If NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the league "are
earnest about their demands for the 2002 Games in Salt Lake
City, there's a chance that NHL participation in the Winter
Olympics was a one-time proposition," according to Ken
Campbell of the TORONTO STAR. Bettman said yesterday in
Toronto that the NHL "wants a higher profile for its stars
than it received in Nagano." Bettman: "Unless we get the
type of coverage [hockey] should get in the Olympics, then
it doesn't make sense to go. I think the schedule has to be
put together in a way that there's significant prime time
and/or weekend exposure of the U.S and Canadian teams."
Pilson Communications President Neal Pilson said that the
"league is dreaming if it expects prime time coverage ...
[because] the prime time slots draw" a 60% female audience,
but that "the league might be successful in getting weekend
coverage." Pilson: "NBC is probably looking for a 19 to 22
rating for prime time and that's just not the kind of
numbers you can get for hockey games" (TORONTO STAR, 10/20).
IS LOCKOUT A KEY FOR NHL? In Detroit, under the header,
"NHL Must Capitalize On NBA Mess," Jason LaCanfora writes
that, according to sources, "ESPN people are already putting
intense heat on Bettman" to restore credibility of some of
the league's more visible franchises. LaCanfora: "Ratings,
as always, are a problem and the glamour teams in the big
markets -- most notably the [N.Y.] Rangers -- are awful.
ESPN would love to see a scenario where Pens star Jaromir
Jagr ends up in the Big Apple" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 10/20).
