ESPN to Cover Winter Classic For First Time
December 10, 2009 6 Comments
Not really newsy, unless you still think ESPN is totally coming back to hockey next year or a few days from now, but here’s the story from NHL.com:
ESPN will be on hand to cover the Winter Classic for the first time since the event’s inception. Melrose and Steve Levy will be in Boston to anchor the coverage, and Melrose is hoping the weather for the showdown at Fenway is similar to what was happening Thursday in New England.
“It’s the worst day of the year, we had 6-7 inches of snow last night, it’s raining right now,” a drenched Melrose said. “When I came here today I wasn’t sure it was going to get done. But I drove into the parking lot at 11:30 and there was this giant truck sitting here. It’s awesome.
All things considered, I’m surprised the NHL is giving this ESPN thing so much play, and vice versa on the Worldwide Leader covering the Winter Classic.
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In other words: ESPN wants the rights to the NHL again.
Not sure about that…where would ESPN put the NHL? On ESPN Classic? ESPN is driven entirely by ratings, and the NHL does not deliver in that department. What does deliver ratings for ESPN is big-time events. Look at their golf coverage — the only tournaments on they televise are the majors. ESPN covering the Winter Classic confirms the NHL’s marquee event (ouside of the Stanley Cup Final, which ESPN also covers) has broken out of “niche” status and resonates with the casual sports fan.
I don’t live in the US, but from what I’ve been hearing, probably ESPN2 would be the likely destination for the NHL.
The Worldwide Leader has so many commitments that I’m not sure even ESPN2 has enough room to do the NHL justice. They’d probably have to turn ESPN Classic into ESPN3 in order to fit the NHL in.
Why would they put regular-season games on ESPN2 when tapes Poker gets higher ratings and they’ve got already-existing contracts with every major NCAA conference for college basketball?
My guess is the only NHL games ESPN wants is a playoff package — and that’s it. Maybe once game a week during the early rounds, one conference final, and part of the Cup final.
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