I am trying to get the link to the story so the KK readers can read it.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 07/30/07 at 09:46 AM ET

I’d love to hear more about this!

I’m also totally in favor of it, this league needs more exposure to the rest of the country, and the world.  It was a mistake to let the deal with ESPN drop back a few years ago.

Posted by Phil from Middleburg Heights, OH on 07/30/07 at 09:52 AM ET

If this works out, maybe some slightly important games (Ottawa vs. Buffalo, OT game sending the Sens to the Stanley Cup Finals) could actually be finished, and not pre-empted for horse racing pre-race coverage. That would be nice.

Posted by NHLHobo on 07/30/07 at 10:00 AM ET

Short, short memories about how hockey was treated like the bastard stepchild by ESPN.

There will be no more NHL Tonight. Remember, ESPN scrubbed that show while it still had the deal with the NHL. And now, ESPN will feel even more comfortable telling everyone who will listen that poker or ultimate fighting is more popular than hockey, just as they did in the waning days with the NHL.

Be careful what you wish for.

Posted by Bruha on 07/30/07 at 10:20 AM ET

So after 2-3 years of not having the NHL and having the NHL be the butt of every joke on around the horn and 1st and 10 they’re gonna bring the NHL back on and be like “oh yeah, we were just kidding, we love hockey”. **** that. I have the NHL, I have every game, a vast majority of hockey fans can see hockey whenever they want and they’ve passed the 1st grade so they can READ A CHANNEL GUIDE AND FIND VERSUS. Jesus Christ, that joke is so backwards I don’t even know where to begin. Ah yes I do. You can’t find Versus? Are you 95 years old and never used a VCR before? Are you Amish? Are you a amputee and have either no fingers or no hands? Do you not have a telephone? It’s really easy, if you’re too stupid to find the channel by pressing 2 buttons on your remote, call your cable provider and ask them like you’d ask your mom where babies came from and sit back and absorb the information.

Whatever, it’ll probably be back on ESPN.

Posted by Heaton on 07/30/07 at 10:41 AM ET

I have an SB Daily subscription so will post the article here as soon as it appears in my inbox.

Posted by Eric from Scottsdale, Ariz. on 07/30/07 at 10:52 AM ET

Well after reading the article it seems like ESPN would replace NBC not Versus which is a downgrade IMO.

Posted by jkrdevil on 07/30/07 at 10:53 AM ET

Just let it out, Heaton… Just let it all out.

Funny how people can navigate the internet, but seem to forget how to do a search for channel listings with their local cable or satellite provider.

Anybody can say what they want, but Vs didn’t have Melrose.  Advantage: Versus.

Posted by cementslinger from Midland MI on 07/30/07 at 10:56 AM ET

^
You’re assuming everyone has Versus....yeah right.  My cable company has never carried the network unless you subscribe to their higher tier digital cable service.  Would you still like to try and read my cable guide?

The fact is that distribution for Versus pales in comparison to ESPN’s networks.  Add in the fact that the NHL gets less overall publicity and is less in the minds of the average sports viewer’s compared to years past, and you have the makings for an overall lack of popularity for the sport....which likely affects ratings on NBC during the playoffs and finals as well.

Bottom line is that the more varied carriers of networks that show the league, the better.  ESPN 2 + Versus + NBC + NHL network + local fox sports or alternate stations make for a balanced and strong TV line up for hockey in the US.

Posted by Guy Legend on 07/30/07 at 10:57 AM ET

Eric, the link to the article is available in the post.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 07/30/07 at 10:57 AM ET

If ESPN is to replace NBC, my guess would be this would mean a move to ABC. I believe there is no more ABC Sports division and everything goes through ESPN since all the NBA and College Football games were presented by ESPN on ABC. Just my guess.

Posted by philduba from New Jersey on 07/30/07 at 11:01 AM ET

Any increase in HD broadcasting is a must, regardless of who does the broadcasting.

Posted by Ninja on 07/30/07 at 11:14 AM ET

Espn or Versus… doesn’t affect me either way.  I feel Espn would be better for the sport, just as long as Melrose isn’t there spewing his crap.

Posted by cementslinger from Midland MI on 07/30/07 at 12:01 PM ET

The only real benefit here is that having an agreement with ESPN and Versus where they cross promote means more NHL exposure on Sportscenter.  That is a good thing.

I like the cross promotion idea, I think that is way better than having some games either exclusively on ESPN or exclusively on VS. 

The NHL still needs a presence on network TV, though.  Preferably without Bill Clement or Barry Melrose.

Posted by John the Red Wings Fan from East Lansing, MI on 07/30/07 at 12:36 PM ET

ESPN should just buyout Versus and turn it into THE OCHO!

Posted by John Bollwitt from Vancouver, bc on 07/30/07 at 12:42 PM ET

Color me totally unexcited about the NHL going back to ESPN.  I do not have a short memory and remember then and now how that network treats this league and sport.

I think Versus is coming along just fine and I personally love their coverage and treatment of the game.  This whole “cannot find the channel” is a steaming pile of...well...you get the picture.

As someone said above, be carefull what you wish for.  I love Crobsy, but if you think you’ve seen a lot of him now—just wait.  The NHL on ESPN really will be the “The Crosby Show”.

Posted by Anonymous on 07/30/07 at 12:59 PM ET

Could someone see that the Sports Business Journal people get donuts at the office as thanks?  I think every time there has been an article of interest, they let Paul link to it for all his non-subscriber readers.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/30/07 at 01:29 PM ET

Yeah, God I HATE ESPN at this point, but the league just needs the exposure that Sportscentre would offer. (Or sportscenter, rather). A crosby show wouldnt be that bad, eh?

Posted by underthechestnuttree from LaSalle, Ontario, Canada on 07/30/07 at 03:29 PM ET

The NHL needs ESPN back, the exposure is just to good to pass up… but Versus has done a good job so far, and they dont always seem panicked to leave to the next program after hockey has ended, unlike ESPN who couldnt get away fast enough.

Posted by PuckHound61 from Speckville USA on 07/30/07 at 04:53 PM ET

I totally agree with the fact that ESPN needs hockey back, even if there won’t be NHL Tonight and all that extra stuff. The NHL needs the exposure, and ESPN has finally realized that Poker, the NBA and Nascar aren’t the answer and that they need something that’s worth following and isn’t a just a fad. I think Versus is OK, but they really missuse Bill Clement. He is too good of an analyst to be used as a studio host. He should be doing games, or being an analyst in the studio. Let one of those other guys be a studio host. If ESPN got the NHL back, I bet they’d definitely bring back Bill Clement

Posted by Steve from New York on 07/31/07 at 11:52 AM ET

I think the that since the leagues [horrible] agreement with Versus is not set to expire till 2011, and Versus and ESPN don’t seem to get along well (as ESPN does not want to acknowledge a competitor), the NHL ought to look elsewhere for oppurtunity. I’m not saying having ESPN would be a bad move, no, it would certainly bring in new viewers to the hockey world. But the thing with ESPN is they treat every sport like crap except baseball, basketball, football, and poker.
For example, during the summer, the IRL (indy racing league) was set to appear on ESPN for the afternoon race, the race was rained out until the next day, and on that day, ESPN claimed they could not accomodate the race on any other outlet but ESPN Classic, which is only available to Digital Cable customers here, during the race, however, ESPN showed re-runs of SportsCenter, and on ESPN2 I believe it was professional bowling.

My point is that ESPN carries too many sports to effectively cover each. If you do what the NBA did, and pursue a smaller network such as TNT (still accessible in millions of homes), then you gain exclusivity, dont have schedule conflicts, and you wont get an OT of a playoff game dropped for a horse race!
Why not try to get NBC-owned USANetwork, TNT, or SPIKE TV. NBC would love to throw coverage to USA if they had the authority. TNT could expand their reputation in sports. And SPIKE is the men’s network, always encouraging hard hits, and big thrills.

Posted by matt from Tampa on 02/25/08 at 06:07 PM ET