Friday, January 16, 2004
ESPN vs the NHL
The Toronto Star is reporting that negotiations between the NHL and ESPN haven't been going well for the NHL.
Sucks for the NHL. ESPN has them where they want them since they've got a glut of sports programming with NFL, NBA, MLB, college basketball and college football. They can dictate the terms and the NHL can't really do much about it. The NHL can try going to TNT or SpikeTV but if they do, what happens to their coverage on Sportscenter? The NHL really wants to avoid a repeat of their Sportschannel debacle.
In the big scheme of things, this doesn't make a bit of difference to the fans. The games will still be available although possibly on different stations. The prices aren't going to change. The big difference is that the owners and players might make a little less. But for the fans, who cares?
Sucks for the NHL. ESPN has them where they want them since they've got a glut of sports programming with NFL, NBA, MLB, college basketball and college football. They can dictate the terms and the NHL can't really do much about it. The NHL can try going to TNT or SpikeTV but if they do, what happens to their coverage on Sportscenter? The NHL really wants to avoid a repeat of their Sportschannel debacle.
In the big scheme of things, this doesn't make a bit of difference to the fans. The games will still be available although possibly on different stations. The prices aren't going to change. The big difference is that the owners and players might make a little less. But for the fans, who cares?
