Versus Nets NHL Rights Extension-through 2011

[EatSleepJeep]

I wish I could get CBC on DirecTV. Versus is pure trash. After the All Star debacle, I wish Mike Emrick would get hit by a bus.

 

[sabresfan129103]

horrible, horrible news. hopefully the NHL can find some way out of this deal, and get on a station with more exposure. In order for the NHL to hit the masses it cannot be on the VS network. I was listening to Jim Rome today and he said that re-runs of the andy griffith show had better ratings then the ASG. This is not because people do not care about the NHL, but because nobody knows what the hell the VS network is. Today is a sad day for hockey.

 

[GKJ]

ESPN needs a competitor, and Versus will be it.

Please....humor us.



The sticking point needs to be that it's not an exclusive cable contract. If it is, it's another loop in the belt that is Gary Bettman's continued ineptitude as commishioner. If not, it's a good deal and there needs to be a second contract with another channel ASAP.

 

[OG6ix]

http://nooneswatching.ytmnd.com/

 

[ColoradoHockeyFan]

The sticking point needs to be that it's not an exclusive cable contract. If it is, it's another loop in the belt that is Gary Bettman's continued ineptitude as commishioner. If not, it's a good deal and there needs to be a second contract with another channel ASAP.

This is what I would like to know as well. Is this an exclusive agreement?

 

[Big Country]

Maybe the way to go

The NHL on ESPN sucked ever since they picked up the NBA. ESPN dropped the total number of games they covered and the promotion for the sport was always terrible. I just don't think it was an option to return to that format, at least not as the main cable provider.

If this is a non-exclusive contract, there's still a chance that ESPN can pick up a game a week during the second half of the season and some playoff games. They probably won't be willing to pay much (anything?) but now that Versus is paying what they are paying, the NHL can afford to go with a second cable provider that won't provide any up front fees.

If this is an exclusive contract, hopefully the NHL has received guarantees that Versus will get into an additional 20 million homes in the next two years.

 

[USF Shark]

given that the NHL is on NBC why couldn't they try to work something out with USA? THat would have been a super fit. I mean, who can continue to watch Law and Order SVU from 6-2am continuously? Get some hockey in there!

 

[jkrdevil]

This is what I would like to know as well. Is this an exclusive agreement?

I believe it is.

 

[kovy1335]

Ahh! There goes 5 Pens games a year and the all star game. F-You Bettman.

 

[GSC2k2*]

I believe it is.

Why would you assume that? The current deal is not exclusive (NBC).

 

[GSC2k2*]

given that the NHL is on NBC why couldn't they try to work something out with USA? THat would have been a super fit. I mean, who can continue to watch Law and Order SVU from 6-2am continuously? Get some hockey in there!

How do you know they didn't try?

 

[Raptor]

Oh...my...god...
IS THIS AN EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT?!
...no. Just no. I can't believe this.
You want to stay for four more seasons on a hunting and fishing channel exclusively?!
This is insane, NHL. This is the stupidest thing you've done since the lockout.

 

[DevilFisch]

You know, for a hunting and fishing channel, they have a hell of a lot of other things on it. Like that niche sport called college basketball.

OK, it's not a sweet deal like MLS is getting; there's no top exec at ESPN who's so into soccer an wanting it to make it a big success. I'm just glad the NHL will have a stable TV contract for a few more years.

Oh, and I do get Versus; they do hockey games pretty well. The All Star Game was an abberation. I notice some of this teeth-gnashing also admits that they don't get the channel.

 

[norrisnick]

The number one thought casual sports fans have of the NHL is that it is a niche sport. So what does the NHL do? Firm up that impression by slapping its games on a channel DEVOTED to niche sports.

Nice work, Gary.

Because hockey IS a niche sport. The kind of exposure some of you guys are clamoring for the NHL would have to PAY for.

 

[OG6ix]

You know, for a hunting and fishing channel, they have a hell of a lot of other things on it. Like that niche sport called college basketball.

OK, it's not a sweet deal like MLS is getting; there's no top exec at ESPN who's so into soccer an wanting it to make it a big success. I'm just glad the NHL will have a stable TV contract for a few more years.

Oh, and I do get Versus; they do hockey games pretty well. The All Star Game was an abberation. I notice some of this teeth-gnashing also admits that they don't get the channel.

The College Basketball they got is no good, who's the last guy to get drafted out of the Mountain West Conference? Rafael Araujo out of BYU?

Their website is so crappy too, I've seen myspace blogs that look better.

 

[Whalerfan11]

As an employee of ESPN this news really sucks. ABC affiliates were asking us for sound and interviews from the allstar game last week and we had to say no because we don't have the rights to use sound. We also don't have the rights to "sot calls" in highlights.

I don't know if this deal is exclusive but I'm really hoping that it's not. I would keep an ear out for more news in the next week or so..if there will be another provider for NHL hockey you probably will hear about it soon.

 

[kdb209]

Why would you assume that? The current deal is not exclusive (NBC).

The NBC deal predated the OLN one.

If I recall correctly from the original OLN deal reporting, the OLN (now VS) deal was an exclusive deal for the US national cable broadcast rights. I would assume that the option year is under the same terms. No terms of the 3 year extension have yet been released, but it would not surprise me if they were exclusive also - actually it would surprise me if they weren't. It is very unlikely that VS would sign a deal that let the NHL turn around and sign a bargain basement deal with a competitor that would undercut the value of it's existing rights.

 

[jkrdevil]

The College Basketball they got is no good, who's the last guy to get drafted out of the Mountain West Conference?

I don't know the last guy who got drafted out of the Mountain West but I do know the 2005 #1 pick Andrew Bogut came out of the Mountain West.

 

[OG6ix]

Bogut is not that good. Anywaysm sure it's college basketball but it isn't like the ACC.

 

[Raptor]

You know, for a hunting and fishing channel, they have a hell of a lot of other things on it. Like that niche sport called college basketball.

OK, it's not a sweet deal like MLS is getting; there's no top exec at ESPN who's so into soccer an wanting it to make it a big success. I'm just glad the NHL will have a stable TV contract for a few more years.

Oh, and I do get Versus; they do hockey games pretty well. The All Star Game was an abberation. I notice some of this teeth-gnashing also admits that they don't get the channel.

Their college basketball and college football games and coverage absolutely sucks, Mountain West? I mean, MOUNTAIN WEST? That's even worse than MAC!

ESPN has one MLS game a week on ESPN2, on saturday afternoons, with no coverage or commercials whatsoever. That's gonna make the MLS a "big success"?

Yes, the NHL does get a STABLE contract, but that's it! All they get is stability, so that somewhere out there, somebody is showing hockey. Versus is still a bad channel as your primary network. I know they do all they can, and they're trying to show as much hockey as they can, but...that still doesn't hide the fact that they're a budget channel. I think, by 2011, Versus will be much bigger and will be in much more homes, but as of right now, it's a horrible, absolutely horrible contract. Less than half of their games are in HD, for God's sake!

And i also get Versus. And from what I've seen, it's the perfect channel for casual viewers to not tune in because it's not in HD, they don't have it, or because it's just not ESPN.

I would much rather drink Coca Cola and buy it for a cheaper price than try to care about RC Soda's business and have a sour taste in my mouth.

 

[Stevedude530]

Actually, every game is broadcast in HD, maybe you just don't have VERSUS HD yet.

 

[Guy Legend]

omg.......

The only saving grace that I can see is that if the additional three year extension isn't exclusive, i.e. leaving room for an additional network like ESPN/USA/Spike etc. to also telecast hockey. If not, brutal........

 

[GSC2k2*]

The NBC deal predated the OLN one.

If I recall correctly from the original OLN deal reporting, the OLN (now VS) deal was an exclusive deal for the US national cable broadcast rights. I would assume that the option year is under the same terms. No terms of the 3 year extension have yet been released, but it would not surprise me if they were exclusive also - actually it would surprise me if they weren't. It is very unlikely that VS would sign a deal that let the NHL turn around and sign a bargain basement deal with a competitor that would undercut the value of it's existing rights.

Fair enough. Just asking the question. I was not aware of the dates. As you know, assumptions get made around here, and the other poster posted little more than a bald assertion.

 

[KeydGV21]

The College Basketball they got is no good, who's the last guy to get drafted out of the Mountain West Conference? Rafael Araujo out of BYU?

Their website is so crappy too, I've seen myspace blogs that look better.

Andrew Bogut, from Utah was the #1 pick as recently as draft before last.

 

[GSC2k2*]

Their college basketball and college football games and coverage absolutely sucks, Mountain West? I mean, MOUNTAIN WEST? That's even worse than MAC!

ESPN has one MLS game a week on ESPN2, on saturday afternoons, with no coverage or commercials whatsoever. That's gonna make the MLS a "big success"?

Yes, the NHL does get a STABLE contract, but that's it! All they get is stability, so that somewhere out there, somebody is showing hockey. Versus is still a bad channel as your primary network. I know they do all they can, and they're trying to show as much hockey as they can, but...that still doesn't hide the fact that they're a budget channel. I think, by 2011, Versus will be much bigger and will be in much more homes, but as of right now, it's a horrible, absolutely horrible contract. Less than half of their games are in HD, for God's sake!

And i also get Versus. And from what I've seen, it's the perfect channel for casual viewers to not tune in because it's not in HD, they don't have it, or because it's just not ESPN.

I would much rather drink Coca Cola and buy it for a cheaper price than try to care about RC Soda's business and have a sour taste in my mouth.

You know what I don't get around here?

People make a statement, and then, when someone refutes it with a fact, rather than simply owning up to their incorrect initial statement like a man, they go off on a side point that ignores the fact that they have been proven incorrect. To wit:

Poster 1: Vs is a mere hunting and fishing channel.
Poster 2: Incorrect; Vs broadcasts college basketball.
Poster 1: The college basketball sucks.

Do you not see that the third statement does not refute the second statement? I mean, not at ALL??? Nor does it render the initial statement correct, which has been decisively proven incorrect by the second statement. Do you not see that?

I would just love for once if, when someone makes a half-cocked statement that is shown to be half-cocked, that person would simply stand up and say "Yes, I overstated the point. I was incorrect in making such a statement."

As in "Fair enough. You are right, they do offer up a larger selection of sports than the ones I was mentioning."

How about that even once? You might set a trend.