Sportsnet beginning mass layoffs of on and off-air talent

[Glenster77]

Absolutely sucks that Doug Maclean is gone. That guy is funny as hell.

Totally agree! I loved it when him and Kypreos were on together - very funny combo at times.

Has it been confirmed that MacLean is officially gone...?

 

[Roadrage]

James Sharman - Gone today from Sportsnet

James Sharman (@jamessharman) | Twitter

Really liked him too. Him and KJ worked well together.

 

[eddygee]

Molinaro was their soccer guy but both networks are basically moving on from soccer besides for MLS after DAZN swooped in.

Interesting you should say that as the same thing is going on in the States. It's been rumored that FOX won't re-up with the Bundesliga which will most-likely head to a streaming platform like DAZN= ESPN+. Serie A is mainly on ESPN+ with limited games shown on ESPN2 occasionally. That would leave EPL/MLS as the only weekly regular soccer leagues on TV. NHL eyeing FOX and ESPN, FOX would be better in my opinion ESPN has way too much inventory already.

Back on topic to NHL I wonder what this means for the next Canadian TV deal. I think the best bet would be for Rogers & TSN to split the deal and hopefully NHL can get another big increase that way.

 

[Chileiceman]

James Sharman - Gone today from Sportsnet

James Sharman (@jamessharman) | Twitter

It looks like Craig Forrest, another soccer analyst, is also out. I wonder if DAZN will have studio programming for the EPL or if it'll just be the games. They don't do studio analysis for Serie A but do have a bit for Champions League.

 

[skeena1]

But wait! There's more!

 

[Fenway]

I just got a text from someone very close to Cherry - nothing has been decided as of yet.

 

[rojac]

The soccer guys being cut loose just makes sense. I have no idea who James Sharman is. And personally, I wouldn’t consider Bob McCown, Doug MacLean, or Don Cherry to be much of a loss. In fact, in Cherry’s case, letting him go would be at least 20 years too late.

 

[Neutrinos]

Roger Lajoise (sp?) and John Shannon are 2 guys that have no business being on-air talent

Neither offer anything in terms of entertainment, nor do they have any edge to them whatsoever

In other words, they're boring and dull

 

[Deuce Awesome]

There's something cheap and fake about Sportsnet's production that I just can't get past.

Same. Just seems like they are trying waaaay to hard to be the cool kid. Plus the over the top "Rogers" everywhere. Rogers and Bell are the two most hated companies in Canada. They never got the announcers either. Stuck with Hughson.

TSN's broadcast is actually very good from start to finish. It just seems to come naturally for them.

 

[c1rcus]

There is a lot of speculation that the NHL's salary cap will rise significantly with the signing of a TV deal with NBC. Will the salary cap go down when Sportsnets deal ends with the NHL? Will the two TV deals end up counteracting each other -- keeping the cap at roughly the same spot?

 

[TheBeastCoast]

There is a lot of speculation that the NHL's salary cap will rise significantly with the signing of a TV deal with NBC. Will the salary cap go down when Sportsnets deal ends with the NHL? Will the two TV deals end up counteracting each other -- keeping the cap at roughly the same spot?

No? There will be another TV deal in Canada once the Sportsnet deal is up. They also aren't up in the same year so it won't have that kind of correlation. The cap will go up with the American deal and then in the years leading up to the Canadian deal being up will again probably creep up and it is impossible to say what the landscape will be looking like for the next deal in Canada yet....but Bell will probably be trying to get back in.

 

[c1rcus]

No? There will be another TV deal in Canada once the Sportsnet deal is up.

Yeah but seeing how poorly this one is being viewed in retrospect by Sportsnet/Rogers one would think that the new (Canadian) TV deal signed won't be nearly as profitable to the NHL as the current one.

They also aren't up in the same year so it won't have that kind of correlation.

Okay, I wasn't sure of that.

it is impossible to say what the landscape will be looking like for the next deal in Canada yet....but Bell will probably be trying to get back in.

Based on the layoffs and numerous stories about how Rogers is out to lunch on this current deal I would assume the landscape isn't looking so great for another massive Canadian TV deal -- Bell being back in or not.

 

[Inkling]

I just got a text from someone very close to Cherry - nothing has been decided as of yet.

Yes, I can't see them turning Cherry loose without a farewell tour. A farewell tour would equal ratings. This is perhaps just some bargaining from Rogers hoping to get him for one more year at a lower rate. If Rogers doesn't want to send Cherry off properly, then I'm sure TSN would jump at the chance.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

If you're trying to make costs more affordable, inflation does a number of things over time to help with that. [Longer rant on how inflation is ultimately damaging omitted.] If TSN offers the same money when negotiations come up next time, it would be a more profitable deal than what Rogers talked itself into.

Put another way: this isn't where ABC/ESPN forked out 5 years, $600 million in 1999, quickly realized it had overpaid [not helped by burying the league on ESPN2 in non-prime slots], tried scooping up the rights going forward for about $60 million a year with no guarantee of prime-time or prime-network viewing, then Comcast/Versus paid just over half that in the next TV deal with NBC getting profit-sharing rights from the NHL.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Yeah but seeing how poorly this one is being viewed in retrospect by Sportsnet/Rogers one would think that the new (Canadian) TV deal signed won't be nearly as profitable to the NHL as the current one.



Okay, I wasn't sure of that.



Based on the layoffs and numerous stories about how Rogers is out to lunch on this current deal I would assume the landscape isn't looking so great for another massive Canadian TV deal -- Bell being back in or not.

You will probably see a split of the rights between Roger's and Bell. Just because this deal hasnt gone well doesnt mean the NHL will take a wash on the next deal.

 

[End on a Hinote]

Good. This is karma for the bull**** they pulled on Canucksfan31 and UrinatingTree on Youtube

What happened?

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

Has it been confirmed that MacLean is officially gone...?

Has there been any actual confirmation that Doug MacLean has been let go? I see lots of rumours and speculation, but nothing from any reliable sources.

I used to find MacLean annoying until the ASG at Columbus when he said he knew he was getting fired from the Blue Jackets so he approved the addition of the canon on his way out and laughed about it. Now I find him pretty amusing.

 

[MsMeow]

I haven't heard anything official about Doug MacLean but good riddance. All he and Kypreos do is yell over each other. The thing with Cherry is interesting in that Simmons didn't say Cherry was being let go but Cherry hasn't said he has a contract.

 

[TheLegend]

Doesn’t look like Cherry’s going anywhere.

 

[Caeldan]

i got a question...

when the canadian networks (tsn, sn) bidded for nhl tv rights a couple of years ago, did tsn declined because the nhl lowballed them?

Rogers tossed a whole whack of money at the NHL and the league didn't bother with counter offers from Bell or CBC.

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

Better not get rid of Tim and Sid

 

[madhi19]

You will probably see a split of the rights between Roger's and Bell. Just because this deal hasnt gone well doesnt mean the NHL will take a wash on the next deal.

If I remember right as part of their ownership agreement of MLSE they can't do a joint bid for the TV rights. The interesting part is will there be a third, and fourth bidder looking to just muscle their way in? For example Amazon is becoming a virtual cable provider. Where Amazon goes, Apple and Google are never that far behind or are already there.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

If I remember right as part of their ownership agreement of MLSE they can't do a joint bid for the TV rights. The interesting part is will there be a third, and fourth bidder looking to just muscle their way in? For example Amazon is becoming a virtual cable provider. Where Amazon goes, Apple and Google are never that far behind or are already there.

I dont believe Roger's and Bells joining together had anything to do with any future deals in that way. They do have to evenly split regional games and split nationally broadcast Raptor's games. Roger's could be selling parts of this contract if they really wanted to but seem intent on holding it all to themselves for now anyways. I agree with you on the non traditional medium next time around. A league at some point is going to have to find out a way to actually monetize cord cutters within that teams area and that would be a way.

 

[Trizent]

There is a lot of money to be found with streaming services as they have to overbid because they offer more limited eyeballs at this stage. UFC cashed out with ESPN/ESPN+ deal, but going with ppvs in the USA only through ESPN+ has hurt limited the number of buys.

So NHL needs to be careful with this.

 

[Mike Jones]

I haven't heard anything official about Doug MacLean but good riddance. All he and Kypreos do is yell over each other. The thing with Cherry is interesting in that Simmons didn't say Cherry was being let go but Cherry hasn't said he has a contract.

Well, I'm not the biggest MacLean fan but I'm not blaming him his scraps with Kypreos. I don't think it helps when Kypreos acts like an idiot and runs over other people in panels. He's a rude, obnoxious guy who has to be run off for the sake of his Sportsnet colleagues. Get rid of Nick and I'd bet money you'd see a huge improvement on Sportsnet.