NHL Bullish on Next TV Rights Deal

[RGM81]

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/67132

The NHL is heading into the final year of its TV contract in a stronger position than it’s had in decades, with an expanded portfolio of corporate sponsors, strong digital traffic and strong ratings growth.
The league’s current position is completely different from the last time it negotiated TV deals at the end of a lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 season.

The results showed how much the work stoppage hurt the league’s leverage. The only way the NHL could keep its games on broadcast TV was to agree to a revenue-sharing deal with NBC, which included no rights fee. And the league left ESPN for Versus, which signed a three-year, $207.5 million deal, with an option for three more seasons that Versus has since exercised.

Owners and team executives expect the new deal to dwarf those numbers. One owner told SportsBusiness Journal that he expects to see at least a 50 percent jump in TV rights fees. That would push the league’s annual haul to more than $115 million and increase each team’s take to $3.87 million a year.

[30ranfordfan]

If they're going to let the TV networks dictate the palyoff schedule, they had better be getting paid more for it.

[RGM81]

What, you don't think hockey should be played at noon on a Saturday?