media entities can still be an option for the next contract.

 

[OG6ix]

It was an ok but I am happy the NHL is back on ESPN. It literally is the destination for sports fans and they have been talking NHL more now that they have the contract. It really does spill over into the broader casual. Even FOX personalities are jumping in - because they essentially copy everything ESPN does. Skip Bayless was SUCH a hockey hater after the lockout.

 

[Djp]

This will always be an OLN league.

I remrmber an OLNpredevesdor…can’t recall the name. A new sports channel competing with ESPN. They signed nhl and counted on getting baseball.

 

[OG6ix]

Another hockey hater started chiming in.

 

[nickp91]

End of an era I was still in school when nhl on nbc started it’s current run

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

To watch ESPN and TNT games, is FUBOTv good to have??

 

[Mario_is_BACK!!]

Only if rip stands for rest in pieces

Rest in piss.

Thank God this deal is over and thank God we have no more Pierre.

 

[Terry Yake]

NBC should bring back the NBA, you could tell they really didn't give a crap about the NHL, lol.

i wouldn't say they didn't give a crap about the NHL. i think they did the best they could in trying to market the league and sport to the general public. unfortunately, most NHL players have the personalities of brick walls so there's only so much you can do with that. another poster said NHL on NBC was "generic" and i think that sums it up perfectly, especially in regards to the personalities they had on for the last decade or so

ESPN is capable of doing more with the NHL than NBC was, in my opinion, because they're a sport-focused outlet with a much bigger sports-minded audience, not to mention they've put together a good list of talent so far. i think NBC did a good job covering/marketing the early winter classic/stadium series games, but as more of them were played, interest waned

i do agree that the NBA should return to NBC. grew up on that and it was a perfect match

 

[405Entrance]

I’ll never forget how they put the ducks oilers series in 2017 on some random ass channel. I think it was golf or cooking

 

[jkrdevil]

To watch ESPN and TNT games, is FUBOTv good to have??

Fubo Tv doesn’t include TNT or TBS so no.

 

[Bandit]

I don't have high expectations that it will happen but the only thing I hated about NBC that I hope ESPN might fix is the shit scheduling. Constantly putting the time slots in a position where the early game would overrun the late game was obnoxious, particularly in the playoffs.

 

[TheGreatOne11]

Neither of the new networks have shown any interest in Pierre

Back to TSN i guess.

 

[boboche]

Looks like I'm in the minority here but I quite enjoyed NBC. I'll miss Tappen, Sharpie, Carter, Moore, etc. At least they don't talk about the Leafs all the time when it's totally irrelevant to the game currently played like it is on Canadian broadcasts

Pierre Maguire can be annoying but he's someone "I like to hate". I won't miss Ed Olczyk at all though. He was bad.

Hopefully there will be less black outs; Always super annoyed when say a Habs-Bruins game is blacked out in California. I really want a better online experience so I can cut off cable; Sucks that none of the playoffs game were available on nhl.tv

 

[iamjs]

so is that better than the (checks notes) 75 national games that ESPN has agreed to show?
What does ESPN’s new deal to air NHL games mean for viewers?

I mean, feel free to dunk on NBC for a number of reasons (and a good number of those reasons are probably reasonable and valid), but broadcasting a large number of games shouldn't be one of them, even if you had to check NBC/NBCSN/USA/CNBC/etc. As mentioned, ESPN is showing 75 games. Stretch that over 26 weeks, and that's about 3 games a week. NBC would do that in a night, multiple nights a week.

But I guess you won't have to search for a game when ESPN won't be showing most of them.

And I imagine this is where you come in with the "but you get ESPN+ for $5.99 a month", or whatever tf it is.

 

[GMR]

so is that better than the (checks notes) 75 national games that ESPN has agreed to show?
What does ESPN’s new deal to air NHL games mean for viewers?

I mean, feel free to dunk on NBC for a number of reasons (and a good number of those reasons are probably reasonable and valid), but broadcasting a large number of games shouldn't be one of them, even if you had to check NBC/NBCSN/USA/CNBC/etc. As mentioned, ESPN is showing 75 games. Stretch that over 26 weeks, and that's about 3 games a week. NBC would do that in a night, multiple nights a week.

But I guess you won't have to search for a game when ESPN won't be showing most of them.

And I imagine this is where you come in with the "but you get ESPN+ for $5.99 a month", or whatever tf it is.

Bingo. Who cares how popular NBCSN is or how their broadcasters called games? The bottom line is, they showed lots of games. ESPN won't. You're getting less coverage with ESPN, even if more bartenders know the channel.

 

[FMichael]

Bingo. Who cares how popular NBCSN is or how their broadcasters called games? The bottom line is, they showed lots of games. ESPN won't. You're getting less coverage with ESPN, even if more bartenders know the channel.

I find it humorous with how many appear to be willing to kick NBC to the curb and move on as though it was a nasty habit.

It's these very same fans who are likely too young to remember ESPN showcasing poker tournaments instead of NHL games during the last few seasons while under contract.

IMHO it was a rocky start with OLN - then VS, but after a few seasons things got rolling and NBC/NBCSN became the flagship - the quality of the product and the number of games improved considerably (Winter Classic anyone?).

NBC and it's affiliates did a fine job.

 

[Osakahaus]

Good riddance

Get outta here you biased homers for the penguins and rangers

 

[Osakahaus]

Pretty uneventful but it's not totally their fault. I honestly do believe the NHL lost a lot of its luster and have been in a multiple decade slump, similar to MLB and WWF/WWE. Product became garbage in the mid to late 90s and we've seen surges here and there I guess. NBC was pretty generic but I don't blame them too much.

MLB is being killed by its comish and wrestling is its own issue