Faceoff Factor

Versus Leaves Many NHL Fans In The Dark

Matt Bodenschatz | National Hockey League

May 8, 10:00 AM | Hype this story!

The National Hockey League has put itself in yet another unflattering position by choosing to air all conference final games on the Versus Network.

At first glance, such a move sounds great; all games will be on a national network for the entire country to see. After all, Versus reaches more than 72 million homes in the United States, and TSN will provide most of the coverage for Canadian viewers.

But below the surface lies the true problem: of those 72 million homes that have access to Versus, a good portion don’t have access to the network on their basic cable package. In other words, far fewer than 72 million homes actually have the network.

So the good ol’ NHL has yet again screwed over its fans by saying “get Versus or get lost.”

What about those die-hard fans who have watched every game on their local network? And how about the casual fans who might not watch regularly, but want to catch the playoffs?

Apparently they don’t matter.

In fact, it’s safe to say the NHL is doing more harm than good by sporting the Versus Network as its national television home.

One such blogger, Rougman of Rougblog, had the following to say about his inability to watch the Detroit Red Wings as they inch toward the Stanley Cup Finals.

“It sucks to have followed the club all year long only to be essentially blacked out for the playoffs. I wish I had not watched at all.

“I will not be making this mistake again. A ceremonial Red Wing paraphernalia burning will take place tonight in my fire pit, along with an effigy of Gary Bettman (providing I can find my colored pencils and a couple of dog droppings for eyes.)

“The NHL is dead to me. Don’t send any cards.”

For a league that long ago fell out of favor with the majority of sports fans and that no longer is considered one of the “big four,” the NHL sure isn’t doing a good job of rebuilding bridges when it comes to television coverage.

Don’t get me wrong, after a rough start in its initial year, Versus has done a solid job of covering games, providing (mostly) good insight, quality broadcasts, and decent post-game coverage.

But what does that mean when a large portion of hockey fans within the United States can’t even watch?

Let’s face it, the NHL has taken many steps in a positive direction since the lockout a few years ago. The quality of the game has improved, the promotion of the game has improved, and the fan support has improved. But in order to continue this upward trend, the NHL needs to find a happy medium to avoid the alienation of some fans.

Sometimes money – which is all this is about – isn’t the most important thing, especially when trying to gain interest.

As Dallas Morning News writer Mike Heika says, “Versus jumped on board with the NHL to make money, so you have to get on board with Versus if you want to continue to be a fan.”

Simply put, casual fans have little interest in paying extra for an auxiliary network that offers little more than hockey coverage and bull riding. Heck, even some diehard fans would find it difficult to pony up the cash needed to add Versus to their cable plan.

Why not air the games on Versus across the country, but black them out in the local markets so hometown fans of the remaining teams can continue to watch?

Sure, the majority of people watching the games certainly will be from the markets of the teams involved, meaning there would be some short-term revenue lost, but the alternative is much more severe, and could be permanent.

So, let’s weigh this:

Lose some television revenue during the playoffs…

Or…

Lose ticket sales, merchandise sales, etc. for good.

If I’m an NHL official, I’d be a bit more willing to lose some playoff revenue than to lose fans and all of the money the put into the league permanently.

Then again, I have common sense. Apparently NHL officials do not.

But we already knew that.