NHL Popularity Increase & TV Rights

It is not a secret that the NHL has been gaining popularity ever since the dreaded lockout that occurred in 2005. More and more fans are being attracted towards the newer, faster paced game. They are also being drawn to the Winter Classic, and the Heritage Classic this year. The Winter Classic has roughly grown in TV ratings 3 of its 4 years of existence. A 7 game grueling playoff series is one of the best sports event to watch. There are also an emergence of young stars, not just Crosby and Ovechkin but Stamkos, Tavares, and Mike Richards. This brings me to the TV Rights for the NHL next year.

After this year in the NHL the TV rights for Versus and NBC expire. There is much debate on who will acquire the rights of this up and coming sport for next year. The choices are Versus re-upping their contract, along with NBC also re-upping. The newcomers are ESPN taking the reigns, FOX, and Turner. I personally would love to see the NHL back on ESPN. I think that they show way too much College Basketball and occasionally it is between 2 teams that really do not matter. For Example they showed an ACC game between NC State and Clemson? that is a game that really does not matter in regards to the NCAA Tournament. They could have 1-2 nights a week and after Football is over play games Sunday afternoon similar to how NBC does it right now. ESPN usually shows NBA on Wednesday and Friday, they can cut that down to one day and continue their Sunday ABC games. I propose that they use Friday Night as Hockey Night, possibly using both ESPN and ESPN2 or doing a back to back game at 7 & 10.

The other station I would not mind is Turner. They seem like they are up and coming by getting Conan O’Brien as a late night host. They also have multiple channels that they could offer games on like TBS, and TNT. This will allow for a widespread of marketing and these channels are usually offered by every cable company. Also TBS always has been known for the NBA and MLB playoffs so they could take their success from there and shift it towards the NHL.

It will be an interesting bidding war because I am sure Versus does not want to lose the rights that made them an actual channel, but ESPN, Turner, and other bidders could have enough money to outbid them.

-DB

76ers: A Definite Playoff Team?

The 76ers have won 5 of there last 7 games with the only losses coming on the road to Orlando and Charlotte, both games that could have been won losing by a combined 3 points. They are making strides to becoming a better overall team and currently sit in 7th place in the Eastern Conference Standings.

The Sixers schedule is extremely favorable to them down the stretch with 37 games left. 20 of the games will be at the Wells Fargo Center where they have a record of 14-7, and 17 of them on the road where there record is only 6-18.

Of the 37 games left on the schedule only 11 (only 4 on the road) of those games are against opponents that currently reside in the top 5 positions in each conference, teams like Orlando, Miami, Dallas, etc. The more favorable part of the schedule is the fact that of those 37 games 20 of them are against teams that if the playoffs started today they would not be playing. That makes up more than half of the remaining schedule (54%).

With this favorable schedule down the stretch, and just by running some numbers on current home and road record trends I predict that they will finish there last 37 games with a record of 24-13, finishing with a record of 44-38. If they are able to continue to play well at home and steal some games on the road they will finish above .500 and secure a playoff spot easily. As of right now on Hollinger’s playoff odds on espn.com the Sixers have a 71% chance of making the playoffs.

They are getting great play from their bench and have multiple guys that have the potential to step up and have a really good game. Evan Turner also seems to be gaining more and more confidence which could only lead to better things. The more this team plays as a team the better they will be and I believe Doug Collins is taking them in the right direction.

-DB

WVU Basketball: Tough Road Ahead

Sitting at the record of 13-5 for the year and 4-2 in the Big East, West Virginia has a tough road ahead. Now that they have completed their Non-Conference schedule it is now time to focus solely on the Big East. Here is there outlook for the rest of the season.

They have 12 games remaining with an even 6 of them at home in the Coliseum and 6 on the road, which if you look at it from a far seems pretty reasonable. When you really get into looking at the schedule WVU definitely has a tough road in front of them. Of those 6 road games, 4 of them are against ranked teams and they must travel to buildings such as the Carrier Dome and the Wells Fargo Center for Syracuse and Villanova respectively. As well as a travel to Pittsburgh and Louisville which are never an easy task. Other road games include going to Cincinnati and Rutgers.

Also on their schedule are Home and Home series with Pitt and Louisville. Just by watching previous years in all sports it is really hard to beat a team twice in one year. Teams that lose the first time around are always better for the second game.

The Coliseum is key to this whole schedule. They have 6 games remaining there and they need to be won. Winning at home needs to be a guarantee in the Big East because it is especially hard to come away victorious on the road.

Kevin Jones via twitter told me that the key to success down the road will be to play hard and together as a team. Bob Huggins will try his best to prepare this team for this tough road ahead. Here is a look at the schedule.

Jan 26 at Louisville 7:00 p.m.
Jan 29 at Cincinnati 8:00 p.m.
Feb 02 Seton Hall 7:00 p.m.
Feb 05 at Villanova Noon
Feb 07 Pitt 7:00 p.m.
Feb 12 DePaul 4:00 p.m.
Feb 14 at Syracuse 7:00 p.m.
Feb 19 Notre Dame 1:00 p.m.
Feb 24 at Pitt 9:00 p.m.
Feb 27 at Rutgers Noon
Mar 02 Connecticut 7:00 p.m.
Mar 05 Louisville Noon