Jeremy Laura: Bally update, only MLB reported on but sets the stage well

Noooooo! I am locked into DISH for 3 yrs!!!!!

Noooooo! I am locked into DISH for 3 yrs!!!!!
- HenryHockey

Keep in mind, that is one specific club. We don’t know any NHL deals or what the league is looking at. Looking at the headlines of “TNT so excited to host cup final” it will be interesting to see what the final counts are.

It seems this is the way the economics of it are moving. News reporters, pundits, content providers, even musicians are offering various types of subscriptions. Teams could easily move their broadcasts in house and control the distribution. Hopefully there will be individual subscriptions through each team, and a bundled subscription through the NHL. If they do it right, long term they could make even more. The biggest challenge will be reaching new fans without broadcast coverage, which means the NHL will have to invest more heavily in marketing. Of course, none of it will work if they maintain ridiculous blackout rules and fragmented subscription models.

It seems this is the way the economics of it are moving. News reporters, pundits, content providers, even musicians are offering various types of subscriptions. Teams could easily move their broadcasts in house and control the distribution. Hopefully there will be individual subscriptions through each team, and a bundled subscription through the NHL. If they do it right, long term they could make even more. The biggest challenge will be reaching new fans without broadcast coverage, which means the NHL will have to invest more heavily in marketing. Of course, none of it will work if they maintain ridiculous blackout rules and fragmented subscription models.
- bluelineenforcer

Here in Canada, there's a huge overlap of regional broadcast rights. The Habs and Sens have an arrangement that lets them broadcast games in each other's market. The Leafs and Sens have an agreement in Eastern Ontario that allows a 150 mile strip that both teams can claim as territorial rights. In that strip, the Habs also show regional games, since they have the deal with Ottawa. In Western Ontario, the Leafs have an arrangement with the Jets, sharing broadcast territories. The Leafs themselves are a different issue, since both Canadian Sports channels, TSN and Sportsnet own an equal share of the Maple Leafs and Raptors. How to untangle this would be a nightmare. The Leafs had their vehicle, in Leafs TV, that used to broadcast some of their games. It was turned off a little over a year ago. Maybe they should revive it & turn it into their regional carrier and set up a streaming option.

Looking at the New York market, you have MSG carrying the rights to 4 franchises. How do you make that work, if you keep it in house? Regional blackouts must end to make it all work.

It seems this is the way the economics of it are moving. News reporters, pundits, content providers, even musicians are offering various types of subscriptions. Teams could easily move their broadcasts in house and control the distribution. Hopefully there will be individual subscriptions through each team, and a bundled subscription through the NHL. If they do it right, long term they could make even more. The biggest challenge will be reaching new fans without broadcast coverage, which means the NHL will have to invest more heavily in marketing. Of course, none of it will work if they maintain ridiculous blackout rules and fragmented subscription models.
- bluelineenforcer

It’s actually not that easy. That’s why I’m trying to figure out how many months and what format went into the switch. If you’ve ever seen the “war room” during a live production it’s absolute chaos. If you separate from the entity, first you could be sued and forced back (AZ just forced back to Bally). From there, whoever was covering will take all of their proprietary equipment and hired talent. Most will probably have a non compete clause. Then you have to build the internal recording, broadcasting, and interface to the delivery system for whoever is hosting and securing the server. For MLB to release that they spent the “offseason” preparing for one specific club and having the working model ready begs, “how long, where, and with whom did you collaborate”? If Bally weren’t on the brink of dissolution, a lawsuit could be filed that the club acted in bad faith depending on what they did. Arizona tried to partner with another regional broadcaster who could come in and add them to an existing platform. There is a lot to making the switch, and the Padres as well as Chicago area were ready in advance. In Chicago’s case, up to 4 or 5 years in advance by building a network that aired non pro games

Here in Canada, there's a huge overlap of regional broadcast rights. The Habs and Sens have an arrangement that lets them broadcast games in each other's market. The Leafs and Sens have an agreement in Eastern Ontario that allows a 150 mile strip that both teams can claim as territorial rights. In that strip, the Habs also show regional games, since they have the deal with Ottawa. In Western Ontario, the Leafs have an arrangement with the Jets, sharing broadcast territories. The Leafs themselves are a different issue, since both Canadian Sports channels, TSN and Sportsnet own an equal share of the Maple Leafs and Raptors. How to untangle this would be a nightmare. The Leafs had their vehicle, in Leafs TV, that used to broadcast some of their games. It was turned off a little over a year ago. Maybe they should revive it & turn it into their regional carrier and set up a streaming option.

Looking at the New York market, you have MSG carrying the rights to 4 franchises. How do you make that work, if you keep it in house? Regional blackouts must end to make it all work.
- PrinceLH

That is really well put. You would almost have to have a subset group that functioned as a solo entity for each team relaying back to MSG as a “provider” to keep the books clean. You have less of it, but there are still broadcasts using outdated and incompatible tech that would have to be modified to join any given group. Luckily Maple Leaf sports and entertainment as an entity could build a subset broadcast group. As things continue to change and consolidate, TSN and Sportsnet may well have to look at a possible partnership. In those cases, after about year 1 the stronger entity will take over (Ted Turner found this out the hard way in the Time Warner/AOL deal). Then, each market has different costs and a league collecting live events in 2 seperate currencies. The fluctuation has led to massive issues in the past as all players are paid in USD. Interestingly, the Molson family has a new influx of market value for completely unrelated issues and could bring interesting options to the table if there is a sustained gain for the parent co. We’re now seeing action by the NHLPA to try and get AZ in some violation because of how badly the club drug down revenues with its current situation. Very interesting days ahead

That is really well put. You would almost have to have a subset group that functioned as a solo entity for each team relaying back to MSG as a “provider” to keep the books clean. You have less of it, but there are still broadcasts using outdated and incompatible tech that would have to be modified to join any given group. Luckily Maple Leaf sports and entertainment as an entity could build a subset broadcast group. As things continue to change and consolidate, TSN and Sportsnet may well have to look at a possible partnership. In those cases, after about year 1 the stronger entity will take over (Ted Turner found this out the hard way in the Time Warner/AOL deal). Then, each market has different costs and a league collecting live events in 2 seperate currencies. The fluctuation has led to massive issues in the past as all players are paid in USD. Interestingly, the Molson family has a new influx of market value for completely unrelated issues and could bring interesting options to the table if there is a sustained gain for the parent co. We’re now seeing action by the NHLPA to try and get AZ in some violation because of how badly the club drug down revenues with its current situation. Very interesting days ahead
- Jeremy Laura

Arizona is a black hole that sucks in every extra dollar that the league has in revenue sharing. They should move them to Quebec City, turn it into an eight Canadian team division and have 4 divisions. The top 3 teams in each division get in and the best records of the next 4, regardless of division get the last 4 slots. You could even have a play-in, a best of 3 wildcard series and make a few bucks on these short series. Having the Canadian division would allow less cross-border travel and maintain interest in the league. Each team would still play every team home and away, outside of the division. For broadcast rights, the Canadian division could sell a modified package of all 8 Canadian teams for $49.00 a year. The U.S. markets could do the same for the division that your regional team plays in. Of course, you could also do a bigger Center Ice Package for the whole league at a higher price. There could still be a National cable package for both sides of the border. Somehow, they need to get away from situations like Bally.

Arizona is a black hole that sucks in every extra dollar that the league has in revenue sharing. They should move them to Quebec City, turn it into an eight Canadian team division and have 4 divisions. The top 3 teams in each division get in and the best records of the next 4, regardless of division get the last 4 slots. You could even have a play-in, a best of 3 wildcard series and make a few bucks on these short series. Having the Canadian division would allow less cross-border travel and maintain interest in the league. Each team would still play every team home and away, outside of the division. For broadcast rights, the Canadian division could sell a modified package of all 8 Canadian teams for $49.00 a year. The U.S. markets could do the same for the division that your regional team plays in. Of course, you could also do a bigger Center Ice Package for the whole league at a higher price. There could still be a National cable package for both sides of the border. Somehow, they need to get away from situations like Bally.
- PrinceLH

No Play-in!
These guys have enough of a grind!

No Play-in!
These guys have enough of a grind!

- HenryHockey

I guess yawl know that Babs is going to coach CBJ........ He already asked Jarmo to trade Goodreau for Marner.

Arizona is a black hole that sucks in every extra dollar that the league has in revenue sharing. They should move them to Quebec City, turn it into an eight Canadian team division and have 4 divisions. The top 3 teams in each division get in and the best records of the next 4, regardless of division get the last 4 slots. You could even have a play-in, a best of 3 wildcard series and make a few bucks on these short series. Having the Canadian division would allow less cross-border travel and maintain interest in the league. Each team would still play every team home and away, outside of the division. For broadcast rights, the Canadian division could sell a modified package of all 8 Canadian teams for $49.00 a year. The U.S. markets could do the same for the division that your regional team plays in. Of course, you could also do a bigger Center Ice Package for the whole league at a higher price. There could still be a National cable package for both sides of the border. Somehow, they need to get away from situations like Bally.
- PrinceLH

The exodus from Quebec was heart breaking. But there’s no way they were doing worse than this situation. The league won’t budge. They’ve had offers to move the team so many times and “remain committed” to AZ. A friend told me it was to do with some gambling loophole