Yes, according to this analysis at The Situationist, a Harvard-based blog that examines why humans act the way they do. The authors argue that ESPN is largely to blame for the decline in popularity of professional hockey, because it has deliberately reduced the amount of coverage it has given the league on SportsCenter and other programs since deciding against bidding for the NHL's broadcasting rights two years ago.
"At first glance, the argument that ESPN has the power to "kill" any major sport may appear sensationalist," the authors write. "However, the impact of ESPN on the average American sports fan can be easily underestimated."
They go on to say that "[w]hile ESPN's stock has been rising, there can be little debate that the NHL's stock has been dropping on ESPN. Since the NHL made the questionable decision to abandon the cable network as its broadcast partner in favor of the fledgling Versus network, many have argued that NHL coverage on the Worldwide Leader in Sports has ranged from underwhelming to disrespectful."
Television ratings for the NHL have been dismal on Versus, despite strong efforts by the new network to turn the sport into its marquee programming. I have argued for some time that the NHL must find a way to get back onto ESPN, even if it means entering into some sort of revenue sharing agreement with the network. The further the NHL gets away from the most powerful sports network in the world, the more it will find itself marginalized.
Comments (10)
While the NHL may have hurt itself by moving away from ESPN, the sports media in the US in general seem to go out of their way to ignore hockey. Sorry - but anyone with more interest in the WWF, cage fighting or televised poker is really not a sports fan. Its too bad that folks at places like ESPN feel the need to cover these "sports" and create some false sense that they are real. Having grown up on football, baseball and basketball, I am now a believer that the real excitement is on the soccer fields and the hockey rinks. Very little of the foolishness of the high draw professional sports, real athletes, real excitement. Too bad ESPN is missing the NHL - its more fun than the NFL...
Posted by daddy-o | July 3, 2007 9:35 PM
ESPN a sports network? Are you kidding? They cover what they want so they are not a "sports" network. Since they decide what is a sport and what isn't, they have an agenda. That disqualifies them from being a sports network. They totally ignore some sports such as the shooting sports and have decided hockey isn't important. Horse feathers.
Posted by smokehouse | July 3, 2007 11:20 PM
i tend to agree with this analyses. i mean, look at how much coverage ESPN gave the nba draft. i was hard pressed (either on sportscenter or espn.com) to find even the slightest amount of coverage for the NHL draft. Furthermore, the soccer coverage is abysmal. i doubt they even realize that the COPA AMERICA is being played right now. NEWS FLASH: the copa america is the WORLD CUP of North/Central/South Americas.
Posted by persnickity | July 4, 2007 11:56 PM
In a world where on July 4th I am watching ESPN and the announcer compares an American guy who eats 66 hot dogs in 5 minutes a national hero, it makes me wonder. It seems that ESPN has decided to force on America their sports agenda. Since when was there drama, excitement and tension associated with the NBA draft? I have been a Caps fan all of my life and have seen them through the thick and thin. I just don't understand why Hockey hasn't caught on in America. It's interesting how the last three Stanley Cup winners are from areas that get maybe a half of foot of snow or have a beach within an hour drive.
Posted by kolzilla41 | July 5, 2007 7:34 AM
What's more annoying is how they push the NBA (obviously due to their hefty contract) and try to create interest in this mind numbingly boring display of leaping and dunking ability. The NHL on high def TV is the most exciting sport to watch----non stop action for 60 minutes and then some. ESPN should rename themselves the Red Sox schill network.
Posted by KauaiBoy | July 5, 2007 11:41 AM
By turning their back on hockey, I've almost completely stopped watching ESPN. Baseball bores me, I have nothing in common with NBA players, and the Poker fad has been played out. ESPN didn't give very much attention to the NHL when they had them. They prefer to highlight spelling bees and eating contests, then critcize NHL's low TV ratings. Bring on the NHL Network.
Posted by Deebs | July 10, 2007 12:00 PM
The problem is that what the NHL did was un-presadented. Fact 1 - NHL Hockey is NOT the most popular sport in North America. Fact 2 - Most sports fans that ESPN and the NHL should be concerned about are fans of more than just one sport.
So the problem is the timing of the move away from ESPN AND the resultant switch to VS and the lack of fore thought there of.
There are MANY casual NHL fans who know nothing about VS...never even heard about it. There were/are MANY hard core NHL fans who simply do not have access to VS (Not everyone has Satellite or Digital Cable) There are many fans who like the overall coverage of many sports that ESPN provides.
The NHL's move away from ESPN was never done before. No one at ESPN could possibly know what the ratings hit would be so letting the NHL walk away was unkown territory and as it turns out was not so bad for them after all.
On the other hand the NHL has lost casual fans, some hard core fans, and overall lost a "Professional" appearance.
My suggestion: The NHL nees to hire some people who know what they are doing and get involved in finding out what AMERICANS/CANADIANS sports needs and tendancies are. Once this is established they determine what under-contracted sports are not obtainable by the average fan. Negotiate with those entities for coverage rights and form a multi-sport network that covers MAINLY those sports with scheduled news coverage of all sports.
This type of network will be on pace to one day compete with ESPN and no longer be the red headed step child so to speak. This type of network will be definition almost immediately have a faithful and loyal following.
The network in my opiniion should share airtime for the NHL, International Soccer, localized Soccer, perhaps Golf, and perhaps horse racing. The point is to not immediately compete for contracts with ESPN on the major players such as the NFL or NBA but instead to pull viewers away from ESPN with more than "we have the NHL".
Once you invest the research and determine what is missing in sports coverage from the point of view of the quiet but growing minority and add those pieces together you will develope a winning network that has awesome coverage of what the sports networks of today just can't seem to get right or find the programming room for.
Did you get that Mr. B?
I would call it "SAN" standing for Sports Alternative Network. Make it happen!
Dennis (NHL fan), Sterling, VA
Posted by Anonymous | July 10, 2007 2:03 PM
ESPN is to sports what MTV is to music. Sportscenter became completely unwatchable long ago. They are more concerned with promoting ESPN than sports (there is a difference). Sportscenter is all about either ESPN personalities yelling at each other over some topic or some sponsor tie in (bud light hot seat/coors light 6 pack, etc.)
Posted by Anonymous | July 15, 2007 11:43 AM
I came here as a respect to Dave Fay. I am a 50 year subscriber to The Hockey News from Vancouver, BC. Always enjoyed him from his THN columns. Will miss.
Hockey in Canada is not only the major sport but the definition of the Country. Hockey is Canada, Canada is Hockey.
If the majority of Americans do not watch or appreciate...as Jay Greenberg, now of the New York Post once said, "let them watch basketball."
Frankly, I think because Hockey is a foreign sport, Americans like to put it down. I like Americans but they have a flaw that way. Unless made in America...
We like Americans in Canada. We live a more casual life here. We do wish Americans embraced Hockey more but Hockey is the way of life in this Country and do hope you catch on.
Very much enjoyed Dave Fay. Sad to hear.
Terry
Posted by terry nicholson | July 18, 2007 9:25 PM
The NHL still exists? I thought it was like Big Foot or UFOs. A story only conspiracy theorists could believe in.
Posted by Bill | July 20, 2007 8:48 AM