NBC still has "no idea what kind of men's hockey tournament it will be showing" during the '18 PyeongChang Games with the NHL undecided on its participation, according to Neil Best of NEWSDAY. NBC Broadcasting & Sports Chair Mark Lazarus said, "It's an unknown at this point. ... What I do know is that the players very much want to be there. The owners have reservations. The IOC and International Ice Hockey Federation very much would like them to be there. The rest is out of our control." Best notes at this time four years ago, the NHL and IOC had "not yet reached an agreement" on participation at the '14 Sochi Games, but the tone "seemed positive." Lazarus said it is "accurate" to say there is less optimism for NHL participation in '18 than there was four years ago. Lazarus: "Korea doesn't have the same tradition around hockey that Russia does." Best writes there is "no getting around the fact that an absence of NHL players will damage the appeal of the men's tournament next February, but Lazarus tried to put a brave face on that possibility." Lazarus: "Hockey for the most part won't be on NBC (but rather on cable channels), and hockey for the most part, given the time difference, will be late at night and early morning. So it’s not going to affect the peak periods. But we think it’s better for the Olympics and we think it's important for the growth of hockey around the world for the best in the world to be playing" (NEWSDAY, 2/10).
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN': Best writes many are wondering whether the vote on LA 2024's Olympic bid will be "complicated by the current political climate in the United States, and the resulting effect on the country’s image abroad." Lazarus said, "It's out of our hands. There are 110, roughly, IOC members who all vote individually, and I would assume that the political climate affects their view of each and every big city. So certainly it concerns us that that could have a negative impact, but I hope not." Asked whether he wonders how American TV viewers might react to athletes from countries not currently in the U.S.' good graces, Lazarus said, "I don't know. We haven't experienced this to this level before" (NEWSDAY, 2/10).
