NHL needs destination television in the U.S. for its Stanley Cup showcase

darrenrovell1: R-A-T-I-N-G-S. Spelling Bee beats game 4 of Stanley Cup Final -- 4M to 3.1M viewers (From sport business reporter Darren Rovell of CNBC June 7th on Twitter.com comparing Saturday's Scripps national spelling competition on ABC with Friday's NHL championship game on cable carrier Versus).

The National Hockey League would be well-served by a simple goal when it sits down to negotiate its next U.S. broadcasting contracts, either with current rightsholders NBC and Versus or some other combination of incumbents, newcomers or returning partners.

The "One Goal" -- to borrow the simple marketing slogan of the Chicago Blackhawks -- should be to ensure its Stanley Cup finals are carried by one network, from start to finish. Its priority should be to deliver destination television to better serve its existing fans and help lure new ones.

As it stands, the NHL is alone among the major professional sports leagues in North America in relegating even one game in its ultimate championship series to cable television alone.

Granted, the environment is changing and cable juggernauts such as ESPN are outbidding networks on a variety of fronts -- including varsity sports -- and they do so on the strength of dual revenue streams (advertising and subscription fees) and the quality of their all-sports audience demographics.

Yet only CBS, FOX and NBC are in the discussion for the NFL's conference championships and the game's greatest showcase, the Super Bowl. FOX is the exclusive custodian of Major League Baseball's classic, the World Series. The ESPN on ABC simulcast platform is locked in and a winner with the NBA Finals.

The Stanley Cup, however, does not have one consistent U.S. television home. In the current 2010 slugfest, NBC claimed games 1, 5, 6 and 7, while Versus picked up games 2, 3 and 4. It's a sharing formula they've used throughout the existing NHL rightsholder agreement, not only in the Stanley Cup showcase but throughout the post-season.

It is not the right solution for the NHL in the U.S. market and for the Stanley Cup as the game's marquee event.

A stronger rights deal in 2012 with NBC, one which engaged the network throughout the Stanley Cup final, would make the most sense (and while you're at it, graduating from the ranks of pure revenue-sharing into rights fees would be a worthy side goal with the Peacock network).

Getting another major network to take ownership of the league's championship series would be the next best bet. Failing those options, having a cable network designated as the go-to carrier of all seven games would be better than the current on-again, off-again relationship in which Stanley Cup final games literally bounce back and forth between network television on NBC and second-tier cable on Versus.

It is true that -- despite the baton approach used by NBC and Versus in passing games back and forth -- the Stanley Cup in particular and the 2010 playoffs in general is delivering to the NHL its best U.S. audiences in almost 15 years. Progress has been made, with even Versus declaring record ratings (topped off by Philadelphia's overtime win in game 3; the most-watched program in the cable network's young history).

That's the point. The product can finally say it deserves better. Much like its overall economic success despite the financial basketcases it carries in the U.S. sunbelt, the NHL needs to ask what could be with an even better roster of American broadcast partners on even better terms.

The most important contract condition is simple: destination television on one network for its Stanley Cup. That way, the sport's centrepiece will never again be O-U-T-D-R-A-W-N by Spelling Bee.

www.TheSportMarket.biz
The Sport Market on TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca
Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 12 noon PT
Facebook.com/TheSportMarket and Twitter.com/TheSportMarket  

Business Tale of the Tape: Chicago and Philadelphia makes for solid Stanley Cup final

The end of the Montreal Canadiens' improbable run to the 2010 Stanley Cup finals means smaller Canadian audience numbers for CBC and dramatically lower ratings for RDS, but it makes for a solid showdown between two of the strongest American brands in the National Hockey League. And in that light, the championship round bringing together the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers is great news for the NHL's U.S. television rights holders, NBC and Versus.

It's a worthy follow-up to last year's Stanley Cup final between the eventual 2009 champion Pittsburgh Penguins and the 2008 winners, the Detroit Red Wings; the two most popular road teams in the NHL over the past three years.

There's no Sidney Crosby in this year's Stanley Cup final, but a quick look at the sport business tale of the tape pitting the Blackhawks against the Flyers suggests it might be the best U.S. match-up in at least a decade based on sheer hockey market strength:

Franchise valuation - According to Forbes Magazine, this Stanley Cup series showcases the fifth and seventh highest-valuated franchises in the NHL. Philadelphia is valued at $273 million US while Chicago comes in at $258 M (and rising as the hottest property in the NHL). In 2009, Detroit was fourth while small-market Pittsburgh was middle of the pack.

Overall revenues: It's a meeting between two of the top eight revenue-producing franchises in the NHL. After quadrupling their sponsorship sales since 2007, the Blackhawks are tied for sixth (with Boston) at $106 million US while the Flyers are eighth at $101 million.

Box office revenues: It's #3 (Philly) against #9 (Chicago), each driving well more than $50 million of their revenues at the gate.

Ticket prices: Philadelphia is top-five in the NHL (at $60.25) while seeing the Blackhawks at the United Center is still one of the best bargains in professional hockey at $46.80 (19th overall).

Home attendance: After ranking 29th out of 30 four years ago, the Blackhawks make the Madhouse on Madison the biggest building in the NHL, packing it with more 22,000 fans per game and leading the NHL in attendance for the second straight year. The Flyers average 19,503 at the Wachovia Center; sixth-best in the league.

Road attendance: This final brings together the seventh (Chicago) and 14th (Philadelphia) most popular teams on the road this season.

Media market size: In addition to Versus and NBC, the NHL's U.S.-based sponsors are smiling as they contemplate the third and fourth largest designated market areas (television DMAs) on the continent. Chicago is #3 and Philadelphia is #4.

Regional television audiences: Chicago and Philadelphia were two of the top five U.S. hockey television markets during the 2009-'10 regular season. The Blackhawks drew an average regional audience of 196,800 viewers on Comcast and WGN while the Flyers attracted 147,900. That's #6 and #11 overall in the NHL and #2 and #5 in the U.S.

Hockey market: Forbes Magazine's research suggests this is a clash between the fifth and seventh strongest hockey markets in the NHL and the third and fifth best in the U.S. (based on franchise value attributed to city and market size).

Simply put, the 2010 Stanley Cup final features two of the best marketed U.S. franchises in two of the best hockey markets in the U.S. When one considers both market clout and brand appeal, it's arguably the best U.S. match-up since the Flyers last reached the finals in 1997 against the Detroit Red Wings.

It also comes with important intangibles based on history and tradition: one is an Original Six franchise that hasn't won a Cup since 1961 and the other a first-wave 1969 expansion team that hasn't done so since 1975. It's that hunger -- shared by the respective organizations and their fans -- which will make for good storylines throughout the series beginning Saturday at the United Center.

And good stories make for good ratings.

www.TheSportMarket.biz
The Sport Market on TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca
Saturdays, 9 a.m.-12 noon PT
Facebook.com/TheSportMarket and Twitter.com/TheSportMarket