ESPN game analyst Bill Clement on the possibility that ESPN could walk away from carrying NHL games after 20 years:
"Absolutely," he said in a telephone interview. "What's there to like about our sport? The entertainment value has atrophied to become tedious to watch. Where's the marquee value in the way it's been played? We had only three 40-goal scorers in our last season. Remember, the record is 92."
Tell me that's not what Clement is hearing inside ESPN.
ESPN now has so many sports and games on its plate that it may very well discard one of the major sports,hockey, that they once coveted to raise the profile of ESPN 2. The future of tv hockey lies in obscure 3 digit numbered channels where it will compete with every other possible form of niche entertainment. Yikes!
Maybe the CBC will expand its coverage? It would be an improvement, to say the least. HNIC should be privatized to meet the market demand for quality NHL broadcasters.
Seriously though, any low-budget eager sports channel will do. Hockey doesn’t need ESPN, nor should the NHL.
You know what? I hope ESPN gets rid of the NHL.
ESPN’s coverage of the playoffs and hockey in general was abysmal last year and it has been a steady declne for a while. NBC Sports is trying to rebuild and we all know that there is a pretty weak TV deal in place for the NHL…. But with NBC and the NHL already having an affiliation, why not sign a cable TV contract with NBC and the USA Network — which it owns? USA hasn’t had a mainstay event for a while on their channel — the dog show left for ESPN, Wrestling left for Viacom networks….
I think getting out of ESPN and away from the foot of the Mouse (that’s Disney) might be a gift in disguise. It just depends on how you play it.