NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

[kingdobbs]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

My thoughts are I like it, but I'm real curious to hear from the same people who always say nobody watches college hockey and we'll never get to see it on TV (even though you can generally see several games on TV each weekend during the season). If true I think this just blew up the paradigm for certain posters.

Well, I think part of the problem may be that college hockey never really got a national audience...for the regular season. For the most part, apart from CBS College Sports/CSTV and the BTN, regular-season games have been entirely on RSNs. The only real national exposure is during the NCAAs...when casual fan interest is turning to baseball, or following with bated breath the results of March Madness. It's really difficult for someone to pick up the game, when they don't even know who's playing (and not just "Who the hell is Ferris State", but "What's their deal? What kind of hockey do they play?").

Now I'm hardly saying it's a guarantee that more regular season exposure feeds that, but it couldn't hurt. CHI and Versus are definitely banking on the possibility that "if you show it, people will watch", and that the market for regular season hockey on a national scale is virtually untapped. In other words, we don't even know that the market's not there; nobody's tried yet.

The other thing, of course, is that good ratings for ESPN are probably quite a bit higher than what Versus would consider a good rating. A hit on Versus might be a flop for ESPN.

While I like the potential for exposure I wouldn't get your hopes up unless you're a fan of a big team in each conference.

IMHO the games most likely to get the broadcasts:
HE: BU vs BC
AHA:Air Force vs Army (People will have somewhat of an interest in seeing military academies)
CCHA: Mich vs MchSt
WCHA: UMin vs Wisc or UND.
ECAC: Cornell vs Yale?

Other schools that might get a game in would be Notre Dame, UNH, Denver, and maybe Ohio State just because they are Ohio State and have that TV brand in other sports. Outside that I'm not sure which schools will get nationwide games.

I'm not so sure it's not a test balloon by Versus for a more NCHC-centric contract down the line. Obviously the BTN is going to get a first crack at Big Ten inventory, so Versus might be looking for the best of the rest. If a Denver-Miami or Duluth-Omaha game draws decent ratings, they might consider upping their commitment to those teams to replace games they might lose to the BTN. If they don't, target another league. If the ratings just plain suck, "Well, we tried."

[Spydey629]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

Hmmm.... Friday nights? December 30, 2011 is a Friday night....

Ohio State @ Robert Morris, played at the Consol Energy Center...

I can dream, can't I?????

[Spartanforlife4]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

While I like the potential for exposure I wouldn't get your hopes up unless you're a fan of a big team in each conference.

IMHO the games most likely to get the broadcasts:
HE: BU vs BC
AHA:Air Force vs Army (People will have somewhat of an interest in seeing military academies)
CCHA: Mich vs MchSt
WCHA: UMin vs Wisc or UND.
ECAC: Cornell vs Yale?

Other schools that might get a game in would be Notre Dame, UNH, Denver, and maybe Ohio State just because they are Ohio State and have that TV brand in other sports. Outside that I'm not sure which schools will get nationwide games.

MSU-UM is already taken by FSD and BTN, probably the same with Minny and Wiscy. There will probably be ND vs B1G though. Actually, you can lock that since ND has the football contract.

How would the pecking order between VS and CBSCS work?

[MountieBoyOz]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

Yeah! And the Friday after that can be UAA v Mankato!

Say what you will, but Clarkson-SLU is a great rivalry and it will be great again once Tech gets things straightened out.

[hockeyplayer1015]

Say what you will, but Clarkson-SLU is a great rivalry and it will be great again once Tech gets things straightened out.

Agreed. They have had atleast 2 meetings in the past handful of years on ESPNU, and hopefully will continue to get some shown.

But I'm not sure what you mean by it will be great again...? I'm pretty sure its one of those rivalries that records don't matter at all for any meeting between the two teams.

[4four4]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

Yeah! And the Friday after that can be UAA v Mankato!

What happened to Versus only televising the BHHC? Oh well at least Mankato and UAA have a shot at playing on Versus. It could be worse the Gopher games could be seen nationally and not regionally.

[The Rube]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

It boils down to this: NBC has a big NHL contract. Vs and NBC will broadcast hockey. Vs is kind of a laughingstock as a network to much of the nation (too many eastern NHL teams, too much rodeo/fishing/etc). What happens if this hockey thing catches on enough to make a profit, or actually does become a legit "4th major sport?" Guess who is controlling that? NBC/Vs. What's the worst that can happen? Vs still has "crappy" programming, doesn't add to its audience....gee, they have a lot to lose, huh?

Vs is the guinea pig. If it fails, it dies with Vs. If it succeeds, it continues on to NBC for the near future. The risk-reward is big enough to take this gamble.

[5mn_Major]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

Vs is the guinea pig. If it fails, it dies with Vs. If it succeeds, it continues on to NBC for the near future. The risk-reward is big enough to take this gamble.

MSNBC at most.

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

Anything to top the infomercials on CNBC on a Saturday.

[bronconick]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

I'd still like to see "Whatever VS will be called" go all in on the next open MLB contract and the 8 more games that the NFL is releasing for Thursday nights. They need some other real sports and a counter to Sportscenter that shows sports highlights instead of hipster crap.

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

Vs is kind of a laughingstock as a network to much of the nation (too many Flyers games, too much rodeo/fishing/etc).

FYP.

[TimU]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

Agreed. They have had atleast 2 meetings in the past handful of years on ESPNU, and hopefully will continue to get some shown.

But I'm not sure what you mean by it will be great again...? I'm pretty sure its one of those rivalries that records don't matter at all for any meeting between the two teams.

I'd love to see one or more of these games on TV, but I think it's more likely to be Cornell/Harvard or maybe Cornell/Ylae.

[GoNU5]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

How are all conferences going to be covered twice if Versus/NBCSports isn't starting their hockey coverage until January?

That leaves you just eight to nine weeks of regular season play and three or two (respectively) weeks of playoffs. Maybe it's my "small school" math skills, but five (conferences) doesn't divide nicely into eight or nine. Sounds like it's going to be made up of mostly non-conference play.

And I doubt NBC is going to pay to broadcast on both Friday AND Saturday night. Too much setup/teardown for equipment for such a gamble. I expect one game a week ala the NHL package.

Show and East Coast game at 7 or 6, and then a game out West right afterwards I'm guessing.

[bronconick]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

Versus shows NHL hockey before January. Why would they wait until January to show college hockey?

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey

Versus shows NHL hockey before January. Why would they wait until January to show college hockey?

In the link that aparch posted about this rumor, supposedly they would start showing college hockey in January.

That being said, if they show out of conference games, they could easily showcase each conference twice over 8 weeks. A good example would be the North Dakota - Clarkson matchup January 7th in Winnipeg. They could even showcase it as a College/NHL doubleheader (Winnipeg plays @ Buffalo that night, or if you showcase the afternoon game on NBC and then the college matchup at night, you have a slightly interesting matchup with Vancouver @ Boston in the afternoon ).