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Last night’s game started out with some optimism that Detroit could hang around. A 1-0 period was very nearly a 1-1 period. Then, the 3 goal second. The pain of the past month or so flared right back up and realizing that Reimer is currently the top goalie sunk in (with Hutch waiting in the wings). Team defense had no answer to Winnipeg’s forecheck and just seemed to be embarrassed by the Jets in terms of constant turnovers and clear paths to the net. Now Detroit is 3 places out of a wild card spot.
Even last year’s team seemed to be more in the mix, although it’s only a couple points that separate the Wings from a coveted bubble spot. But which of the 5 teams in front of them is this current roster going to overcome?
The overall enthusiasm is starting to wain compounded by the holidays where “we’re cutting back this year… is being heard all over. Detroit needs the Wings to turn this around. After bowl season in just a few weeks, there’s March Madness. Those inject money into the local economy. Baseball is seeing a decline, so any bit of movement past season’s end by the Wings helps close the summer gap a little. In my lifetime it has been sports that seem to “save the city…. 1984 Tigers. 88 and 89 Pistons, Wings in the 90s and up to about 2010 with another Pistons win and a 2006 World Series appearance by Detroit mixed in.
For whatever reason, Detroit’s superstars are athletes. Not musicians or film elites, but the players that take to the field. Ownership recognizes this and so Stevie and Nick are back with the Wings, Isiah Thomas and Vinny Johnson are popping up all over town for the Pistons, and Herman Moore and Barry Sanders are no longer secluded to the private sector. Those names draw money.
A lot more than a hockey game was brought to the city this year. Hope that makes people forget about other stresses for a couple hours was bringing life to the Pizza Palace. The city needs Yzerman’s club to bring back some of the magic and soon.
Broadcast buzz - if you don’t want this info, stop reading now
The league is finally admitting that Bally is dead in the water. There was a small source of pride as in this sector we’ve been talking about this since early in the year. Bally (owned by Diamond sports) declared bankruptcy. The mocking and scoffing came fairly heavy. There’s no way that Billionaire owners would let their broadcast fail. But we’ve seen it before, and now it’s time to catch up again.
Quick up to speed - Bettman leaves NBC who is paying 220M to give half the league to Bally and work a deal with ESPN where games are on ESPN, ESPN+, ABC, USA and TNT for a total deal of 550m. Seemed like a winner. Viewership was around 850k+ at the time. Then, people couldn’t find the games. 100k fans just stopped watching on average. Numbers around 750k, then Bally announced bankruptcy “possibility… early in 2023. I posted updates and transcripts. Before the season started Bally said they would close their doors in 2024 (which we talked about) and would only give 80% of revenue to remaining teams. The broadcaster kicked AZ off of their service and went from 13-15 hockey markets down to 11. That 220m was now 180 with ESPNs 330 still standing but customers started cancelling cable. Viewership now down around 670, almost a 200k drop in 2 years.
Here’s what I was going to print yesterday. Amazon is making a play. They approached Bally Detroit to purchase the rights and move them to Amazon’s streaming service. (Keep in mind, Bally had a deal through 2030). This will save the Wings, Pistons and Tigers from having to shop for a new solution and could mean more $. Right now Bally is putting everything on a network I’d never heard of before (Fubu) and you’re seeing the logo. That won’t last. Now, the main partner for Detroit would be a streamer. Here’s where it gets interesting. ESPN/Disney are in the news daily right now. Fraud charges are being leveled at the parent company that we won’t go into. ESPN announced a month ago they will be full streaming by 2025. So now, almost all traditional viewing options are going. The NBA is getting 1.6b per year from ESPN compared to the NHL at 330m. NBA wants 7+billion and Apple, Amazon and Youtube are getting ready to make a bid. IF ESPN loses the NBA, all they have is Monday night football (via ABC), the NHL, college football and pretty much all women’s pro and college sports (total of 40m on those). The NBA gets around 2 million views per game (compared to NHL at 650-680k). You see the issue.
The final push to streaming is waiting in the wings. Amazon and Apple have so much money that they can lose money just to acquire the rights. Bally is closing its doors after baseball season and the NBA holds all the leverage for ESPNs future. Those of you who have followed this since early in the year knew most of it. Those of you who said it would never happen are hearing about it through other channels. So, what now? Arizona found a traditional broadcast partner and Chicago had one ready to go? Enter the FCC.
If any of you have been on a road trip from Michigan to Chicago or beyond (we used to go to Yellowstone a bit) you remember radio stations fizzling out. Then, satellite radio came out and the problem wasn’t there. Why? Digital bandwidth can be purchased and go tower to tower the same way that Cell Phone service can. All available bandwidth is in a bidding war while advertisers spend less and less on traditional broadcast. If you have a digital “antenna… you’re getting 30-100 channels of digitally broadcast content for free (for now). This all started to pick up steam in 2006 if you can believe it. Comcast went digital and found that 16 channels could fit in the same bandwidth as one analog station. Now, the delivery is basically streamed and handed off to a cable box unless the customer already cut the cord.
Hulu’s sale and integration have hit a small pothole and will stand alone for another year. However, Bally won’t last that long. In truth, I believe Amazon will take over before the end of season deadline. ABC owns the playoffs, but ABC has been quietly shopped. For all who have figured out the VPN approach, it is handy knowledge to have. This could become a 3 way battle between Apple, Youtube and Amazon. Bally has finally tapped out and ESPN is headed to the internet. The deal that kicked NBC to the curb has put a lot of clubs in a bad spot. We’ll see how they course correct.