Versus extends contract with NHL
Versus has extended its contract with the NHL for three more years, through the 2010-11 season.
(As far as I can tell, the NY Times was the first to report this, showing some gumption in keeping up with non-Giants news.)
Ratings have been creeping upward on the much-maligned TV outpost, and fans gradually are getting the hang of turning to the channel if they care enough.
The real question is whether this precludes ESPN from getting back into the NHL business at some point by negotiating with Versus and the league for the right to do so.
As far as I know, it does not. Stay tuned!
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Comments (9)
The NHL has to get ESPN into the mix and they have to get Versus to get Versus HD onto most cable systems. Hockey is made for HD.
Is that Cesare Maniago?
It's Gump Worsley, Ranger goalie before Eddie Giacomin, you can tell by the shape of his body (unathletic!)
Thanks, Sandy. I should have known.
Loved it when Lorne Gump would force a faceoff by lying down over the puck in the crease. When my brothers and I played hockey with a tennis ball in the basement, we'd imitate Gump all the time.
Never mind the hockey..has Versus extended the contract for Gobblin' Fever yet? Now that show is the reason we need HD TVs!
Howard Cosell once said "They call me Gump" was the nadir in sports books. Wonder if I can find a copy....
"Showing some gumption" was a clue, boys and girls.
The best thing that can happen for TV sports is for the NFL to dump their own network and award the rights to that network's games to Versus. (remember, Versus/OLN had the high bid for that package anyway).
Then, more cable companies will pick up Versus as they drop the expensive and pointless NFL Network, and hockey can be promoted to fans of sports other than their own (and, of course, Bull-Riding and Cage-Fighting).
It would be nice to see the relentlessly self-promoting ESPN get some real competition.
why does the NHL "need" to get back on ESPN? They were there for a long time and the ratings were not good. If they came back on ESPN now, they'd get lost with all the college basketball and poker that is shown.
Let them stay on Versus and help grow that network and stand alone on that channel.
I doubt NFL would award Versus their network's games since I believe Versus is owned by Comcast Cable. The only way that would happen is if the litigation between the groups is dropped and that becomes the settlement.
Versus has more than just the NHL. They broadcast Mountain West football and basketball games (used to be on CSTV), they do one of the MMA genres, they do rodeo and occasional boxing. What they should start is a national sports report using the Comcast affiliates' personnel (which would include SNY guys) and start growing it from there. I get it on my pay/digital sports tier which also includes ESPNU, Tennis, NHL and ESPN Classic (get this Cablevsion victims all for $1.99 extra a month!)