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June 23, 2022 12:39 pm  #1


All Eyes on Hockey?

Below is a report from Front Office Sports today - a great start for ABC/ESPN NHL/Stanley Cup coverage - ESPN will pay the NHL $400 millionannually until 2028 - so $2.8B over 7 years compared to Rogers paying $5.2B over 12 in a market that admittedly craves hockey but is 1/10 the size...pretty sure everyone can do the math here, add Rogers bad hockey programming overall and so much subpar talent on all of its platforms - TV, radio, podcasts - and you can see why this deal will continue to hemorrhage cash and will go down in history as a huge failure... 

All Eyes on Hockey
Viewership for the NHL’s playoffs on ESPN jumped 30% from last year’s average on NBC, and ESPN’s overall hockey growth can partly be attributed to leveraging more verticals.
Broadcasters are airing key events like the Super Bowl on network television, some games on cable, and the majority on streaming services.
ESPN airs hockey games on its linear channels and the ESPN+ app, averaging 1.1 million viewers per playoff game. The ESPN+ subscriber count has grown 62% in the last year to 22.3 million, and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro credits hockey as a “significant” part of the boost.
Disney has rights to air 25 regular-season games on ABC or ESPN, 75 on ESPN+ and Hulu, and hundreds of games usually run on local channels.
ABC gets exclusive coverage of the Stanley Cup for four of seven years. ESPN has also added hockey-themed shows.
ESPN has grown its female viewership 73% year-over-year.
“We’re going to see this model for the next five-to-seven years until streaming matures,” Daniel Cohen, a media rights consultant at Octagon, said.
The leagues benefit, too.
 

Last edited by Johnny B (June 23, 2022 12:41 pm)

 

June 24, 2022 12:26 am  #2


Re: All Eyes on Hockey?

I think the growth of ESPN+ is due in part to the price point.  It's $6.99 a month; less if you bundle it with Hulu or Disney+.

Compare that to $20 and $25 per month for our sports channels.  In Canada you have to be rich or willing to do something illegal to watch sports.

 

June 24, 2022 12:36 am  #3


Re: All Eyes on Hockey?

Tomas Barlow wrote:

I think the growth of ESPN+ is due in part to the price point.  It's $6.99 a month; less if you bundle it with Hulu or Disney+.

Compare that to $20 and $25 per month for our sports channels.  In Canada you have to be rich or willing to do something illegal to watch sports.

The $25 price point is to discourage people from switching from cable to streaming (for obvious reasons). It's still cheaper to get TSN and Sportsnet with a cable subscription.