NHL: Television? Where we’re going, we don’t need television…at least not yet.

Posted on May 29th, 2009. Written by Emmett Jones.

Its odd the way things work out.  I’ve had a draft written about the failings of the NHL for about a week and a half now.  Despite the fact that they’ve seen large surges in NHL playoff viewership on Versus, they still are in need of a major television distribution deal, or a great product is still going by the way side.  That all being said, there is a great article in Bloomberg today, talking about the NHL, its similarities to the NFL, and how they’re trying to utilize digital media to spark a larger televsion contract.

Breaking it down in 3, 2, 1…

The league’s focus is on attracting sponsors that will ultimately lead to more television money. The league is banking on digital media and special events like its outdoor Winter Classic, played this year at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, and season openers in Europe to excite its fan base and help sponsors reach a bigger audience, said Chief Operating Officer John Collins…

The league is right to focus on building its television audience by targeting its young fans with digital offerings, said Neal Pilson, former head of CBS Sports and now a New York- based broadcast consultant.

“By 2013 the digital, Web and mobile audience will be sufficiently larger so the NHL will be able to combine those users with their TV audience to attract sponsorships that will support a major TV deal,” Pilson said in an e-mail.

Okay, lets start here.  First off, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  The Winter Classic is/was/will be a great idea.  Other special events, i.e. season openers in Europe, are pretty good as well, because you’re hoping to expand the market, etc. etc.  The potential problem is with the digital, web, and mobile audiences.  By 2013 will those audiences be larger? Of course. I don’t know if its due to more people discovering that medium for the first time, or because of the quality product being produced.  It is very possible that digital audience is only sustained for a short time period.  Lets face it, digital media still has a long way to go before it becomes a viable alternative to television (still a lot of lag time/buffering required on many sites, need HD capabilities, etc. etc.).  The possibility that you see “false-positives” on the increase in digital viewers does exist, and I think it will continue to be prevalent for a few years to come. My other potential concern is being able to show that a large web audience is worthy of a major TV deal.  Sure, it shows that you have a larger audience, and more potential television viewers, but, if digital media is as fantastic as mentioned in the first part of the argument, then will those digital viewers turn to television instead when they can take a laptop or a phone anywhere they go and see the game in high quality video?  There seems to be a definite overlap in those two audiences, and while I’m hopeful, I’m worried that the NHL may not be able to tally a large enough audience to leverage it into a major TV deal.

Of course, maybe the NHL can get away with the audience overlap?

This is good news for the NHL, Pilson said. The more viewers it lures to Internet and television, the more sponsors will follow and the networks won’t be far behind.

“So long as a sports rights holder can sell an attractive audience, the agencies will buy that sport for their clients,” Pilson said.

First you get the viewers, then you get the sponsors.  Once you have the sponsors, then networks will work with you.

Tony Montana couldn’t have said it better himself.

Bloomberg –  NHL borrows from NFL as it pursues a bigger TV contract

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