Re: Hockey vs. NASCAR/Golf
[ QUOTE ]
few other successful expansions/moves (read: Buffalo, Colorado, Minnesota),
[/ QUOTE ]
Buffalo is far from successful. Not even 3 years ago, Buffalo was endangered of being removed. If the team hadn't been as good as they have been, they'd be in the same boat as Pittsburgh right now.
The contract with OLN is in year 2 of 3 I believe. Even being at the mercy of ESPN's scheduling would be way better than anything so far on OLN. I would love to see 2 west coast games at 10:30 ET on ESPN2 than what is on OLN. OLN on my cable package is in the middle of nowhere. The only time I ever think to check if a game is on is if the Rangers are not on MSG here. Even tonite they had Bos/Col which I missed and would of watched if I even remembered it was on since seeing the Rangers/Isles last night on OLN. With an ESPN deal they will catch a bunch of channel surfers at worst. Some cheesy 5 second plug preceding a commercial break during SC would of had me tuned in.
I really hope after next year Bettman comes to his senses and goes back to ESPN even if it's at 50% of what OLN or whatever other network would offer.
|