NHL

ESPN's opt-out puts NHL in prone position

By JOHN C. COTEY
Published June 3, 2005

The NHL has been in a tailspin since the Lightning put away Calgary for the Stanley Cup a year ago, and things just got worse this week.

Fans have bailed. And now ESPN has, too.

The network said it will not pick up a $60-million option to retain rights to NHL games if and when the league returns.

"We're not playing games here; we wanted to get a deal done," said ESPN executive vice president of programming Mark Shapiro on a conference call Tuesday. "We wanted to do something long term, but given the damage that has been done given the labor strife... we really had no choice."

Not willing to take less, the NHL said "see ya," as if ESPN cared.

There still is a chance, should the NHL patch itself back together, it would end up back on ESPN, whose bargaining position just substantially improved.

Come fall, ESPN will have enough college football and NFL coverage to fill the pin hole left by the NHL. In the winter, college basketball. Oh, and the NBA.

And that's just the top-drawer stuff, which ESPN doesn't even need to draw more viewers than hockey ever has.

Poker reruns have been getting better ratings than hockey. How many times can we watch Chris Moneymaker win the title? Apparently, not enough.

Next week, ESPN will air Rhythm in the Rope , a 60-minute documentary on double-dutch jump-rope athletes.

Let me repeat: double... dutch... jump... rope.

As funny as that may sound, would you bet your life that more people would watch an NHL game than would tune in to that? That more people would watch Steve Yzerman than jump-rope legend Stephone Webb? That more people would prefer the battle between the Jazzy Jumpers of Brownsville and defending champion ASGRM out of Japan than they would a showdown between the Vancouver Canucks and Carolina?

If so, that's a bad bet.

The NHL already had accepted a revenue-sharing deal from NBC, and wasn't ready to do the same with ESPN. League officials said they would not allow their product to be "devalued" any more, odd wording considering the fine job the NHL itself has done in accomplishing that.

Fact is, the NHL can't be further devalued. ESPN can pit a snowboarder against a Green Bay Packer tight end in a game of bowling, call it ESPN's Bowling Night , and equal the average ratings from the NHL early-round playoffs.

A sad, but true, story.

In fact, any ESPN entertainment programming provides a better ratings option than does hockey. Here's a tip for the NHL: If college softball is drawing a comparable number of viewers, and it is... well, do I need to finish this sentence?

Of course, ratings can be deceptive. There are other factors, such as advertising and that all-important 18-34 demographic. And sure, as flawed as it is, the NHL is a superior product. But those are some sobering numbers.

The NHL may get a better deal from lesser players such as Spike TV or USA Network, but the result would be fewer viewers. It should consider creating its own cable network. Improve the product, then give it away for a year. Rebuild the fan base. Rebuild interest. Rebuild that bridge to the networks, which perhaps can help make it relevant again.

Until then, someone pass the popcorn, because Battle of the Gridiron Stars is about to start.

--John C. Cotey can be reached at cotey@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 3, 2005, 01:17:06]