NHL goes to OLN

[Paelos]

ESPN wouldn't counter the contract offer from Outdoor Life Network, so now OLN is the national provider for NHL matchups. Also, I don't even know if the cable operators are offering NHL Center Ice anymore after last year's lockout. If they don't, well, I may never get to see a decent hockey matchup again.

[Yegolev]

Ridiculous yet fitting.  I get OLN.  Never watched it.

[Merusk]

Probably because ESPN had to do without hocky for a year and realized that they made more money without having to pay the broadcast fees than they did from ads.  The lockout hurt Pro Hocky in more ways than just fan sentiment and lost revenues, it would seem.

[Paelos]

I think that's true, for the regular season at least. ESPN simply can't support the costs. However, I would expect them to pick up the playoffs this season. The deal with OLN only runs through the regular season games.

[Strazos]

But...I should still be able to get all my home-team games on my local provider, right?

Back in the day, you had to order a channel called Prism to get all of the Flyers' games. I'll kill someone if I have to fork out money for some channel that I don't even get in my room, in order to watch my games.

[Shockeye]

Comcast attempted to buy Disney/ESPN last year. That did not go well, so now they are trying to build their own sports programming empire.

Comcast/OLN Eyes ESPN's MLB Rights
August 22, 2005
By John Consoli

Like a hungry shark circling its prey, Comcast and its Outdoor Life Network, now referred to as OLN, is continuing its low-key but determined move to take a bite out of cable sports kingpin ESPN.

Not only did it snatch away cable rights for the National Hockey League for the next several years last week, but now Comcast/OLN has set its sights on landing Major League Baseball’s Sunday-Wednesday-night cable package, the rights to which expire at the end of the current season.

That package also includes the MLB All-Star Game home run derby telecast, which produced hefty one-night ratings for ESPN this season.

“Baseball is the bedrock of ESPN’s summer programming,” said one rival sports network executive. “There is so much baseball and very little other programming to replace it with during the summer. Hockey can be replaced by running more college basketball, but Comcast could deliver a severe body blow to ESPN if it can steal away these baseball rights.”

ESPN does have the Tuesday-Thursday MLB TV rights through the end of the 2006 season, which also includes the MLB division playoff games that Fox does not air. That package was obtained when ESPN parent Disney acquired Fox Family Channel (now ABC Family) and is currently valued at $100 million. ESPN is also currently paying $141.5 million per year for the Sunday-Wednesday rights package.

Sources familiar with the negotiations believe they have been delayed and slowed by ESPN’s efforts to gain broadband and cellular phone rights, among other value-added, nontraditional rights, which MLB has been hesitant to give up.

“It’s late in the process for negotiations to still be going on” for the Sunday-Wednesday package, a competing network executive said. “It seems like ESPN was playing hardball with MLB and didn’t think there would be any other bidders. Now, they’ve put MLB in the driver’s seat.”

The executive added that “for building-block purposes, baseball would be even more important to Comcast than hockey. And having both, plus maybe even the [Thursday-Saturday] NFL package, would give Comcast a year-round presence with major sports.”

Another sports exec also questioned why ESPN decided in May to opt out of the final year of its NHL deal for which it would pay $60 million: “Even if ESPN were losing $40 million on the deal, it seems like a reasonable insurance policy to absorb it in order to keep the big bad wolf out of the hen house.”

Losing a sizable portion of its MLB rights would present problems for ESPN. In particular, it could cause cable operators to push for a reduction in their subscriber fees and would cost the network significant ad revenue. “ESPN doesn’t need to have coverage of every sport, but it cannot lose coverage of its jewels. Major League Baseball is one of its jewels,” said a rival sports net exec.

George Bodenheimer, chairman of ESPN and ABC Sports, acknowledged last week that Comcast and OLN “appear to be setting themselves up as a competitor,” but believes that the competition will push his network to get even better. “Our world is filled with competitors, but the prospects for ESPN have never looked brighter,” he added. “Our brand has never been stronger. We are comfortable with our position in the marketplace.”

Bodenheimer said ESPN’s goal is to renew its Sunday-Wednesday package, although he would not comment on where the discussions stand or why a deal isn’t done yet. He also believes ESPN brings lots to the table for MLB. “Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter are the national programs of record for chronicling baseball,” he said. “And we feel we are in the best position to promote baseball.”

Chris Tully, senior vp of broadcasting, MLB, also wouldn’t discuss the negotiations or why they have dragged out, but said, “Our challenge is to maximize the value of our national telecast packages from both an economic and promotional perspective. The sports marketplace is changing rapidly, and we’re taking a long-term strategic view. Obviously ESPN is not only a key player in that market but also a longstanding partner of MLB, and our continuing discussions with ESPN have been our primary focus to date.”

But sources at MLB said while approving a new deal with ESPN would be a reality if all terms were equal, should another party come in with a more attractive offer, the league would not hesitate to choose that alternative.

ESPN’s exclusive negotiating window expired in June, and sources inside and outside of MLB confirmed that TV rights discussions have taken place with Comcast/OLN.

Another factor in the negotiations is MLB’s plan to start its own Baseball Channel, possibly before the start of next season. Were Comcast to include a provision to carry the Baseball Channel in any rights offer it proposed, it could be a sweetener that might lure MLB.

For its part, Comcast and OLN officials are being careful not to rile ESPN, stating that their only goal is to “grow” OLN’s male audience base where it makes sense. But one sports league exec sees Comcast/OLN becoming a major factor in the sports TV world. “I think they can be a player,” he said. “Not necessarily on the ESPN level, but it doesn’t have to be to have an impact. If I were betting, I would bet that it will be a success story.”

While preoccupied with negotiating new TV rights deals, ESPN’s Bodenheimer also has to deal with replacing Mark Shapiro, executive vp of programming and production, who oversaw all ESPN/ABC Sports programming.

[Shockeye]

No, I'm not crazy.

[HaemishM]

Shit, I didn't even know I had OLN until I found out they got the NHL. Now, I'm happy I do, because I sure wasn't going to watch bass fishing shows on it, but I damn sure wanted my NHL. I just hope they don't regionalize the coverage too much, because I really don't want to see that many damn Predator games, or that they don't buy into ESPN's idea of show 1 game a season that doesn't include either the Rangers, Red Wings, Flyers or Avalanche.

But if Comcast gets baseball? That'll be huge.

[Mr_PeaCH]

OLN is home to a great 'love to hate' show called The Best and Worst of Tred Barta  If you have never experienced it I highly urge you to give it a try once.  Once may be enough but it is a highly original spin on the more traditional huntin' an fishin' shows.

[Paelos]

Haemish I have bad news. The opening OLN game is the Rangers v. Flyers.

[tazelbain]

The only time I watched OLN was for the Tour.

I'd be cool if they played Hockey outdoors again.

[HaemishM]

Haemish I have bad news. The opening OLN game is the Rangers v. Flyers.

Motherfucking cockbiters.

[Strazos]

It's opening night. It's Forsberg.

Did you expect any less?

[Paelos]

It's opening night. It's Forsberg.

Did you expect any less?

Actually, I expected more. There are 15 matchups on opening day. I'd rather see these games played that day over the Rangers/Flyers.

1) Stars v. Kings
2) Wings v. Blues
3) Coyotes v. Canucks
4) Avalanche v. Oilers
5) Senators v. Leafs
6) Bruins v. Canadiens

Any of those are better hockey matchups in my book.

[Bunk]

Straz - this shouldn't affect local coverage in any way.

Interestingly enough,this might actually mean I get to see more NHL games. We get OLN up here, but don't get ESPN because it would compete with TSN and Sportsnet.

All I care is that I'll be getting Sportsnet in HD this year, which means Bertuzzi cracking heads (and vertebrae) in hi-resolution goodness.

Also, CBC signed Jim Hughson to be the secondary play by play guy,  which means him doing lots of Canucks games on CBC in addition to his regular ones on Sportsnet. (Hughson is the best play by play guy in hockey today for those not in the know.)

Rangers vs. Flyers in the opening matchup - they should hold a ceremony at centre ice before they game where they burn a big pile of money and pray to thier dark gods...

Goddamn I'm itching to watch some hockey.

[Azaroth]

Actually, Comcast owns the Flyers - so you'll be seeing a lot of them. Just too bad they replaced ALL of their offense with Forsberg and suddenly everyone thinks they're already drinking out of the cup.

Once Forsberg goes down to injury (He's averaged about 58 games a season the last four years), they're done. What's more is that it'll likely be a career-ending concussion, and they just threw that HUGE contract at him. Look at what happened while he was playing for MoDo last season.

Flyers minus
----------------

Recchi (Pittsburgh)
Leclair (Pittsburgh)
Roenick (Los Angeles)
Amonte (Calgary)
Zhamov (Boston)

+

Forsberg
Hatcher
Rathje

DOES NOT FUCKING EQUAL A CUP.

I don't understand why everyone is flipping out and overhyping the team.

Oh, and I'm elated to see the NHL love on these forums. Here I thought America fucking hated hockey.

[Bunk]

Thank you Az, you actually just made my day brighter.

Canucks are kind of interesting, bucking the trend.

They have hardly touched the free agent pool - they signed Jim Park and Anson Carter. On the other hand, they've only lost a # 4 and a #6 defenseman, and have resigned thier entire core of players. Figure one of those defense slots to go to a farm player, and we've got some spare bodies and cap room to trade for another one.

[Strazos]

Flyers minus
----------------

Recchi (Pittsburgh)
Leclair (Pittsburgh)
Roenick (Los Angeles)
Amonte (Calgary)
Zhamov (Boston)

+

Forsberg
Hatcher
Rathje

I was disappointed to see Recchi go; He played hard, and produced. Unforutnately, he is 37 years old, and had an inflated contract.

LeClair has been worthless for at least 3 years. Cutting him has been long overdue.

I liked Roenick, I really did. And he played hard. But again, he had a big contract, and the team needed cap room. He even went along with the trade happily and willingly.

Amonte was junk.

Zhamnov was getting old too. He put up some nice numbers in the playoffs...but oh well.

Forsberg is a huge addition to the team, as are the two defensemen signed. The Flyers had been thin along the blue line for at least 2 years. I really would have liked to se Dejardins go.

Also, keep in mind the Flyers have a solid championship-winning farm team in the Phantoms. A few of them are looking to step up to the big team.

The way I see it, Clarke cut a lot of fat out of the Salary budget.

[Azaroth]

Well, keep in mind that I don't mean to knock the Flyers.

I hate 'em and I think your GM is a tool - but you've been constantly competitive for a very long time, and your fans are passionate.. to say the least. Beyond that, your rivalry with my team (Pittsburgh) is pretty intense when we've both got a good team.

HOWEVER.

Recchi was your best player and your leading scorer. He may be old now, but he was then too. A year makes little difference, really. He's going to be huge on the ice, and off the ice with our young kids (and we have a god damn stable from the last however many years of high draft picks and trading away our best players, before people fully realized that salary dumps are worth a 9th round pick - for example, when we got three or four prospects, a couple picks and cash for Jammy, my blood was boiling - except Patrick knew what he was doing, really, since today trading Jagr with his fat contract would get you, literally, about a fourth rounder in return - or less).

Lecair is over the hill. But he's a big upgrade for our second line. We have Leclair on a (I believe) 1.5 million/year contract. You tell me he's not worth that.

Roenick is a mouthpiece, and had a contract that was too large for today's NHL. But he's pretty good, and, since Comcast is going to be pasting the Flyers all over the screen in the US this year, Roenick would have been a good person to have there, just because he's got the maturity of a ten year old and a big fucking mouth.

Amonte is junk compared to what he was. But, again, that's a loss that wasn't replaced on the offensive side of things. Okay, Hatcher and Rathje make you better on the backend (except for the loss of Markov, I believe, which I didn't mention). He's experience in the dressing room, he's some offense on the ice. Gone. Bye.

Zhamnov, I'm not familiar with for some reason. Probably because he was mired in the shitpile that was Chicago for many years. But what I know of him, he's a tough fucker that throws in the whole 20+ goals a season consistently.

What'd you end up doing? You added Forsberg on the offense, alright. He's kinda like Zhamnov, but a huge upgrade. It's kinda like when Pittsburgh missed out on signing Kovalev (which I detest him for), and signed Palffy. Problem is, you watch, Forsberg is gonna get hurt this season.

As for the rest? You made up for it with some size on the blueline. But no offense. Catch? They're reducing the size of goalie equipment, taking out the redline, tag up offsides, promising to ruthlessly call clutching and grabbing, whathaveyou. You just made a gamble. And if the NHL makes as much as a shift as they're hoping it will - you're in deep, deep shit.

IMHO, the Flyers are so absolutely overrated this season it's ridiculous. So much so that I've taken the time to post about it both here and on Sportsnet. I can't see how people are missing this, but they are. Maybe it's a massive Comcast conspiracy, involving ray guns and mind control. Personally, I think it has to do with a large market becoming encapsulated with with seemingly big moves, while not having the attention span to keep track of their losses at the same time. People are picturing last year PLUS signings. It's just not the case.

Know what is? Pittsburgh. Plus Lemieux, if he can stay healthy. Which he god damn well better, so he can mentor Crosby on the ice. If not, Crosby will look to Recchi and maybe Leclair. Not so bad in themselves.

Wait until Fleury comes into his own. Cups 4 Pittsburgh.

Yeah, I like to gloat about the Penguins. It's been a long god damn time.

[Azaroth]

Excuse my various spelling and gramatical errors. I've been drunk for... several days. Well, a few weeks, really. I seem not to be as quick when I've been drinking heavily.

[Strazos]

I liked rechhi, I really did....But with the salary cap...

LeClair is over the hill. I would not have minded if the Flyers paid him 1.5m. Unfortunately, his contract with the Flyers was for ~9m. They had no other choice, really.

Roenick: Production >>> Image.

Offense not being replaced: Bullocks. I don't think they lost a Whole lot...and you're ignoring the farm system. I don't know how well the Penguins' farm team does, but Philly's minor league team is top-notch. They've been looking for an excuse to bring some of them up for years now, and this is a good time to do it. Also, they signed Knuble, who makes up for the production of Roenick/Amonte (more or less).

Zhamnov was good...not entirely sure why he was not resigned; he put in a lot of points in the playoffs.

Btw, the Flyers made some pointless signings today. Jaime Storr? 

[Azaroth]

I'm sure Jamie Storr is a two way contract. If not, purely a backup. And.. a bad one.

I think you'll be slightly less enamoured with Knuble by the end of the season.

And as far as Roenick, I can only share the words of Andre Agassi circa, like, 1986 with you:

"Image is everything!"

Hahaha. Points if you remember those commercials.

[Strazos]

No fair...I was 2/3 years old in 1986.

[Azaroth]

Haha, so was I. But I think it was like 1990, and I've seen them since in biographies and such.

[Paelos]

By the way, once Roenick retires, he's going straight to broadcasting. He's made for it, in fact. I wonder why he just doesn't quit the game and do it already.

[WayAbvPar]

I am officially fired up for hockey season- caught Miracle again on HBO last night. Great flick.

[HaemishM]

I think the Flyers will be good, but again, if their goaltending doesn't stop choking in the playoffs, none of it will matter. And with the proposed rule changes making scoring more prevalent (hopefully), that choking will happen a lot worse. Ask Canuck fans about Cloutier, and you'll see what I mean. I don't think they'll be worse than they were, but I'm not handing them the Cup.

The Penguins, though? That team is poised to make a huge splash, with or without Mario. They were bad, but not nearly so bad as they should have been in 03-04. Those youngsters learned an assload. Tarnstrom has had a year to heal up and he is a top tier defender in my book. All those young scorers being mentored by Recchi and LeClair, as well as Mario? Yeah, they are going to be better than most people give them credit for. Fleury is going to be a good goalie. I think the veteran presence of both Recchi and LeClair pushed the playoff time table for the Pens up at least a year.

Meanwhile, my Minnesota Wild have added about jack and shit this year, and lost a few key players like Brunette and Zholtok. /sigh

[Paelos]

Well, my Stars didn't make any shocking moves. We still have Mikey Mo, we still have Guerin, and we still have fireplug Brenden Morrow. If Turco can come out with a stellar season, the division is ours.

[Strazos]

I think the Flyers will be good, but again, if their goaltending doesn't stop choking in the playoffs, none of it will matter.

To their credit, I blame their early exit from the playoffs last season on 4 things:

1) Injuries out the wazoo.
2) Fatigue from having to play hard against good teams in the previous 2 rounds (Toronto is always a pain in the ass). Who did Tampa play, again?
3) An inability to stop the Tampa PP; That's where the majority of their goals came from.
4) "Vinny"-Fucking-Prospal. I knew it was a bad trade at the time that he was traded from the Flyers.

[Azaroth]

Haemish, don't forget our other signings. Recchi and Leclair make us better for sure, but one cannot pass over Palffy, Gonchar and Thibault (Fleury won't be ready for a couple years, that's just how goalies are) when talking about the Pens. We signed Andre Roy for toughness, and I was always a fan of that guy's heart. I would rather have had a real fighter of course, but I've been a fan of Roy since his days in Ottawa.

Oh, and speaking of Ottawa... they just swapped Hossa for Heatly.

Brilliant move by the Sens.

And back to the Penguins - our team last season was basically made up of our prospects who were the most ready for prime time. Bad season, since Lemieux went down early. Thing is that we went 14-5 (I believe that's accurate) or some god damn thing over the last 19 games.

[HaemishM]

Yeah, by the end of the season, you could tell the Pens youngsters were gelling pretty well. Adding in those veterans was just brilliant to me, and I forget about Thibault. He's good enough to not only teach Fleury, but play for him if Fleury really is a few years away.

I just checked the news on that Hossa for Heatley trade. Ummmm... why? Granted Hossa is really good, but so is Heatley. I mean really good. But then reading the article I see Heatley took a disco biscuit to the coconut in Europe and was wanting big money, so I guess it does make sense. Kovalchuk can score right along with Hossa, so Atlanta didn't lose anything, especially if they get a decent defenseman.

[Paelos]

Atlanta is better off without Heatly. He had issues with life.

[HaemishM]

Most 24-year olds with money, fame and women do.

[Paelos]

Most 24-year olds with money, fame and women do.

He killed a teammate. I'm not sorry we dumped him off.

[Azaroth]

It was a total accident and it fucked him up for a very long time. He's a good kid apparently, and the parents forgave him.

The Hossa/Heatley deal DOES make some sense. Scoring and scoring, but different types of people. The sens get a Canadian kid with more grit than Hossa, and it'll get peoples attention up here. The Thashers get a Slovak who might get along with Kovalchuk better, possibly, as well as the fact that I'm sure there is SOME concern about Heatley being damaged goods. He did tear ligaments in his knee and break his jaw in the car crash, not to mention emotional damage.

I think it's a fine deal for both teams. Hossa is on a new three year contract for big money as well, and either way, they're both gonna get near max salary for a long time. Hossa was also making noises in about going to arbitration and wanting out, etc.