Finally, this brings additional financial stability to the lagging franchises of the NHL. Yesterday, Forbes released their NHL franchise values and it’s pretty much what you expect: The Toronto Maple Leafs are worth more than the bottom six franchises combined and no Canadian team is lower than 16th. The revenues of this deal are split equally among the 30 NHL franchises. Doug Maclean, now a Sportsnet personality and former Columbus Blue Jackets General Manager, said that back in the early days of the franchise, they would get under $2 million annually from the Canadian TV revenues. The new deal ensures every team gets an AAV of over $14.4 million for each of the next 12 years. Not a bad way to prop up flailing franchises.
The deal gives Rogers complete control of Canada’s game, and it is going to force Canadians to subscribe to Rogers Cable, (eventually) buy Pay-Per-View games or buy the NHL Centre Ice package (or whatever incarnation comes out). Canadians are crazy about hockey, and one way or another, Rogers is going to cash in big time on this.
Just because I’m always trying to find angles on everything, here’s something to chew on:
Tuesdays are big game days for the NHL. In fact, other than three games on Opening Night (October 1st) and zero games on Christmas Eve, today is the only Tuesday during the regular season that there are fewer than eight games (there’s one game tonight). Is it pure coincidence this announcement came the day after the Forbes valuations and on the only light Tuesday schedule of the year? Or has this deal been in place since at least July, when the NHL schedule was announced for the season?
It’s perfect. This deal announced on this day helps the NHL reinforce the notion that it’s a deal necessary for the viability of struggling franchises (that Forbes article comes out around the same time every year), while Rogers has been able to watch Bell Media vie for months trying to win a potential monster deal that they had no chance of getting in the first place.
Overall, the biggest concern is the on-air productions. The talent at TSN, between the aforementioned Bob McKenzie (who is the Godfather of Canadian hockey journalism), his protégé Darren Dreger, the Juno-winning host James Duthie, as well as others, was easily the most informative roundtable of hockey talk. I’m never shy to rip media, but when there is breaking news or inside information to divulge, there are no better sources. Where the talent ends up, who knows. But it appears that the TSN people are going to stick to their guns:
If my bosses at TSN/CTV/Bell want to take a tiny fraction of the billions of dollars they offered for NHL rights and invest it…
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) November 26, 2013
…We've got a boatload of gifted, hard-working people at TSN who are up for challenge of keeping TSN as THE source for all things hockey.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) November 26, 2013
Thx for all the kind words. Will pass them on to all the great people at TSN. And we're still here. 3 games Wed. World Jrs a month away.
— James Duthie (@tsnjamesduthie) November 26, 2013
I really hope they do. They are far-and-away the most informative group of hockey people on any media, and I hope they find success in still presenting hockey analysis.
It’s a big day for hockey, and a big day for struggling franchises. For the next few years at least, Canadians will be able to watch more hockey than ever (even if it’s from one source), and that’s not really a bad thing. It’s also a day that brings a lot of uncertainty to the few trusted sources left in the greatest game in the world.
