NHL Deal With NBC Hasn’t Started
The NY Times is carrying a piece from Richard Sandomir about NBC Sports, and how they’ve dropped all major sports from the station (NFL, NBA, MLB) in favor of other sports, usually “smaller” stuff, like the NLL All-Star game that was broadcast last weekend. NBC execs said they simply don’t want to lose money on the big sports. Many of the big sport contracts have networks paying much more than they bring in, although some networks insist that carrying the big sports establishes them as a network and helps other shows on the network do better through targeted promos.
One interesting hockey-related item is this tidbit about the NHL’s contract with NBC:
Had the league not canceled its season after a lengthy lockout of its players, NBC would have taken enough advertising revenue off the top of their joint pot to pay its costs, after which sharing would have begun. With no N.H.L. season, Year 1 of the NBC deal rolled over into next season - if there is one.
So, unlike NHL player contracts, the NHL did not lose a year on it’s television contract. It’s not surprising as I’m sure the possible lockout was talked about during negotiations with NBC, and planned for.
The NHL has a two-year agreement with NBC, with an NBC option for an addition two years.
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