The Rest of the NHL

[PhillyGirl]

Since they're in such a forgiving mood...how about lifting Hatcher's 3-game suspension.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Yeah, that would make sense.  If Bertuzzi gets off for "time served", so should Hatcher and every other player that was to start the season on suspension.  PG, e-mail some people and get this thing started!

[PhillyGirl]

Yeah, that would make sense.  If Bertuzzi gets off for "time served", so should Hatcher and every other player that was to start the season on suspension.  PG, e-mail some people and get this thing started!

I wanna see Hatcher busting open some skulls for game one vs. the Rangers. 

[PhillyGirl]

Comcast, NHL on verge of 2-year, $100 million deal

By Tim Panaccio and Don Steinberg
Inquirer Staff Writers


Comcast and National Hockey League negotiators have worked out a two-year deal for more than $100 million to televise games beginning this fall, according to sources directly involved in the discussions.

The agreement must be approved by the league's Board of Governors.

The deal calls for Comcast to televise two games a week nationally. The cable giant plans to put the games on its Outdoor Life Network (OLN).

The agreement with Comcast brought to an end 10 days of intense negotiations, some of which were conducted at Comcast's offices in Philadelphia.

Participating in the discussions were NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Comcast president of programming Jeff Shell, Comcast Cable president Steve Burke, and Alan Singer, an attorney for the company.

A spokesman for Comcast, Tim Fitzpatrick, declined to comment on the company's interest in the NHL yesterday.

NHL officials also declined to comment, but the league could announce its new TV deal by this weekend. The deal would contain the following:

Comcast would televise games nationally twice a week. On one of those nights, Comcast would retain exclusivity in U.S. markets as the only game available on TV at that time.

The NHL would retain the right to exit the agreement at the end of the two years. The right is contingent upon Comcast's fulfilling certain responsibilities related to advertising-revenue growth and reaching a specific number of homes.

If the league opts to stay, then Comcast has a one-year option, followed by a three-year option.

An undetermined number of games would be broadcast in high-definition TV.

If the NHL approves the deal - and that is considered a formality at this point - the contract will be forwarded to ESPN. In April, ESPN opted to not renew its $70 million option to televise NHL games for 2005-06 and 2006-07, but the network retains the right to match the new offer, according to a source. ESPN has carried NHL games in the United States since 1985.

The league's previous five-year TV deal with ABC and ESPN was worth $600 million.

There are two directions Comcast could go from here: an overhaul of OLN or an initial change to accommodate hockey, with a future, stand-alone network that would carry NHL games. The former is the preferred method among Comcast executives.

It is unclear whether Comcast's SportsNet channels around the country would play a role. Flyers games on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia will have their own separate schedule.

OLN is available in about 61 million households, compared with more than 70 million for ESPN2 and 80 million for ESPN, but the new programming should help OLN expand its reach.

A repositioning of its focus shouldn't be difficult. Just as Kentucky Fried Chicken officially became KFC, OLN has been identifying itself by its initials so that customers won't limit their thinking about its programming.

NHL games are not played outdoors, but "initials can stand for anything," said Lee Berke, president of LHB Sports, who consults with professional teams on TV deals.

Berke pointed out that OLN has picked up several sporting events that used to be on ESPN, including the America's Cup yacht race and the Boston Marathon. OLN maintains a long-term agreement to carry the Tour de France bicycle race. Comcast gave ESPN's X Games a boost by hosting them at the First Union complex in Philadelphia in 2001 and 2002, but in 2004 OLN bought the Gravity Games, a rival action-sports competition, and has been expanding that franchise.

"They've settled on sports as a major source of content," Berke said of Comcast. "There's still speculation that they could go for the late-season NFL package [Thursday and Saturday nights beginning in 2006]."

The NHL, meanwhile, needs to resurrect its own image after a lockout wiped out last season.

"You have the world's largest cable company - that's a big plus," Berke said. Comcast, he said, will be able to pair NHL telecasts with its HDTV capabilities and Video on Demand.

The NHL will have some other TV exposure. In a two-year deal with NBC that starts this season, the network will televise seven regular-season games, six playoff games, and Games 3 through 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. In that deal, the NHL is guaranteed no rights money; NBC and the league will share some advertising profits.

When the NBC deal was announced in 2004, before the missed season, Bettman said: "If anybody thinks that we're going to get zero [from NBC], I don't anticipate that, and I would be very, very surprised."

In Canada, the NHL has TV deals with CBC and the Sports Network.

[Seabiscuit36]

Comcast, NHL on verge of 2-year, $100 million deal

BOOO   I probably wont be able to watch a stinking game now.  Does anyone have any idea if the Center ice Package is going to carry the flyers if i live in an area which Comcast Philly is unavailable?

[BigEd76]

I thought Comcast Philly was still unavailable to everyone outside of Philly because of the cable/satellite thing... 

NHL games are not played outdoors, but "initials can stand for anything,"...

Who are they trying to fool?  It didn't work for GSN (Game Show Network)....why would it work now?

[PhillyGirl]

Well, its comcast or nothing, Ed.

No one else is willing to pony up and work on a deal, so what exactly can they do?

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Even though I have Time Warner cable, I get OLN.  So, this is all good for me!

[Seabiscuit36]

I thought Comcast Philly was still unavailable to everyone outside of Philly because of the cable/satellite thing... 

NHL games are not played outdoors, but "initials can stand for anything,"...

Who are they trying to fool?  It didn't work for GSN (Game Show Network)....why would it work now?

DirecTV Goes Regional in FCC Competition Comments

DirecTV took aim at "regional" issues, telling the Federal Communications Commission this week that the agency should recognize cable's potential in concentrated markets to withhold or raise prices for "must see" local and regional programming.

The satellite TV company's comments, part of the FCC's look at cable's horizontal and vertical ownership rules, stated that "the competitive situation for satellite operators has gotten markedly worse over the last several years" when it comes to accessing broadcast and regional programming. However, the company stopped short of calling for a regional limit on concentration - or cap.

Instead, DirecTV said the FCC's transaction review process "gives it a tool more than adequate to address the regional concentration issues before it. This tool, moreover, has advantages over regional caps in terms of precision and flexibility."

[PhillyGirl]

AHHHHHHHHAHAHAHHHAHA! Lindork on his way to the Laffs

[BigEd76]

Toronto Star article mentioned in that ESPN story

[PhillyGirl]

Oddly enough, for a player with a history of concussions, Lindros was healthy for too long and played too many games in 2003-04 to be eligible for the provision.

[PhillyGirl]

Lindork getting MRI, will sign with Laffs if all is well

[PhillyGirl]

LOL...Big Mush-head is a Laff

[PhillyGirl]

LeClair rejoins Recchi....signs with Pens.