NHL playoff ratings up 22% year-over-year

• gorocks99

  

  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/04/nhl-versus-ratings.html
  
  Most-watched opening night since 2004.
• thavoice

  Interesting.
  
  
  Very interesting.
  
  of course..i couldnt watch...becuase we dont have VS....
  
  This will no doubt sway the NHL to take NHLers to the olympics nxt time.....i woudl think.
• rock_knutne

  Hopefully, someone like ESPN will consider another stint with the NHL. Although, hockey has become pretty regionalized since the lock out.
• thavoice

  I never get to watch the pens...and it sucks. Watch more CBJ games actually......
  
  I loved it when ESPN had it.
• End of Line

  

  ^^^^^If ESPN picks up the NHL they better sign Doc Emirck to a contract to announce big time games.
• rock_knutne

  thavoice wrote: I never get to watch the pens...and it sucks.

  You can watch every single game right here my friend:
  
  http://www.justin.tv/steelcitytv/all#r=SYlGVHo~
• rock_knutne

  The_Crosby_Show wrote: ^^^^^If ESPN picks up the NHL they better sign Doc Emirck to a contract to announce big time games.

  Doc Emerick is great but if ESPN ever decided to pick up hockey again, I'd say their long time hockey play by play guy Gary Thorne would get the nod. Since they dropped the NHL five years ago, he's been doing baseball and college football, he's also the voice of the Baltimore Orioles. He's one of the three or four best hockey announcers I've heard.
• rock_knutne

  rock_knutne wrote:

  thavoice wrote: I never get to watch the pens...and it sucks.

  You can watch every single game right here my friend:
  
  http://www.justin.tv/steelcitytv/all#r=SYlGVHo~

  I just checked and that site is down.
  
  Pens are right here tonight:
  
  http://www.justin.tv/dfgrrf#r=SYlGVHo~
• KnightXC1

  

  ESPN getting the NHL would be the best thing that could happen to the league (as much as I despise ESPN). They would actually put marketing and promotion into the games and the players and the ratings would be great. Ratings just need to be good for the playoffs and sooner or later, a bigger network will get the games off of VS.
• End of Line

  

  ^^^^^I agree. I hate ESPN but for the league to be noticed more it needs to be on ESPN.
• wes_mantooth

  

  How long does VS have their contract?
• End of Line

  

  wes_mantooth wrote: How long does VS have their contract?

  let me look that up.
• End of Line

  

  The NHL's television deal with Versus was made at the conclusion of the 2004–05 NHL lockout that caused the cancellation of an entire season. At the time, Versus offered a two year, $130 million contract (with a network option for a third year) that delivered guaranteed money for Commissioner Gary Bettman (ESPN, which previously held the rights, wanted a revenue-sharing deal similar to NBC's). Versus was expected to use NHL coverage to show it was a legitimate suitor for Major League Baseball and National Football League packages that were to be negotiated later in 2005, but they did not land agreements with either league. In 2007, the NHL signed an agreement to extend the NHL on Versus to the 2010–2011 season. Versus paid $72.5 million for 2007–2008 and will pay inflationary increases over the next three years.
  
  [edit] Terms of the deal
  Under the terms of the contract, Versus will show 54 or more NHL games each season under the agreement, generally on Monday and Tuesday nights. They will also provide nightly coverage of as many Stanley Cup Playoff games as possible (generally two per night in the first two rounds; the Conference Finals are usually played on alternating days), and two games of the Stanley Cup Finals (games 3 and 4 in 2009 and games 2 and 3 in 2010)
  

• Ironman92

  

  94.3% of all statistics are made up
• Laley23

  

  Ironman92 wrote: 94.3% of all statistics are made up

  No, 87.4%.
• gorocks99

  

  http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2010/news/story?id=5152366
  
  Best first-round ratings in 10 years.
• SportsAndLady

  

  Veeeeery interested to see how this plans out.
  
  I am not much of a hockey person myself, but I have found myself watching more and more each year. The playoffs are great, and Doc Emrick is a GOD on the mic. Hearing his "shot..WIDE" or "shoots..SCORES" calls are great, and can be an instant connection newer fans (like myself) can have with the game of hockey...much like Keith Jackson had with the Rose Bowl (and other big time college fball games), Jim Nantz and the Masters, and Jon Madden used to have with prime time NFL games.
  
  If I were ESPN, I dont see how they could ignore these ratings and NOT pick up NHL for a few years.
  *insert futbol for hockey in the above posting, and I would have the same feeling.
• gorocks99

  

  Bill Simmons tweeted last week that ESPN has been trying for 2 years to get the NHL; it's Bettman that's the holdout. Doesn't surprise me though ... he's a grade A dumbass.
• thavoice

  I will say this...yesterday at a family function..only a few of us usually watch hockey...but since the olympics....when we all got together to watch......pretty much everyon ewas watching the playoff game instead just the 2-3 of us.
  
  It did spark interest in people who havent normally watched. They have even discussed goin to games nxt year
• ts1227

  

  gorocks99 wrote: Bill Simmons tweeted last week that ESPN has been trying for 2 years to get the NHL; it's Bettman that's the holdout. Doesn't surprise me though ... he's a grade A dumbass.

  Versus signed an extension in late 2007 that gave it to them through 2010-11, so I doubt ESPN has been trying THAT hard in the past year or two.
  
  But, I did see somewhere where ESPN is interested in regaining the rights at the end of that Versus deal. I forget where I saw it
• thavoice

  ^^was thinkin the same thing......Vs reupped a few years ago so how could ESPN take them away.
• SportsAndLady

  

  thavoice wrote: so how could ESPN take them away.

  The two most important things in the world, ESPN has...money and power.
• gorocks99

  

  Yeah, if Bettman wanted to go to ESPN and ESPN wanted the NHL, we'd all get Gary Thorne back.
• KnightXC1

  

  I won't be surprised at all if ESPN goes after the NHL next year while bargaining goes on for the rights. Adds to their long list of sports they cover and would immediately make the NHL much more relevant. Especially after watching the first 2 games of the second round on VS, I never want to watch another game on that station again. It is awful.
• End of Line

  

  If the NHL gets put back on ESPN, that means less NBA!