[News] Sportsnet signs 12 year $5.2 billion for NHL CDN Broadcast rights.

[Dx54]

Now all Sportsnet needs to do is make Rob Kerr their #1 PBP commentator for national games.

[TheCommodoreAfro]

Likely what will happen is that the consequential folks from Sportsnet will migrate over to Sportsnet from TSN. I think the big advantage SN has is their regional reach, but I'm sure with TSN now no longer needing analysts I'm sure we'll see a drift of the major talent over to a more nationally oriented SN package.

At least I hope that will happen.

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Wait, what does this mean? No more national broadcasts on TSN? Just regional Jets coverage?

That could be the end of TSN national telecasts. Regional broadcasts of the Jets and Habs would continue on TSN.

[Dion]

Bob McKenzie‏@TSNBobMcKenzie2h
In meantime, can only speak for myself, but losing rights changes nothing for me. SportsCentre, That's Hockey, tsn.ca, Twitter, new shows...

Bob McKenzie‏@TSNBobMcKenzie2h
Much work to be done. Guess I'll have more time to do it. Proud to be associated with all my NHL on TSN colleagues. They're the best! G'nite

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

If they didn't have to pay MacLean, Cherry and Cole the big salaries then they wouldn't be cash strapped. I'm sure poaching Jim Hughson from Sportsnet wasn't cheap either.

Surprised you guys are pro CBC. Anyone else find it unfair that Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa all get their games televised on Sat night but only one western game is televised? So if I live in the lower mainland I have to buy Centre Ice to watch the Flames because cbc plays God and determines which western team is worthy enough to be televised? This smells bad.

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

You've over simplified your argument. Population (and the subsequent fan base) of each market is a key factor. The other key factor is the time the games are on. Ottawa out east, while being a similar size market to both Calgary and Edmonton, has the advantage of their games starting at 7pm eastern. It's a little bit of luck of the draw, but a 7pm start time will likely keep more of that markets viewers around until the end of the game, and potentially into the post game coverage (if time) and the start of the western game. Unfortunately out west, with just that 1 hour later start, they will lose the more casual viewer later into the broadcast as the night wears on (people go to bed or head out to do other things) and even will lose the hard core fans to other activities if their team is being blown out.

Not too many folks will find after hours appealing enough to keep watching until the bitter end. So it's not a conspiracy against Western teams, its simply a factor of the time zones and amount of the prime time window that can be occupied. A much stronger business case can be made to give "Ottawa special treatment" given when their game starts and the appeal of the programing that follows their game (game 2 of the double headers vs. after hours).

Montreal and Toronto get all their games televised on Saturday nights, Ottawa doesn't. The Senators have 8 games in the afternoon, 5 on SNET and 3 on CBC. Where out west are you talking about? The Jets games on HNIC start at 6:00 or 9:00 and at different times for the afternoon games. The Oilers and Jets 8:00 pm MT start doesn't make the casual viewer go away the later it gets. The Canucks have the 7:00 pm start. I agree with the blowout factor, fans of all sorts will tune out.

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

Who owns regional rights for the Leafs and Habs? RDS for Montreal, right? But aren't Leafs games shown all over the place? I could see a lot of talent staying put at TSN for coverage of the two biggest markets, even if it's regional coverage.

The Habs regional rights are owned by TSN for english telecasts. The Habs national rights are owned by RDS. The Leafs regional rights are owned by Sportsnet and Leafs TV, TSN lost the Leafs regional games at the end of the 06-07 season.

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

This just seems so weird.

TSN basically runs the NHL Network and has been a big part of the all-star games and more importantly, the draft. They're now going to lose their talent (some to retirement, some to other networks) and there will be nothing left.

Seriously, I can't help but feel this is a terrible day for hockey fans across the country.

Originally Posted by browna

So a couple things...the NHL Network in Canada...is that not a TSN-owned network? What happens to them now that they have limits on content?

Does the NBCSN relationship go along with the rights? I assume so.

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

It's like a JV thing - TSN does the production, but NHL is an equal partner. Something like that.

I can't see that happening, but I would've said the same thing about TSN losing national NHL rights a week ago. We'll have to wait and see.

Here is a detailed breakdown of the NHL Network ownership/consortium.
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/ownership/eng/cht182.pdf

The NBCSN relationship would cease with TSN/TSN2 as it's part of the english national package.

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by flameswin

I'm a little young, but this would be the second time they've lost national rights, correct?

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

...there was a time when TSN didn't have national game rights and wasn't as big a part of the NHL as you describe. End of the day, all this really means for hockey fans is a potential re-branding of the coverage we already know.

The talent will eventually end up where the work is, the same types of programs will get run, the same type of coverage will happen, we might just have to select a different channel on the remote.

For 4 seasons TSN wasn't on the national scene for NHL games, they just had regional rights to the Leafs and Habs. Sportsnet had the weeknight national package, usually on Tuesdays from 1998-99 to 2001-02. There was a youtube clip of Gord Miller on TSN's last NHL game in the spring of 98 where he said "we'll see you somewhere on the hockey trail." I wonder if he"ll say it again.

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

This is a shocker. What happened to the rumored bid where TSN, CBC, and Sportsnet all get national TV rights?

Originally Posted by getbak

It appears that Rogers made a big enough offer to cut TSN out. I'm sure we'll get more details on Tuesday.

My guess is that Rogers wanted to get the rights to the playoffs and bid so much that the League couldn't say no, and without the big money generated by the playoffs, it likely wasn't worth the money for TSN to pay for just regular season rights.

One good thing about this is that it hopefully means the end of 8:00 start times for Wednesday night home games.

My guess is TSN wouldn't play nice with its competitors. The playoff money that getbak mentions make sense. The other part I think is TSN was never serious about its Wednesday night hockey, hardly any doubleheaders on their signature night. Another problem was the start of the 2nd game of TSN doubleheaders would be missed because TSN2 was showing another hockey game or sport and there was no other way to show it which was stupid, not even NHL Network. Good riddance to TSN, hockey doesn't live here.

[Kaine]

I really hope actually attempting to sync the audio to the picture was at least mentioned at the negotiations.

Not a happy camper.

[nfotiu]

Here is the announcement.
$5.2 Billion over 12 years, and includes all playoff games, exclusive Sunday and Wednesday windows and they will broadcast out of market CBC saturday games from the sounds of it.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=6...id=DL|NHL|home

[bubbsy]

wonder how long tsn bought the rights of the hockey night in canada song....

too bad so sad. glad to see the hnic tradition live on. TSN was much too smug for me.

sportsnet/cbc don't have the quality level, but i didn't feel like throwing stuff at the television watching them. hopefully cbc can replace guys like healy/stock, and sportsnet needs to improve their pbp guys in order to meet the national game standard.

i'm happy that all games i watch (rogers ontario cable user) will be in HD now.

[getbak]

Holy crap, that's massive.

The deal gives Rogers national rights to all NHL games, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final, on all of its platforms in all languages.

If I'm reading that correctly, CBC won't have the playoffs anymore, only HNiC on Saturdays during the regular season. It sounds like they basically threw CBC a bone with HNiC.

It also sounds like there may no longer be out-of-region blackouts on the Canucks, Oilers, Flames, and Sens regional games, but I might be reading that wrong.

Rogers will provide game coverage with expanded pre- and post-game coverage beginning at 4 p.m. ET on Saturdays and Sundays. In addition to its exclusive rights for all playoff and Stanley Cup Final games, Rogers has exclusive rights to special events such as future NHL All-Star Games and NHL Drafts.

The agreement guarantees that there will be no further regionalization of games or local blackouts. Rogers has three exclusive windows to broadcast any game involving a Canadian team -- Wednesday nights, Saturday nights (including CBC) and Sunday nights.

Viewers on Saturday nights will get every game regardless of where they reside and certain games involving two U.S.-based teams.

According to an example provided by Rogers, if the agreement were in place this season Canadians would have had access to five games spread over 11 different channels, including three TVA channels (French-language only), in the 7 p.m. ET window this past Saturday.

The new Sunday night national broadcast will feature marquee matchups.

In addition, Rogers will use its digital technology to stream games on the Internet, wireless and mobile devices, and satellite radio. Rogers will operate NHL Center Ice and NHL GameCenter Live in Canada.

I guess we know why TSN wasn't able to compete with that deal. If the $5.2B is split evenly over 12 years, it alone drives up the salary cap by approximately $7 million per team, per season.


EDIT: The Sportsnet story (http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/d...rough-2025-26/) gives some numbers...

The $5.2-billion deal is comprised of annual payments, starting at just over $300 million next year then increasing gradually to more than $500 million in the final year. There is also a $150 million upfront payment that will be spread over the deal’s first two years.

Either way, that's a lot more money. A lot of agents just woke to the sound of ringing cash registers.

[sureLoss]

Salary cap will increase an average of $4.05 million starting 2015 thanks to this deal (assuming the NHL's hockey related revenue doesen't drop for another reason).

[Super-Rye]

I wonder if TSN will start to show some junior games now. Maybe they can build up to the WJC by following the top junior teams or something. Absolute shame TSN doesn't get to show any NHL hockey.

[getbak]

The Rogers corporate press releases have the most information.

Here's the main deal between Rogers and the NHL: http://about.rogers.com/About/Media_...Agreement.aspx

Here's the licensing deal with the CBC and TVA (CBC will have some playoff games): http://about.rogers.com/About/Media_...NHL_Games.aspx



This is the "Sample Saturday" for what this past Saturday night would have looked like under this deal...



Without buying Centre Ice, you could have watched 10 different games on Saturday. Under the agreement with the CBC, all of these games would be branded as "Hockey Night in Canada" too.


If I'm reading it correctly, it sounds like all production for all games will be done by Rogers and CBC will just be broadcasting their feed. Hopefully, that means they plan to hire away everyone who works on HNiC now, and will have that crew produce all of their games.

[Flames89]

Fascinating stuff.
I like the sound of the elimination of blackouts and the embracing of internet streaming. However, I am worried about their presentation.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Salary cap will increase an average of $4.05 million starting 2015 thanks to this deal (assuming the NHL's hockey related revenue doesen't drop for another reason).

It should actually be factored into next year's cap. It will be a "significant" increase in league-wide revenues, which the CBA allows to be used in calculating the adjusted midpoint for the upcoming season.


The press conference announcing the deal will be at 11am EST in Toronto.

[Ashasx]

I have a hard time believing presentation will improve a great deal, if at all. Looking at that sample, it seems like it'll be much like how SN does games right now, by region. Some games will get the better talent on SN (like Kypreos) while others will get the lesser for their telecasts.

I hope you guys like Darren Millard and Doug MacLean.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Joborule

TSN may have the better analyst, but CBC is by far much, much better in the presentation department. CBC is not so overboard with the graphics like TSN is, and they capture the story and emotion of the game so much better. Their game intros are a work of art.

Agreed. There's a lot more talent involved in a hockey broadcast than the talking heads.

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

If they didn't have to pay MacLean, Cherry and Cole the big salaries then they wouldn't be cash strapped. I'm sure poaching Jim Hughson from Sportsnet wasn't cheap either.

Surprised you guys are pro CBC. Anyone else find it unfair that Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa all get their games televised on Sat night but only one western game is televised? So if I live in the lower mainland I have to buy Centre Ice to watch the Flames because cbc plays God and determines which western team is worthy enough to be televised? This smells bad.

You think a private broadcaster is going to be any better? All they care about is viewer numbers, and that leaves the western teams out in the cold.