Huge news in the hockey world today; the NHL and Rogers Communcations has reached a 12-year, $5.232 billion deal for the broadcast and multimedia rights of all NHL games in Canada. This not only gives complete control to Rogers, but is a devastating blow to TSN, who after this season will have no NHL games to broadcast. As part of the agreement, CBC will continue to broadcast Hockey Night in Canada but will air games through a sub-licensing agreement with Rogers. The 12-year, $5.232 billion deal is the largest media rights deal in NHL history, and Commissioner Gary Bettman thinks will be historic and huge going forward in the future of the NHL. From NHL.com,
"The National Hockey League has reached a 12-year, $5.232 billion (Canadian) agreement with Rogers Communications for broadcast and multimedia rights, the League announced jointly with Rogers Communications on Tuesday. The agreement is the largest media rights deal in NHL history and one of the largest media rights deals in Canadian history, including the largest-ever sports-media rights agreement.
The partnership between the NHL and Rogers begins with the 2014-15 season and runs through the 2025-26 season. 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."
While this was expected for a long time, the official announcement makes it a devastating day for many hockey fans across Canada. To start off I will say that I am a huge fan of TSN and the TSN hockey panel; they are my #1 source for hockey news and I enjoy their game in-game coverage more than any other station. At the same time I also despise Sportsnet; I think they have a glaring lack of hockey knowledge and are simply a boring broadcasting team. When comparing the two stations it is very clear how much more TSN cares about hockey, and how much more preparation and effort they put into their TV shows. I am also a big fan of variety; I like switching it up between TSN, CBC and Sportsnet to see how each station does their hockey broadcasts differently. This deal effectively shuts down all variety, it not only takes TSN out of the picture but limits CBC to just Hockey Night in Canada. From a fan's persective this will have a huge impact on the playoffs; both TSN and CBC has been great with how they split the broadcasting of the playoffs, but now Rogers has full control of the playoffs. The hockey world needs its variety, and this deal by Bettman and Rogers has completely ruined that. CBC president Hubert Lacroix had this to say, "Starting next year, Rogers will assume all editorial control (all editorial decisions with respect to the content, on-air talent and the creative direction of HNIC — we have the right to be consulted and there is a commitment to excellence) under the new agreement. This may not be the ideal scenario but, it is the right outcome for Canadian hockey fans and is an acceptable adaptation to the role of the public broadcaster in the modern world of professional sports rights. A world in which partnering with a wide array of other actors is a key to success."
Another person greatly affected by this situation is Don Cherry; Grapes has been on HNIC since 1981 and has been a legend in the hockey broadcasting world. This new deal effectively places his (and Ron MacLean's) future in jeopardy, as Rogers has not decided if they want to continue Coach's Corner yet or not. Hopefully Rogers does the right thing and lets Coach's Corner live on. There is nothing more Canadian than watching Hockey Night in Canada on a Saturday and seeing Don's antics on Coach's Corner in the 1st intermission. Don is an idol in Canada and the hockey world, so many young kids look up to him and wait all week to see him on Saturday. As a huge supporter of Don Cherry I am very disappointed with this news, while nothing is official I think that it would be real slap in the face to Don if this is how his broadcasting career were to end.
Not only does this deal completely cut all the competitors out of the hockey broadcasting market, but it will have a huge impact on many people's jobs at both TSN and CBC. I think it has the biggest impact on TSN; they have a group of guys who are devoted purely to hockey, and by taking away their broadcasting rights it effectively ruins their entire program. The TSN Hockey Panel has done a great job with pre-game, mid-game and post-game coverage in both the regular season and the playoffs, but this new deal takes that all away. TSN is also a step-above the rest come playoff time; these guys stay up long through the night during long OT games and continue to put on a great show. I think TSN will still continue to be the #1 network in Canada for hockey news, but they will be greatly affected by the loss of live-game coverage. Between TSN and CBC, there are many people's jobs that are now in jeopardy with this new deal.
My last point is about the money; I think professional sports these days are more about money and less about playing the sport itself. This $5.232 billion deal is clearly evident of that; Bettman doesn't care about what affect this will have on the fans who love the game, he cares about the NHL making as much money as possible. This deal may be a good thing in the long run, but right now from a die-hard hockey fan this deal is all about money and one that is extremely devastating. I will always be a huge fan of TSN no matter what; guys like Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger and James Duthie are big reasons why I want to get into the sports broadcasting business in the first place. Not being able to see them on TV as much as they are now will be hard for me, I look up to these guys and I learn from them. This deal proves as just another reason why I hate Gary Bettman so much, and why I hate Sportsnet as well. Last thing I want to do is see Doug MacLean and Nick Kypreos talk about playoff hockey, as my brother Ryan said, "The mute button is going to get more work than ever before." This is truly a dark day for die-hard hockey fans like myself.
-Joel Forman - The Forman Faceoff
TSN hockey panel is by far the best for hockey coverage and it's broadcasters have always been a step above everyone else so ya couldn't agree more with you that TSN will take a hit from this and I'd forsure rather listen to guys like Mckenzie, Dreger and Duthie then Doug MacLean and Nick Kypreos talk about hockey. The only up-side I see to this is that Rogers owns so many channels, you'll probably see a lot more hockey games (mostly Canadian) on their networks being played in our zone.
ReplyDeleteOnly thing i don't agree on is the whole Don Cherry thing. Ya I've grown up watching him and can't remember a Saturday night without seeing his face when I was younger but it seems every year Don gets a little more full of crap. I feel these days people aren't watching him for hockey advice or his input on the game, but for more of a kick because with Don these days you never know what he's going to say, how he's going to act and who hes going to piss off or offend next. I'm not saying people should stop watching I just feel over the last few years his topics of conversation and content has pushed hockey away a little bit and concentrate more on what Don feels emotionally and politicly, but at the end of the day I guess it is his show and the guy can talk about what he wants...
Thanks for commenting! I agree with you about the Don part for sure, I recognize that these days he's kind of all over the place on Coach's Corner. I understand he's losing his touch and definitely goes off topic quite often, but for entertainment value the guy is top notch. I definitely agree as well that the advantage to this deal is that more games will be shown on TV. but I have gamecentre live online so I get to watch every game that's not broadcasted on TV locally already so it's not a big difference for me. As well I am an Avs fan, so the need to see Canadian teams is not that important, I already watch every Leafs game. Overall I'd say I'm most upset about the effect this will have on TSN
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