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The Real Reason For European Games

by Mike Chen on 09/28/08 at 04:31 PM ET
Comments (3)

With word that the NHL and NHLPA are looking to extend their “Premiere” series to include more teams, people are going to start talking about an “inevitable” European expansion. I don’t think that’s the case at all. In fact, I think you have to realize that for all practical purposes, having European teams is impossible until either Star Trek-like transporters are invented or supersonic commercial flight becomes a reality. The wear on a player’s body, along with the travel time, just aren’t feasible. Ask any North American player that’s played in the Russian leagues and they’ll tell you that a cross-continent flight from one end of Russia to the other is way worse than a charter plane from New York to LA—and that doesn’t even cross an ocean.

However, no one’s gonna argue the popularity of hockey or the recognition factor of the NHL in Europe. Just like American-born soccer players recognize European leagues as the place where the best competition goes, there’s a reason why the best European players wind up competing for the Stanley Cup rather than the Swiss Elite championship.

So, you can’t expand over there but you’ve got an entire continent of untapped revenue. What’s the happy medium?

(Cue Ted Dibiase’s Million Dollar Man theme music">.)

If the travel is so taxing, then why does the NHLPA allow its players to go through this? Paul Kelly’s a smart guy, and he realizes that if revenues are tied explicitly to salaries, then the best thing for his constituency is to generate new sources of revenue. When you’ve got an entire continent of hockey fans spread throughout, a little exposure goes a long way.

That’s right folks, when it all comes down to it the NHL and NHLPA are businesses looking to make money. You’ve got digital distribution of games through satellite TV and broadband video, you’ve got tons and tons of information available 24/7 via the web to anywhere in the world, and you’ve got countries like the Czech Republic, Russia, and Sweden where hockey is king. In a global media environment, that means that there are no limits to where you can make money if the market needs are there.

I’ve got plenty of friends that are dedicated to the English Premier League even though they live in the US. Thanks to web updates and international sports channels, they can still follow their favorites, even if it’s late at night. You think the EPL doesn’t love the extra revenue coming in from America?

Put it this way: once every four years, people go gaga over Olympic hockey gear, buying everything from classic Miracle On Ice or Summit Series jerseys to Roberto Luongo Team Canada gear. It’s a special event that puts extra emphasis on a certain market demand, thus creating a giant boost in interest and merchandise before becoming dormant for another 3.5 years. You can look at that event-style model and apply it to the untapped marketplace of European hockey fans.

If the NHL showcases their best European players in their home countries, they do two things:

-For the short-term, they create visibility for these players, selling merchandise and generating exposure and media presence that possibly eclipses a native son (say, Daniel Alfredsson) winning a Stanley Cup. You’ll sell t-shirts, team jerseys, and player jerseys in the weeks before and after the games.

-From a big picture perspective, you help establish the NHL brand as the best hockey league in the world. You get fans in Stockholm and Prague to care about teams in Ottawa and Tampa Bay and suddenly digital distribution rights fees go up, viewership goes up, web hits go up. All of that leads to higher ad rates and more merchandise revenue.

That’s right, merchandising. I’ll let Mel Brooks sum it up for you:

I don’t think this means that we’ll have NHL: The Flamethrower on store shelves anytime soon but as long as the NHL and NHLPA see huge revenue potential in a market, they’ll attack it.

Side note: If you heard Brian Burke on NHL Home Ice earlier this week, he spoke positively about the experience and he faulted himself for pushing the NHL schedule maker to schedule the Ducks in an East Coast swing on their way back from Europe. If you look at the teams involved this year, they’ve got about a week off and they’re heading straight home for their openers. Evidently, Burke’s mistake is a lesson for the league.

Filed in: International Hockey | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Expansion, Premier,

Comments

If you had any quesitons about travel you could just ask the Detroit Red Wings, a franchise that’s been boned for a decade by having to fly cross-country to play teams in their ‘conference’ while pretty much every team in the east can get to their opponents by renting a bus and a movie from Blockbuster.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 09/28/08 at 07:25 PM ET

All they would need to do is use the old MLB model. Two leagues (or conferences) with no interleague play until the playoff finals.

I’m not saying everyone—or anyone—would love it, but that has never stopped Mr. Bettman in the past. Plus, it would create endless, unresolvable arguments RE: which teams and conferences are better.

Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 09/29/08 at 08:47 AM ET

In 1958 the San Francisco Giants and LA Dodgers were the only two teams to play west of the Mississippi in baseball. I find it extremely hard to believe that those ball players, while playing a more condensed schedule, could handle the travel back in the days of slow commercial jets and trains but todays players couldn’t handle flights to Europe (which from the East coast would be as short as 6 hours).

I don’t think we’ll see Euro expansion soon, but it’s not because of travel. It has more to do with working out a way for the current Players association and N.A style contracts to fit within European labor laws.

Posted by jibblescribbits from San Jose, CA on 09/29/08 at 10:51 AM ET

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About Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog

Mike Chen prides himself in being the only hockey writer integrating puck discussion with both Morrissey quotes and Star Wars references. Since 2004, he’s blogged about all things hockey and currently contributes to FoxSports.com, the Battle of California, and RotoRob.

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