We all knew a new NHL TV deal was coming, and yesterday’s news that Turner had dropped out of the running indicated we would see a deal soon; however, I was still a bit surprised to get home this afternoon to find that NBC and Versus have re-signed with the NHL for the next ten seasons, beginning in 2011-2012. The NHL is the latest league to sign a long-term US TV deal. The NFL recently did this with ESPN’s Monday Night Football. Much of the deal for us Canadians will remain the same; however there will be a few noticeable changes. Here are some of the highlights of the deal and how they will affect us here in Canada.
- NBC and Versus remain the exclusive national TV home of the NHL in the United States. Versus will air 90 exclusive games, NBC will air 10 more. In the past Versus only had 50 exclusive games. This should mean that we will see more games on TSN, TSN2 and NHL Network Canada because of the additional games available. NBC will have a game on Black Friday (day after US Thanksgiving), the Winter Classic and 8 Sunday afternoon “Game of the Week” broadcasts. It is expected that Hockey Day in America will return too. With the exception of the additional broadcast on Black Friday, NBC’s deal essentially remains the same as it was before.
- Every single NHL playoff game will be broadcast on US national TV on NBC, Versus or another NBCUniversal cable channel. This other channel could be USA Network, but it will likely be CNBC since it has no essential primetime programming after the closing bell rings on the New York Stock Exchange. CNBC was also used for Olympic hockey at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.
- The Conference Semi Finals will now exclusively be on NBC and Versus. That means no more local broadcasts.
- Versus will re-brand to a new name with NBC in the title, possibly NBC Sports Channel, in the next 3 months, probably before the Stanley Cup Finals.
Personally I prefer NBC’s coverage to ESPN’s, so I am happy that the NHL re-signed with them. Versus has a very strong stable of commentators that includes Mike Emrick, Dave Strader, John Forslund, Ken Daniels, Rick Peckham, Gord Miller, Kenny Albert, Ed Olczyk, Daryl Reaugh, Darren Eliot, Pierre McGuire and Brian Engblom. Versus, especially since being taken over by NBC’s hockey crew, now features many of the best hockey commentators in North America.
Here are some quotes from NBC and the NHL. Dick Ebersol, Chairman of NBC Sports Group:
I like the rabid fan base in each and every city during the playoffs. That doesn’t exist in every city in other sports, that deep level of rabidness. That’s not to say you won’t see it in some cities. It’s that in the NHL it is rabid in every city (and arena).
Gary Bettman, Commissioner of the National Hockey League
This is the most significant U.S. media rights partnership in the League’s history. NBC Universal / Comcast is one of the most important, connected and ‘wired’ media companies in the U.S., and as the potential of the NBC Sports Group is realized, the importance of our relationship will become more apparent to hockey fans and our business partners.
A Rouge Point 
I think it’s a great idea to rebrand as something like NBC Sports Channel, considering the fact that the Olympics are coming up next summer on NBC Universal, and CBS recently rebranded CBS College Sports Network as CBS Sports Network.
How does this affect the possible movement of teams to Canada? Is the NHL more secure and willing to give Winnipeg or Quebec a chance with the US TV deal set for 10 years, or will NBC have some additional influence in keeping weak teams in large US markets?
NBC doesn’t show any teams from non-hockey markets (eg Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville) on Sundays, why would they stick up for them all of a sudden?
The only reason would be because they’d rather have Phoenix in the Stanley Cup Final than Winnipeg. A market in Canada of 600, 000 would certainly hurt NBC’s Stanley Cup ratings. I also get the feeling that the smaller teams will have more games on Versus now. I think there will certainly be a Monday or Tuesday doubleheader, with a singleheader on the other day and Wednesday.
I don’t think this will have any affect. The Coyotes are good as gone from Phoenix. NBC would probably love for someone to buy them and move them to Kansas City. Same goes for the Thrashers. I still think the Thrashers could end up in Kansas City.
To be fair, having Phoenix in the Stanley Cup final isn’t ideal for NBC either.
But given the choice between Phoenix and Winnipeg, NBC would certainly prefer Phoenix. Likewise, given a choice between Quebec City and Atlanta, CBC would prefer Quebec City.
The more Canadian teams in the league, the likelier that NBC suffers the doomsday scenario: two Canadian teams in the finals. Obviously, NBC knows that this league has 20% of its teams in Canada, and that number likely will go up, not down, over the life of this new contract. Still, a Calgary-Ottawa final would be fatal for NBC ratings.
Heck, I remember when a Jays-Expos World Series was quite possible in the early 90s. (The two years the Jays won the World Series, the Expos were in the thick of the NL East pennant race. In 1992, the Expos were within 3 games of the NL East lead in mid-September before fading, and in 1993, the Expos finished the season 3 games out.) I remember the panic at CBS at the prospect of an all-Canadian World Series, and yet, we know CBS would have still garnered double-digit ratings (but probably not the 20+ rating the World Series typically obtained at that time). The NHL on NBC got a 4 rating for a game in the Finals last year, and that was the best rating in a generation. How much of that audience sticks around for a Calgary-Ottawa (or even worse, a Winnipeg-Quebec City) final?
Marc
The key is if people in big numbers would watch the game if the yotes made the finals i doubt they would have good or even decent numbers.
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