In 1998, ESPN/ABC Sports president Steve Bornstein insisted his network's five-year, $600-million deal to broadcast NHL games and programming would make money, and lots of it.
Angry executives at Fox, which lost the bidding war, threatened to challenge the pact in court.
And NHL commissioner Gary Bettman claimed ABC/ESPN was getting a deal.
"We wouldn't have sold it for less than that because it's worth at least that," he said. "We're worth what we're getting if not more."
What a difference five years makes.
This week, the NHL found a new suitor for the next two seasons, NBC, but at the extra special discount of $0 up front as the network and the league engage in a unique revenue-sharing deal instead.
While the NHL also reupped with ESPN at $60-million for next season and a two-year option that could make the average season worth $66.7-million, that's nearly a 50 percent drop from the Disney salad days of $120-million per ($70-million came from ABC).
ESPN no longer will carry regular-season games, only ESPN2, which plans 40, down from 70 the past two seasons.
While questions abound about the NHL's popularity and profitability in light of poor ratings, NBC is happy to cautiously gamble. The deal with the NHL is similar to the Arena Football League deal it just renewed.
There are no rights fees. The NHL won't get a dime until NBC recoups all of its production costs from advertising revenue. After that, the NHL gets an unspecified amount of revenue before splitting the rest with NBC.
The money is not what the NHL prefers, but NBC wants to make as much on this deal as it can and surely will go to great extremes to promote the league, something ABC did poorly. Who hasn't seen more AFL commercials on NBC than NHL commercials on ABC?
The acquisition gets NBC back into the major-sports scene, and it can remain on the path it has chosen - one in which taking huge losses on rights fees no longer is acceptable regardless of the sport.
"I think the world has changed," NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said. "Sooner or later, you have to come to this sense of partnership. If it weren't a partnership, Gary Bettman would not be sitting at this table. This is not a gun to the head thing. He came in here knowing full well what we could bring to the dance. There is a clear understanding here that we are the NHL's partners in building their sport."
It's a far fall for the NHL, but there might be a nice cushion at the bottom.
Plus, let's face it. The league has to take what it can get at this point. It has not been helped by its collective-bargaining issues, leading to expectations there won't even be a 2004-05 season. Who would throw millions at that?
"I was very mindful of the circumstances and the uncertainty, particularly with respect to next season," Bettman said, adding he still believes advertising sales will make this a good deal for the NHL.
To paraphrase Bettman, circa 1998, the NHL is worth what it's getting.
- Information from Times wires was used in the report.
