World Championships were offered to American TV for FREE!!

[starsgal09]

Well, according to John Davidson, Fasel is not being honest. The American stations had to purchase the entire package (like tsn did). They wanted just the US games. Fasel said all or nothing.

This doesn't surprise me about Fasel. He's done nothing but run down North American hockey for the last year.

 

[Sotnos]

Sorry to burst your bubble dude...POKER IS NOT A SPORT! I hope you're joking...

I don't believe he said it was.

ESPN=Entertainment and Sports Programming Network

This still doesn't defend spelling bees, those are not entertaining.

 

[Old Hickory]

I don't believe he said it was.

ESPN=Entertainment and Sports Programming Network

This still doesn't defend spelling bees, those are not entertaining.

You must have missed it when that kid passed out last year

 

[SilverSkate]

And that's something that I'll never understand about most Americans. They enjoy watching race cars go around an oval lap at almost 200 miles an hour, they enjoy watching NFL football where it is basically a running game, and they enjoy baseball - a sport based on failure. However, the moment that hockey comes up and they have to pay attention to the game, they lose interest. I'll never understand why....

Not all Americans enjoy racing, football, baseball, or basketball. Give me hockey any time!!!!

Right!!! Maybe if hockey fans would watch the games then these stations will change their tunes. ESPN has to get some fault too. If they want hockey to grow in the US then they have to at least put the games on.

It's not just ESPN, it's sport's reporting. If they would report about the games more & make it seem more interesting, then people would want to watch it more. This is where ESPN errored when they had the full NHL contract.

Largely, marketing. The NFL, NBA and especially NASCAR have destroyed the NHL in marketing in recent years. They also keep close, ironclad control over the quality of the product.

This is why I have a problem with Bettman. He was hired to market the NHL & he has failed in a big way. Even if the lock-out had never occured, he should have been fired because he didn't accomplish his task of marketing the game.

 

[Lapps]

I think some people are missing the point. I am an American who loves hockey. The "no goal" game was much more devastating to me than all 4 Super Bowls combined (duh, guess where I was born and raised). But I agree with the general sentiment that "Americans don't care."

Is that sentiment all-inclusive? No. As I said, I'm American and I care. But the only thing networks care about is making money from advertisers, and the only thing advertisers care about are ratings. So, obviously networks will run programming that will bring in the most viewers so they can charge advertisers the most money. Beginning, middle, and end of story. If it made financial sense, trust me, they'd broadcast these games.

Am I upset at not being able to watch the games (for free)? Yes. But it's completely understandable from the networks' positions. Is it right that everything like this is based solely on profits? Probably not. Diversity and the advancement of unpopular ideas make life interesting. That's why little cult movies and indie rock bands are so great. So it certainly would be nice to be able to watch hockey. But make fun of poker and NASCAR all we want, the fact remains they get better ratings then hockey -- or at least the cost-of-production/ratings ratio is more inclined for them to make a profit. It's a no-brainer as far as the networks and ESPN go. (And please, no one go off on a "how can you say hockey is unpopular I like it" rant. Yes - I know, I love hockey too. We are passionate about our sport and probably love it more than a majority of football or baseball fans love their sports. But, in the grand scheme of things -- in America, at least -- we are a gigantic minority. So it sucks to be us.

So be livid. Be angry. Be pissed off. Complain and make yourselves (ourselves) be heard.

Just don't be surprised.