It appears I'm not the only one that follows/loves hockey. The NHL had more suitors for its TV contract than I thought they would. The NHL announced that it has struck a deal to re-up its TV contract with the Versus Network/NBC Sports. Estimated as a 10 year deal worth $200 million/year, early reports indicate that Fox and Turner bowed out of the bidding when it reached the $200 million level. ESPN stayed in it to the end but no one is sure if the World Wide Leader didn't want to match Versus' offer or if the NHL decided to stick with the network they are already dancing with. There are positives and negatives to the Vs/NBC deal. The good thing about Versus is they don't really have anything else so they make the NHL the centerpiece of their network and pump all of their resources into a really well-done broadcast. ESPN has too many things going on and there is no way they could possibly give the NHL the attention it deserves. Although it would have been nice to see Barry Melrose's mullet during live games. The drawback to Versus is they only have one channel and they will continue to farm out playoff broadcasts to local networks. The Bruins/Habs game last night was on NESN for this exact reason. Unless you live in Montreal or Boston or have the NHL Center ice package, you were SOL.
The bottom line is the NHL is finally recovering from their disastrous lockout and are headed in the right direction from both a watchability and business standpoint.
Melrose Mullet:
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