Wednesday, May 19, 2004
NHL to switch to NBC
TSN.ca reports that the NHL will be signing a new TV deal with NBC starting 'next' season (04 or 05, whenever they play hockey. No $ figures have been given yet.
Under the deal, the league will not receive the kind of upfront fees that are common in most network television contracts. Instead, the NHL and NBC will share revenue, with the network covering its production and distribution costs.
Yikes! In addition to the fact that the NHL is going to take a big paycut, the NHL isn't even guaranteed a dollar figure from this deal.
But I'm sure Der Kommisar Gary Buttmann is loving this...he can cry 'poor' even more, claiming that the NHL is getting greatly reduced revenues.
I'd love to see how Buttmann puts his usual positive spin on this situation.
Probably something along the lines that this new TV deal is revolutionary because it 'shares' revenue (More like the network gives the NHL the spare change).
It's obvious to anyone with half a brain (Although maybe not Leafs fans, j/k), that the NHL has not made gains in the US TV market, and has actually gone backwards.
The deal is only for 6-7 regular season games and playoff games...so it's not as if that kind of contract is going to bring in the 'bling bling' anyhow.
Under the deal, the league will not receive the kind of upfront fees that are common in most network television contracts. Instead, the NHL and NBC will share revenue, with the network covering its production and distribution costs.
Yikes! In addition to the fact that the NHL is going to take a big paycut, the NHL isn't even guaranteed a dollar figure from this deal.
But I'm sure Der Kommisar Gary Buttmann is loving this...he can cry 'poor' even more, claiming that the NHL is getting greatly reduced revenues.
I'd love to see how Buttmann puts his usual positive spin on this situation.
Probably something along the lines that this new TV deal is revolutionary because it 'shares' revenue (More like the network gives the NHL the spare change).
It's obvious to anyone with half a brain (Although maybe not Leafs fans, j/k), that the NHL has not made gains in the US TV market, and has actually gone backwards.
The deal is only for 6-7 regular season games and playoff games...so it's not as if that kind of contract is going to bring in the 'bling bling' anyhow.
Labels: marketing, NBC, NHL, tv
