Disney paid $600M for the TV rights to the NHL through
the 2004 season and it "promises not to repeat the mistakes"
of Fox, which "lost money on the league five years running,"
according to Robert La Franco of FORBES. Part of Disney's
strategy is to "improve game coverage" on ESPN, ESPN2, 20
int'l cable networks and ABC, as well as "cross-promote
hockey through ESPN's TV, print, Internet and restaurant
outlets." But La Franco writes, "Unfortunately, hockey is
bad business," as teams are "losing money and on the block,"
and he questions the strength of the league's TV ratings.
La Franco: "The new deal costs double ESPN's previous hockey
deal and is two years shorter. While the agreement gives
ESPN international rights and access to footage for its ESPN
Classic network for the first time, the shortcomings are
more significant: the deal offers exclusive rights to only
the 56 games that will air on ESPN and ABC. ESPN2 will air
101 games, up from 75 under the old contract, but has to
share those games with local sports networks and in some
cases is blocked from airing them in the home markets, where
hockey's true value lies. ESPN's best hope of recovering
its outlay may be to regionalize its broadcasts by
exploiting digital cable's expanded capacity. That's at
least a few seasons off." La Franco claims that Fox is
"still owed money from" the NHL for '98's Stanley Cup
broadcasts, "when it had to make concessions to advertisers"
to compensate for a "shortfall in viewers" (FORBES, 11/1).
Fox Sports Senior VP/Media Relations Vince Wladika would not
comment on the financial particulars in the Forbes report.
Wladika said only, "Let's just say that hockey was not a
successful national property for us" (THE DAILY).
RESPONSE: NHL Group VP/Communications Bernadette Mansur
said in a statement that the Forbes piece is "filled with
inaccurate points." Mansur: "The NHL does not owe money to
Fox, nor has Fox requested money from the NHL surrounding
Stanley Cup broadcasts. In addition, the Forbes article
refers to hockey as 'bad business,' yet, in a recent report
analyzing the NHL season, Forbes Magazine itself estimated
that NHL teams averaged a $2.3 million profit" (NHL).