Rant on Sportsnet & Regional Restrictions

[30ranfordfan]

I'd have to dig around to find a really "firm" answer, but my understanding of all of it - it has nothing to do with Rogers (Sportsnet), and how the NHL licenses its broadcast.

Basically, Rogers is paying $X to broadcast a national game (i.e. available across the country) and they're paying $Y to broadcast games regionally ('Y' can differ from region to region).

Rogers has an exclusive to broadcast national games (that's what they paid huge dollars for, have done nothing but lose money on the deal, and likely won't renew - unless it's discounted) but only so many of the games are national.

When you get the Premium version of their App ($250 a year, rather than $180), then there are no blackouts. This is where my understanding (it was explained to me, once upon a time, by a friend who works there) gets a little dicey.

The Premium app, which eliminates restrictions, muddies the waters between what's a national game, and what's a regional game.

Let's say Rogers pays $4 to broadcast a Habs game, but only in the Montreal market.
Let's say they pay $10 to broadcast a Habs game, but do it nationally.

When they pay for those regional games, that money flows (mostly) to the team. When they pay for the national games, the team is still getting their regional revenues, but the league gets the balance (I think the league actually gets a cut of the regional moneys too - for the purpose of revenue sharing - but that just complicates it more, so let's pretend they don't).

There are a bunch of games each week that get marked as the national games. There's only a finite number of them. Rogers can (pretty much) pick whatever games they want to be national. The rest end up as regional.

When the regional games gets watched through the app, they because quasi-national games. I forget exactly how the formula works - but suppose 80% of the viewers are in region, and 20% are watching via the app, out of region. I *THINK* what happens in this case is because they were able to increase their viewership by 25% (i.e. 20 is 25% of 80) - they have to pay an additional 25% over and above the $4, that goes into the NHL's national broadcast revenues.... so if 100k people are watching that Blue Jackets @ Canadiens game on a Tuesday night... and 20k are from outside the MTL region, that game now cost them $5 instead of $4 (which is still much less than $10).

Let me emphasis, those numbers are all made up..... but I'm fairly certain, that's how they pay.



This doesn't change the fact that the NHL needs to get away from any regional blackouts. They need to come up with a way to let everyone watch whatever they want, whenever they want - and make it simple.

[RGM81]

I gotta be honest with you, Sean, a lot of that sounds like the legendary "Steiner Math" promo. LOL My pro wrestling homies will get this reference, but essentially it sounds like there's 133 1/3 per cent chance that the NHL really mucked things up with this deal. I know they love "cost certainty" and a 12-year broadcast deal certainly brings that....but it was a terrible deal then and it's only gotten worse over time.

[mikecole141]

I gotta be honest with you, Sean, a lot of that sounds like the legendary "Steiner Math" promo. LOL My pro wrestling homies will get this reference, but essentially it sounds like there's 133 1/3 per cent chance that the NHL really mucked things up with this deal. I know they love "cost certainty" and a 12-year broadcast deal certainly brings that....but it was a terrible deal then and it's only gotten worse over time.

The next deal whether exclusive to Bell or Rogers, or a split between them (and maybe Bell, Rogers & the CBC), is going to no better in regards to having less blackouts. The regional packages for the teams, as well as the streaming/pay TV for the league has become too much money in revenue that is over and above the National deals in the US and Canada. I'm more inclined to believe that the extra Canadian team games guarantee that Rogers had on their additional nights for Hometown Hockey and Wednesday nights, now Monday and Wednesday night won't continue into the next deal either, with the NHL using those games as an additional hook for people to subscribe. It wasn't that long ago that TSN's weekly National game would be a Southwest division tilt between the Thrashers and the Caps, or the Coyotes and Anaheim.

I'm thinking, you believe that if Bell gets the next deal RDS is going to go back to being able to broadcast all Habs games Nationally. Not only do I believe that the NHL is not going to allow that, they already know how many streaming subscribers they will lose if they allow it to happen. Not only that but Sportsnet is not going to allow a regional package to get aired Nationally where RDS will be able to claim additional ratings to raise advertising rates and have more National advertising partners, when their regional markets are blacked out by the NHL from broadcasting into additional homes.

Unless people stop paying for the streaming/pay TV packages, the NHL is never going to get rid of blackouts and adopt a broadcast strategy to try and get as much money out of the regional broadcasters based on increased advertising revenue, if anything the NHL wants to move even more games over to the streaming/pay tv. In the States they now have it tied into ESPN+/Disney+ and Max(formerly HBO) so not only are they getting their cake, the subscribers are getting additional content as well. Right now in Canada if you subscriber to SNNow premium, not only do you get all NHL games, but WWE, NBA, and more.

I wouldn't spend $250 dollars a year for Centre Ice, I am still not paying that, or $34.99 for SNNow, and I won't do it for TSN+ if they have the next NHL deal. But there are more people paying for it, that are saying they won't, and that money talks.

You only have two choices, continue to illegally stream, or subscribe. Well, three choices actually, you could always move back to Nova Scotia and be in the NHL's dictated broadcast market for the Canadiens.

[jameslacarte]

Living in Ontario we got all the games that were on including the Oilers/Hawks game. Must be a Quebec thing cause almost everyone else got the game. The only team we don't get in Ontario that is prone to blackouts is Winnipeg Jets games on TSN & I doubt many Ontario people really care about that.

[RGM81]

Living in Ontario we got all the games that were on including the Oilers/Hawks game. Must be a Quebec thing cause almost everyone else got the game. The only team we don't get in Ontario that is prone to blackouts is Winnipeg Jets games on TSN & I doubt many Ontario people really care about that.

I live in Kelowna, BC.

[subban7677]

I live in Kelowna, BC.

Meh, close enough.

[Goose97]

I definitely have to agree with you Rich. watching Hockey has not been the same since Rogers landed the rights. TSN was a far superior broadcaster IMHO. Although, personally I don't have cable, however when I'm in the vicinity to where I can watch any games, it's the frustration everyone I know seems to have where you can't watch certain games unless it's in your region. I miss the days that TSN was the purveyor of NHL. I could watch something every single night of the whole hockey season, and actually be entertained by the show they put on. Rogers is just hot garbage.

[jameslacarte]

I live in Kelowna, BC.

I watched the Oilers/Kings game, it was awesome!!