Cont'd - NHL makes 12-year/$5.2 billion Canadian TV deal w/ Sportsnet, CBC, TSN out

[Evil Doctor]

From what I understand, CBC will now utilize the NHL solely to advertise its own original programming. The NHL is its most popular product and in this sense it will keep people watching the broadcaster.

The director (Hebert) admitted the situation isn't ideal, but I'm just happy that HNIC in some form will continue to exist.

It's HNIC in name only. It's basically the shambling, rotting corpse of the original. Beware of the teeth.

 

[n00bxQb]

Other than continuing the tradition of HNIC.. I'll say I honestly don't understand why CBC entered into this deal.

If they don't get the revenue from their air time, what is the point?

They are basically acting as an extension of Rogers any time they are broadcasting an NHL game but at their own expense..

CBC has no expense in this deal, which is the point.

The CBC pulls in about $100M/year in ad revenue from HNIC (Google search). The rumours yesterday were in the $175M to $200M per year area for CBC to have a new deal with the NHL for HNIC. That also doesn't cover the salaries or operating costs of HNIC, either.

Taxpayers would've been in the hole a lot of money assuming those rumours had proven true.

In this deal, Rogers is paying the operating costs of HNIC and taking the ad revenue, while controlling the HNIC programming. CBC gets to advertise their original content on HNIC at no charge.

 

[Riptide]

Here's my question. And I'm sorry if it was asked in the original 41pg thread (that I didn't read entirely).

So it's a ~433m a year deal (5.2B / 12). However there'll be no local market blackouts (yay!).

What does that mean for the regional deals that Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, etc all had? Vancouver made 25m a year from Rogers for their regional broadcasts. Toronto made 40m for theirs.

Can someone explain what this will mean for viewers, as my understanding was that anyone in Canada will now be able to watch a Canucks game regardless of where they live - if it's broadcasted on Rogers SN.

Does Vancouver/Toronto get more compensation for that? Or do the Canadian teams get a larger chunk of this deal, or is it entirely "central revenue" for the NHL to be divied up amongst NHL teams.

This deal looks good when you look at the total number (~433M a yr), however if 150m is going directly to the NHL teams as compensation for their prior deals, or national tv rights, it looks decidedly less good. It then becomes a 250-300m a yr deal for 12 years. Not bad, but nothing that's out of this world either.

 

[Jack Bauer]

That was the existing contract, not what Bell offered:

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/news/nhl131126.html

"Slightly more" =/= "ten times more". Maybe Bell offered $3-4B over the life of the deal, who knows.

Bell was also negotiating under the assumption of the NHL moving to this 3 night a week national model with 3 networks owing the 3 days...so CBC on Saturday, Rogers on Sunday and TSN on Wednesday.

I'd say this deal came as a huge slap in the face to them.

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

Hopefully TSN gets the CHL and treats it the US treats NCAA sports.

I know you're not making a comparison between the two but the interest in US college sports is massive. The interest in junior hockey in Canada pales in comparison. Not sure it would draw anything more than insignificant numbers. Would it really be worth the time and effort for such little pay-off?

 

[Jack Bauer]

Here's my question. And I'm sorry if it was asked in the original 41pg thread (that I didn't read entirely).

So it's a ~433m a year deal (5.2B / 12). However there'll be no local market blackouts (yay!).

What does that mean for the regional deals that Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, etc all had? Vancouver made 25m a year from Rogers for their regional broadcasts. Toronto made 40m for theirs.

Can someone explain what this will mean for viewers, as my understanding was that anyone in Canada will now be able to watch a Canucks game regardless of where they live - if it's broadcasted on Rogers SN.

Does Vancouver/Toronto get more compensation for that? Or do the Canadian teams get a larger chunk of this deal, or is it entirely "central revenue" for the NHL to be divied up amongst NHL teams.

This deal looks good when you look at the total number (~433M a yr), however if 150m is going directly to the NHL teams as compensation for their prior deals, or national tv rights, it looks decidedly less good. It then becomes a 250-300m a yr deal for 12 years. Not bad, but nothing that's out of this world either.

Canadian teams take a skim off the top, the rest is split evenly among the 30.

 

[TheHudlinator]

I know you're not making a comparison between the two but the interest in US college sports is massive. The interest in junior hockey in Canada pales in comparison. Not sure it would draw anything more than insignificant numbers.

So was the CFL now it draws a fair number of fans.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Except it's true. TSN has all the top talent (the A team vs the C or D team) when compared to Rogers Sportsnet. TSN has also treated the NHL as a king with all the coverage they gave them (draft, trades, games, trade deadline, etc). So in terms of what we will now watch, it's a downgrade.

But Rogers wasn't really a national network yet. Over here, it'd be like if FOX ripped something away from ESPN and everyone was 'FOX is so amateur!'. Then FOX hires Jay and Dan, and Gus Johnson, and Erin Andrews, etc etc and becomes a legit national network. That's what Rogers will do!

 

[Evil Doctor]

I will say this again though.

If TSN loves hockey so much they could still cover hockey. THE NHL IS NOT HOCKEY! KHL, AHL, CHL, most IIHF tournaments, aswell as a plenty of other leagues have no coverage in North America.

Make it happen TSN.

It's not even the end of NHL hockey for TSN. They can still outbid SN for the local rights. That would royally screw Rogers...

 

[saskganesh]

CBC has no expense in this deal, which is the point.

The CBC pulls in about $100M/year in ad revenue from HNIC (Google search). The rumours yesterday were in the $175M to $200M per year area for CBC to have a new deal with the NHL for HNIC. That also doesn't cover the salaries or operating costs of HNIC, either.

Taxpayers would've been in the hole a lot of money assuming those rumours had proven true.

In this deal, Rogers is paying the operating costs of HNIC and taking the ad revenue, while controlling the HNIC programming. CBC gets to advertise their original content on HNIC at no charge.

If Rogers is paying CBC's production costs (and Don Cherry's salary?) that's a win.

 

[Mightygoose]

"Slightly more" =/= "ten times more". Maybe Bell offered $3-4B over the life of the deal, who knows.

Hard to say for sure. Though the Rogers deal escalates over the course of the agreement.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...al-with-nhl-worth-52-billion/article15600412/

Rogers will make annual payments of $300-million to the NHL, which will incrementally increase until they reach $500-million in the final year of the deal. There is also an upfront payment of $150-million.

Would love to see the year by year breakdown when they're available.

My understanding is the NBC deal doesn't escalate just 200 mil/season. Curious if Rogers structured it that way which tips the scales in their favour.

 

[Ducksforcup]

That was the existing contract, not what Bell offered:

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/news/nhl131126.html

"Slightly more" =/= "ten times more". Maybe Bell offered $3-4B over the life of the deal, who knows.

I see...well I guess we have to wait till we hear more details, but I'm certain Sportsnet offered more money.

Wonder if TSN was negotiating for exclusivity as well.

 

[cutchemist42]

I will say this again though.

If TSN loves hockey so much they could still cover hockey. THE NHL IS NOT HOCKEY! KHL, AHL, CHL, most IIHF tournaments, aswell as a plenty of other leagues have no coverage in North America.

Make it happen TSN.

Lots of people at TSN probably love hockey, but TSN was in the business of a hockey market that overall makes fun of anything thats European hockey unless it involves the NHL. NA has a lot of NHL-exclusive fans. (I mean, I would watch any Medvescak game in an instant if it came on TSN, but someone like me is rare in NA)

 

[Jack Bauer]

It's not even the end of NHL hockey for TSN. They can still outbid SN for the local rights. That would royally screw Rogers...

That's where SN's regional model has them in a way though.

Sportsnet has the model in place for all regional games.

TSN only has MTL and WIN meaning they'd have to create 1 channel in the other 4 markets(MTL and OTT share their market)

Whether TSN create a TSN Oilers/Flames/Leafs/Canucks or just back off is yet to be seen

 

[sting13]

I will say this again though.

If TSN loves hockey so much they could still cover hockey. THE NHL IS NOT HOCKEY! KHL, AHL, CHL, most IIHF tournaments, aswell as a plenty of other leagues have no coverage in North America.

Make it happen TSN.

TSN is not going to broadcast KHL. Can you imagine the cost of sending a crew
to live in Russia to cover the league. If they use a feed from Russia and have a
crew in studio calling the game, people with turn off with the inferior coverage.

 

[Asif16*]

The NHL needs to grow the game outside canada, mainly in the US. The game will do fine in Canada, doesnt matter who shows it.

Does this deal affect NBC in any way?

 

[Riptide]

It's true? 40 million a season versus 433 million a season? The NHL had to move on from TSN for that kind of money.

I don't know what TSN was offering. But 5.2B / 12 is 433,333,333 million a yr. The NHL obviously did the math with what TSN and CBC was offering, and decided that the way to go was with Rogers getting all of it (allowing CBC to retain HNIC). I'm not faulting the NHL for making this decision... just that until RSN fires half their on-air talent, we're stuck listening to ****** PBP guys, and ****** commentary guys. There's a couple of TSN guys I do not like. By comparison there's only 1 perhaps two RSN guys I do like.

 

[Stats01]

We get 1 more national day per week in exchange for 1 network running the show.

For a fan I don't see it as any improvement because my team(TML) is not going to be any more available to me under this deal then they were under the old one more then likely.

Personally I will say that the NHL can go after Sundays all they like but even in Canada now the NFL dominates peoples attention so for half the season your numbers on Sunday will likely be low unless you go with all Canadian games to attract multiple fan bases. Friday would have made a lot more sense in my opinion.

I assume you're more than just a Leaf fan..you're also a hockey fan? Correct? Don't think of it as "My team won't be any more available to me than before" think of it as "I get to enjoy and watch more games of the game I love" This isn't about one team, this is about more coverage of all teams in Canada specifically together as a group. Instead of a possible Sens-Wings game being regionalized on CBC for (Ontario East-Quebec) we'll be able to see it now nationally on City, CBC, SN1, Sportsnet 360. It's awesome. I guess I appreciate what it brings to me as a Leaf fan but also a hockey fan more than it does to you being solely a Leaf fan.

 

[Evil Doctor]

But Rogers wasn't really a national network yet. Over here, it'd be like if FOX ripped something away from ESPN and everyone was 'FOX is so amateur!'. Then FOX hires Jay and Dan, and Gus Johnson, and Erin Andrews, etc etc and becomes a legit national network. That's what Rogers will do!

Hey, they should do that with the Blue Jays...oh wait a minute...

 

[thom]

Every city in Canada with less than 250 thousand people Junior hockey is huge.In Kamloops for example 18 and 19 yrs old men are known all over the town.The Memorial Cup is as important as Rose Bowl.Go to every town in Canada and Junior hockey rules.Thats the difference between rural and urban canada.The Kamloops team is owned By galardi the same guys who own dallas Stars.Junior hockey is big in canada and always was

 

[Evil Doctor]

That's where SN's regional model has them in a way though.

Sportsnet has the model in place for all regional games.

TSN only has MTL and WIN meaning they'd have to create 1 channel in the other 4 markets(MTL and OTT share their market)

Whether TSN create a TSN Oilers/Flames/Leafs/Canucks or just back off is yet to be seen

Or they can broadcast on local CTV/CTV2 channels...

 

[Neely2005]

So not only is the quality of broadcast going to go down but the price will continue to climb?

Great, great deal for growing the game, I cant see how this benefits anyone but the owners and the players. The fans lose again, I'll be cancelling my TSN HD subscription for sure. I will only pay for basic HD channels then as long as I get sens games then I will buy game center. Rogers will probably end up losing money here and frankly I am not upset about it one bit. They overcharge for everything and have terrible and I mean TERRIBLE quality, speed involving anything digital. I cant watch anything between 2 and and 5 am because they servers update and freeze.

Except for Rogers was just named the fastest ISP in Canada:

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1517777

 

[uncleherman77]

I guess this deal saves me money. Right now I pay an extra ten or 15 dollars a month for a TV package just so I can get TSN/TSN2 on it. Guess I'll be cancelling that now and watching just basic cable broadcasts with sportsnet and cbc plus my center ice package. The more I hear of this deal the more I love it.

 

[Riptide]

But Rogers wasn't really a national network yet. Over here, it'd be like if FOX ripped something away from ESPN and everyone was 'FOX is so amateur!'. Then FOX hires Jay and Dan, and Gus Johnson, and Erin Andrews, etc etc and becomes a legit national network. That's what Rogers will do!

I don't dispute that... as they'll have to. I'm just saying that if the two companies were close in numbers (which was alluded to a few posts above), it's shocking to give this deal to RSN vs TSN for a whole host of reasons... one of which is the quality of the content.

 

[Riptide]

Canadian teams take a skim off the top, the rest is split evenly among the 30.

Any more info on how this will play out?