By now you’ve heard that the NHL is back with ESPN. The league and sports media giant reached what the league called a “groundbreaking deal”. The new pact will run for seven years.
ESPN? Don’t They Only Care About The NBA?
Now at first, I was a little skeptical about the NHL going back to ESPN. Sure, they carried the NHL in the past, but ESPN has changed since then. ESPN is also the major media partner of the NBA and heavily pushes their coverage. You’re more likely to see coverage of LeBron James’ Instagram than hockey coverage. That is, of course, after you’re done watching the 125 part ESPN 30 for 30 “LeBron: the Decision.”
To ESPN’s credit, they have been increasing their hockey coverage over the past few seasons. Even if they don’t carry games, they are giving the sport more visibility on the networks. They even got Dave Wyshnyski, to leave Yahoo Sports for the occasional appearance on SportsCenter.
The new deal means hockey will be coming to ESPN’s many channels (unfortunately, ESPN 8 “The Ocho” doesn’t actually exist) as well and ABC. That’s where ESPN’s biggest weapon comes in. ESPN is owned by Disney.
How Can Disney Help The NHL?
Well, for starters, they’re one of the biggest media companies in the world. ESPN is an international brand that can help grow the game and coverage beyond a North American audience. Next, kids love anything that’s Disney. It’s a great way to get young children interested in the sport.
For example, what if they wanted to have a “kid’s centric” NHL broadcast, like the NFL did with this year’s playoffs on Nickelodeon. What better place than Disney Channel? Also, imagine the promotional tie-ins that could be found through not only their media networks and shows, but theme parks. At the Walt Disney World resort in Florida, there’s “the NBA Experience.” Maybe in the future an NHL version can be in the works.
Why Should We Think This Will Work?
The answer is because it worked before. Remember, Disney was granted the expansion franchise that became the Anaheim Ducks and is pretty much the only reason they exist. Sure, the franchise had more on ice success after they sold the team, but Disney built the brand. Mighty Ducks of Anaheim was once the best-selling gear in the NHL. Why? Because when your owner can put the same merchandise from the arena gift shop in the most popular theme parks on Earth that’s what happens.
Unrelated to the Mickey Mouse portion of the business is that the league can now utilize ESPN+. NHL.tv will be discontinued and the content that would have aired on that will be moved to ESPN+. So, now if you have an ESPN+ account, even if you bought it for sports like UFC, you will have access to NHL content. If you were an NHL.tv subscriber, you won’t have to pay extra to ESPN+ and you’ll have access to the content they already have. It’s really a win for both sides.
Okay, You Sold Me
There’s still la lot to decide. Are they going to keep the original theme music? Who gets custody of Pierre McGuire? While it might take a bit for us hockey fans to get used to, this new ESPN partnership is good for the business of the NHL.