Number of Commercials Per NHL Game

[qwerty]

Does anyone know how many commercials are played during a standard NHL game? Just saw that the NBA will be entering their new $2.67 Billion dollar TV deal per year next season and i just couldn't believe how much worse the NHL's deal with NBC is in comparison.

So I was thinking of reasons why that might be the case and I came to conclusion that (outside of the obvious discrepancy in viewership) perhaps it's also due in part to the number of games they get to broadcast or is it because the NHL plays way less commercials per game due to the fact that game time action runs longer at 60 minutes compared to 48 minutes. So naturally, it would make sense to me that the NHL just plays way less commercials than the NBA and I would bet less commercials than the NFL and MLB as well.

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[LeafsLegendAkiBerg]

I would say that the NHL has less viewers than those three sports and ad time is less valuable during NHL games.

I have no clue how many advertisements are shown during hockey games. It feels like too much as it is.

 

[DonskoiDonscored]

It's important to note that the NHL runs the same few ads over and over (way more than other sports).

For example, I think I've seen the Nicklas Backstrom geico commercial at least 500 times, and they only show a Honda commercial in overtime.

I think they show plenty of commercials, they just don't have a lot of variation. The demand probably isn't high.

 

[redcard]

3 commercial breaks per period, at the first stoppage following 14:00, 10:00, 6:00 remaining provided it is not after an icing, goal, or during a man advantage. Don't remember how long the breaks are, but 9 breaks of 1-1.5 minutes each during the game. The majority of ads are shown during intermission, when most fans know they have 18 minutes to change the channel or walk away from the tv, this probably hurts the deal...but isn't something we need to fix.

 

[pm88]

The NHL is not a highly watched or a high priority sport in America especially, so I'm assuming they're significantly less than what you see in the course of an NFL or NBA game

 

[wolfgaze]

Playoff overtime hockey is the best due to there being no commercial breaks!

 

[LadyStanley]

3 commercial breaks per period, at the first stoppage following 14:00, 10:00, 6:00 remaining provided it is not after an icing, goal, or during a man advantage. Don't remember how long the breaks are, but 9 breaks of 1-1.5 minutes each during the game. The majority of ads are shown during intermission, when most fans know they have 18 minutes to change the channel or walk away from the tv, this probably hurts the deal...but isn't something we need to fix.

Actual break is two minutes of clock time, but nominally 90 seconds of advertisement. National TV seems to be closer to 2:15 of break as they seem to squeeze in four (30 second commercials) a few times.


Coverage will sometimes go to commercial if there's a rink issue (i.e., replacement of glass) as well.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

The majority of commercials are between intermissions, when people are doing something other than watching TV. That certainly doesn't help.

 

[Ciao]

Supply and demand. That's all there is to it.

In the US demand for NBA ad space is higher.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

Playoff overtime hockey is the best due to there being no commercial breaks!

Used to. There's been a commercial break this year in OT games--might just be for the ice scrape, but they never went to commercial for that before.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

HF seems to have a passionate hate for it but the fact of the matter is that the NBA is far more popular than hockey in the states and therefore ad revenue is far greater for basketball because many more people watch it.

 

[jerrytsao]

Something like this, the last column is "# of commercial per hour", football has way more ad spots than any other sports for obvious reasons, hockey, on the other hand, is actually close to baseball.

http://www.nationalsarmrace.com/?p=475

Outside of NFL, NBA has the best key demo rating (age 18-34 & 18-49) while drawing significant numbers of overall viewership, key demo drives the ad rate while the overall viewership levels up the TV deal.

Turner & Disney would lose large amounts of ad sales had they lost NBA, that's why they overpaid the league before Fox & NBC had any chance to openly compete, same goes to Turner & CBS overpaid March Madness.

 

[Mr. Fancy Pants]

Just saw that the NBA will be entering their new $2.67 Billion dollar TV deal per year next season and i just couldn't believe how much worse the NHL's deal with NBC is in comparison.

Wow. The NHL gets less than 10% of that. Bettman and the owners should just give up on the pipedream of a major US TV deal. They've been trying for 20+ years. It will never happen. With the changing television landscape and cord-cutters, I have a feeling the current Canadian and US deals may be the most they ever get.

 

[BattleBorn]

Wow. The NHL gets less than 10% of that. Bettman and the owners should just give up on the pipedream of a major US TV deal. They've been trying for 20+ years. It will never happen. With the changing television landscape and cord-cutters, I have a feeling the current Canadian and US deals may be the most they ever get.

In my opinion, the NHL is a victim of bad timing. The last US deal was inked prior to the mainstream use of timeshifting DVR systems and the league got offered a package that was based solely on ratings versus other sports at the time.

Since then, almost everyone has a DVR or a method with which they can view things on demand and skip through commercials. Live sports require a live or near live viewing experience and the value of that type of programming has grown significantly since commercials are not easily skipped. You're seeing that reflected in sports media rights deals signed recently and likely in the near future.

When the US rights go out for bid again it can either be huge because the current trend continues or it could be a disappointment because networks will have figured out how to maximize advertising dollars in time shifting. It's kind of a crap shoot.

I'm very confident in saying that if the US rights deal was up for renewal or bid next year the amounts paid would be a lot closer to NBA numbers than current NHL numbers.

 

[jerrytsao]

In my opinion, the NHL is a victim of bad timing. The last US deal was inked prior to the mainstream use of timeshifting DVR systems and the league got offered a package that was based solely on ratings versus other sports at the time.

Since then, almost everyone has a DVR or a method with which they can view things on demand and skip through commercials. Live sports require a live or near live viewing experience and the value of that type of programming has grown significantly since commercials are not easily skipped. You're seeing that reflected in sports media rights deals signed recently and likely in the near future.

When the US rights go out for bid again it can either be huge because the current trend continues or it could be a disappointment because networks will have figured out how to maximize advertising dollars in time shifting. It's kind of a crap shoot.

I'm very confident in saying that if the US rights deal was up for renewal or bid next year the amounts paid would be a lot closer to NBA numbers than current NHL numbers.

You're talking about the original 2005 deal when rating was basically tanking, the 200m/year deal was actually based on much better numbers, and TV consuming in 2011 wasn't much different from today. Unless sports rights bubble bursting eventually happens, major leagues TV revenue will continue to grow at pace.

 

[kdb209]

Does anyone know how many commercials are played during a standard NHL game? Just saw that the NBA will be entering their new $2.67 Billion dollar TV deal per year next season and i just couldn't believe how much worse the NHL's deal with NBC is in comparison.

So I was thinking of reasons why that might be the case and I came to conclusion that (outside of the obvious discrepancy in viewership) perhaps it's also due in part to the number of games they get to broadcast or is it because the NHL plays way less commercials per game due to the fact that game time action runs longer at 60 minutes compared to 48 minutes. So naturally, it would make sense to me that the NHL just plays way less commercials than the NBA and I would bet less commercials than the NFL and MLB as well.

Most of the Disney/ESPN and Turner/TNT revenues come from subscriber fees paid by the CableCos/Satellite providers - not from commercial advertising.

 

[tsanuri]

In my opinion, the NHL is a victim of bad timing. The last US deal was inked prior to the mainstream use of timeshifting DVR systems and the league got offered a package that was based solely on ratings versus other sports at the time.

Since then, almost everyone has a DVR or a method with which they can view things on demand and skip through commercials. Live sports require a live or near live viewing experience and the value of that type of programming has grown significantly since commercials are not easily skipped. You're seeing that reflected in sports media rights deals signed recently and likely in the near future.

When the US rights go out for bid again it can either be huge because the current trend continues or it could be a disappointment because networks will have figured out how to maximize advertising dollars in time shifting. It's kind of a crap shoot.

I'm very confident in saying that if the US rights deal was up for renewal or bid next year the amounts paid would be a lot closer to NBA numbers than current NHL numbers.

I would hope you were right but I just can't see it. I'm thinking even it was next year the NHL would be doing good to get the same deal as they have in Canada for the US. Which would double the deal for the US but be far from where the NBA is at.

 

[jerrytsao]

Most of the Disney/ESPN and Turner/TNT revenues come from subscriber fees paid by the CableCos/Satellite providers - not from commercial advertising.

Considering increasingly high cord-cutting rate, ad sales are becoming more important to cable networks.

 

[jkrdevil]

Wow. The NHL gets less than 10% of that. Bettman and the owners should just give up on the pipedream of a major US TV deal. They've been trying for 20+ years. It will never happen. With the changing television landscape and cord-cutters, I have a feeling the current Canadian and US deals may be the most they ever get.

I don't get what you are trying to say here. I don't get think they believe they will match those sports, but they should still try to maximize the revenue they gets from media rights because that is what businesses do.

 

[qwerty]

Something like this, the last column is "# of commercial per hour", football has way more ad spots than any other sports for obvious reasons, hockey, on the other hand, is actually close to baseball.

http://www.nationalsarmrace.com/?p=475

Outside of NFL, NBA has the best key demo rating (age 18-34 & 18-49) while drawing significant numbers of overall viewership, key demo drives the ad rate while the overall viewership levels up the TV deal.

Turner & Disney would lose large amounts of ad sales had they lost NBA, that's why they overpaid the league before Fox & NBC had any chance to openly compete, same goes to Turner & CBS overpaid March Madness.

Nice work. I'm wondering now if the NHL would ever consider increasing the amount of commercials per game during games considering how much less commercials they air during a broadcast relative to their competition. For instance would airing 2.5 or 3 minutes worth of commercials instead of 2 minutes worth of commercials during dry scrapes be worth it or would that would be overkill? I know fans already dislike the amount of commercials that are being played but based on the statistics, it appears hockey fans actually have it pretty good right now compared to other sports. For me personally, I'm not sure I'd even notice really nor do I think the average fan would either. The revenue from an additional 9 to 18 commercials per broadcast would be a huge boost i would imagine.

 

[qwerty]

In my opinion, the NHL is a victim of bad timing. The last US deal was inked prior to the mainstream use of timeshifting DVR systems and the league got offered a package that was based solely on ratings versus other sports at the time.

Since then, almost everyone has a DVR or a method with which they can view things on demand and skip through commercials. Live sports require a live or near live viewing experience and the value of that type of programming has grown significantly since commercials are not easily skipped. You're seeing that reflected in sports media rights deals signed recently and likely in the near future.

When the US rights go out for bid again it can either be huge because the current trend continues or it could be a disappointment because networks will have figured out how to maximize advertising dollars in time shifting. It's kind of a crap shoot.

I'm very confident in saying that if the US rights deal was up for renewal or bid next year the amounts paid would be a lot closer to NBA numbers than current NHL numbers.

You're probably right. I wonder, had the NHL waited another year would they have been better off at all doing that. I do wonder how much more they would have received had they re-upped at the same time as the NBA.

 

[qwerty]

Most of the Disney/ESPN and Turner/TNT revenues come from subscriber fees paid by the CableCos/Satellite providers - not from commercial advertising.

That makes sense. My point was more so about the NBA having more commercial air time than the NHL which would contribute to their overall tv deal being much more lucrative than the NHLs tv deal.