Shoalts: Rogers fears it overbid for NHL rights. Using cost-cutting measures

[Arya Stark]

So it is possible to them to penny pinch even more? Jesus, I really hope they somehow are forced to sell their rights to TSN because of how bad of a show they put on.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

This is Bettman we're talking about. How has he done on vetting some of his prize future owners?

Maybe Gary should trackdown his prize owner John Spano to pump some cash into this operation.

[dying4acup]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

This. In most mature companies they do due diligence to ensure that company promising to basically do the work for free won't deliver garbage. Better to pay a bit more for quality product.

However, hey probably thought name brand was credence enough. Add in Canadians would watch basically anything with the word hockey on it, and it is low risk from the NHL perspective I guess.

I would love to see the wording in that contract however. There must be some wording in there for minimum quality level you would think. However, how do you qualify that? As long as there is a guy with a pulse reading off a card, behind a desk? I am sure there is a bit of trust there from the NHL that may come back and bite them. Most likely we see the same broadcasts not upgraded for the next 12 years, bare minimum investment everywhere.

NHL just better hope it doesn't get so bad Canadian's start tuning out on them.

2 words: Boots Delbaggio

[FireGilbert]

Hopefully this means Rogers will not be bidding for regional rights in the future. We only need to wait like 8 years for the Flames to have 50+ games on TSN.

[troutman]

"Word out of Rogers"

Speculation by Shoalts? There is no quote or source named. This bomb is buried at the bottom of a story about increasing NHL revenues.

[MarkGio]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

You can't argue that Gary's been good for business as far as the owners are concerned. The owners are all patting him on the back for this deal as has been said it's win-win for them as while Canadian viewers will be inconvenienced we will still tune in. I certainly don't expect a reduction in viewership but problem for Rogers is that they are paying so much money for the rights you would think the status quo of current viewership and advertising will not be enough. They will need more. More viewers to attract more advertising.

It's hard to be overly critical of a product we haven't seen yet on the national level so maybe they will surprise us. That said as the article says the only way they can make money to supplement the deal is through advertising and subscribers and IMO those are both probably pretty tapped out and if they find after a couple of years they can't turn a profit then what happens staring at another 10 years of making little to no money or worse lose money? This could blow up in their faces as they may have bit off more than they could chew with this unprecedented Canadian television deal.

Bettman also has his list of screw ups. The league is very short sighted and a handful of owners would rather rack in dollars in the next decade rather than care about a healthy league long term.

CBC is in every Canadian home with a TV even if you don't have cable. It was dumb to allow Rogers to cut them out. TSN put out the most entertaining broadcast, and they instead attacked them. I know Bettman doesn't like Ron McLean, but its just business.

[dying4acup]

Truth is that I hope this is all hogwash. If true, I could see a sale of the bluejays to Bell, who would welcome them to fold with open arms, or an absorption into mlse.

Either way, with summer sports lacking in Canada, I'm desperate to see the jays become a big payroll team!

[Senator Clay Davis]

So if you thought the digital ads were bad before, I'd imagine they'll be even more of them now. Maybe even something like this catastrophe from an NFL preseason game

[BigFlameDog]

I have no clue how radio rights work or whatever but the Fan960 and sister stations are moving into brand new digs.....wouldn't that have been high on a list of cost cuts if this were true?

[Boreal]

I'm not sure how long Sportnets local deal with the Flames is, or how this case affects Canada, but the local TV packages may be able to be sold independently if this case is won.

http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-...d-after-ruling

The blackouts have long been a point of contention among fans when it comes to GameCenter Live, in particular. They are of course designed to protect the ratings of the network that owns the TV rights for the local team, but the consumer is often a big loser in that scenario.

It's not just for teams in their home markets. For instance, in Iowa (where I got to find this out for myself the hard way), a fan who purchases the GCL package is likely to have games blacked out for each of the Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues, whether that individual's cable provider carries the networks that those teams are on or not. That's a loss of a significant amount of games despite the cost associated with the service for the consumer.

[Badgers Nose]

They just have to sell more $80/month 100 min and 100mb cellular contacts and they will be fine.

[heep223]

Since I usually buy center ice my backup plan is to watch the other team's broadcast.

[Robbob]

I wonder if they are cutting and scrounging around to find all the money to buy the Bills.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by nobles_point

I'm not sure how long Sportnets local deal with the Flames is, or how this case affects Canada, but the local TV packages may be able to be sold independently if this case is won.

http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-...d-after-ruling

There are eight years remaining on the Flames/Sportsnet deal, IIRC.

And outcome of a lawsuit in the US will have no impact at all on the legality of the practice in Canada. Though if successful, one can predict someone associated with the Maple Leafs to try a similar lawsuit in Canada.

[Stanathan]

I'm sure they'll just charge all of their cell customers an extra $300/month for long distance calls that were never actually made...that's on top of the extra $100 they are already charging for these phantom calls.

[hamburgler]

#### sucker. They were doing so well.

[AC]

I can't wait until Rogers decides the best thing for the viewer is exclusive access to only SD broadcasts of games!

[GirlySports]

Hockey has always run at a loss. It's just an avenue to get more content on the air and promote other shows. If Rogers thought they could make money doing this, they're idiots.

I don't take this article seriously. If it were really true it would have been the top story, not a paragraph buried at the bottom of a long article. Also if they were really cost cutting, they wouldn't have hired Randorf, Romaniuk and Friedman.

[bettman]

David Shoalts is a grumpy ####### that works for Bell. <removed> and is a subpar writer. What he needed to add was his bosses, took for granted the National Rights would be bestowed upon TSN automatically for whatever they wanted. Just like ESPN did years ago. TSN snubbed Bettman and the NHL with their arrogance, they paid the price. Just like ESPN. NHL is now infinitely more profitable in the US. Why? Because they work with a company that helps the league and not just themselves. When TSN took over in 2004, their first 3 years were very poor. They got better. That will happen with Rogers. FYI. Many, many Hockey Management hires have come from Hockey Night in Canada and TSN. Shoalts failed to mention that because he knows nothing. Poor writer. Maybe the weakest of any Sports Writer at a National Level. They force Al Maki out to let this geek write.

[bettman]

btw Girly Sports hockey does not always run at a loss. Unless you were HNIC which only advertised a certain portion of it's commercial content. That was because we the tax payers funded the mess for years. It eventually caught up with them. Teams like the Flames and Oilers make millions working in consort with Rogers selling advertising on TV and being able to give their sponsors value-added products in house and in broadcasting. The teams in Alberta aren't complaining. Ask their marketing reps and check their advertising logs.