The NFL and NBA and MLB also faced the same challenges, yet somehow they have avoided poverty. It’s not just a matter of covid either. What were they doing for the preceding years…
Most big corporations now are able to shell out to keep their best talent because they want to.
I remember the MLB collusion days and I’m just wondering if this isn’t a similar thing. Maybe ownership is seeing a crisis as an opportunity to suppress salaries.
I don’t know, just saying.
The NHL has always been more dependent on gate receipts than those other leagues, so they were hit harder by not having fans. The new US TV deals help, but are currently offset by the pandemic. The NHL can't magically make networks pay more for their product, but it has been trending in a positive direction for years. Look where the cap was in 2005 and where it is now. Revenues have doubled and would be even higher if not for the pandemic. The NHL made a mistake by doing a 10 year deal with NBC. It should have been shorter, so they could cash in on the league's growth sooner. So if there is any criticism to be leveled their way, it is that. They only gave ESPN and TNT 7 year deals, which is probably still a little longer than is ideal, but 7 years from now, the league will be able to sign even larger deals. And the Canadian broadcast deal ends in 2025, giving them another opportunity to increase non-gate revenue. The less dependent the NHL becomes on gate-money, the stronger the league will be.
That's why the NFL is so strong. They only play 16 games a year, but their broadcast deals are crazy.
National Football League on television - Wikipedia
Until the broadcast contract ended in 2013, the terrestrial television networks
CBS,
NBC, and
Fox, as well as cable television's
ESPN, paid a combined total of US$20.4 billion
[1] to broadcast NFL games. From 2014 to 2022, the same networks will pay $39.6 billion for exactly the same broadcast rights.
Nearly 40 billion in broadcast money every year. Pre-pandemic, the NHL was at about 5 billion in total revenue, between broadcast rights, gate receipts, etc. There is no comparison. If you are going to look at the NFL and say that the NHL should be doing just as well, that isn't fair. Like it or not, the NHL isn't the top sport in the US and probably never will be.
The NBA is closer to the NHL in terms of popularity and revenue, but still ahead.
NBA Announces 9-Year Extension With ESPN, Turner, Through 2025
The NBA has officially announced a new nine year television deal with ESPN and Turner Sports that will begin in the 2016-17 season and last through 2024-25. The parties did not disclose financial terms, but the deal is reported to be worth $2.6 or $2.7 billion per year — up nearly 200% from the current level of $930 million.
I couldn't find an exact breakdown of the NHL's deal with Rogers, but the later years are reported to pay 500 mil per year, with earlier years starting at 300 mil. That deal began in 2013, so the league should be seeing close to 500 mil per year at this point.
ESPN and Turner Sports to take over NHL broadcast
- ESPN will pay $2.8 billion over seven years for the league's "A" package, which includes four Stanley Cup Finals. And yes, the theme song is coming back.
- Turner will pay $1.57 billion over seven years for the "B" package. Games will be televised on TNT and TBS, and HBO Max will reportedly be included in some capacity.
That's about 620 mil per year, which brings the total broadcast revenue to about 1.1 billion per year. That's the national money. I have no idea how much local broadcasters, like MSG and NESN, pay, but I would assume it's not near enough to close the gap with the NBA.
All the NHL can do is keep improving the product and increasing revenues, but those other leagues are doing the same thing, so they likelihood that the NHL surpasses any of them is pretty slim.
