Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey
This (the Versus/NBC Sports comments) is two week old news.
What isn't old is that almost nobody watches college hockey. Really, literally almost nobody. The Frozen Four games on ESPN2 and ESPN are in the IRL range (often pulling a rating under a 1), and that's for the 3 most important games of the season.
The fans who do tune in are tuning in to channels that have regional footprints, like NESN, FOX Sports Detroit, or FOX Sports North (MN). Outside of their home region the ratings are unmeasurable and they generate little advertising revenue even within their localities.
Versus is a channel that is in every Comcast cable subscriber's home (the #1 multichannel service provider by some 4 million subs over DirecTV and dwarfing anyone else) and is available to virtually anyone who subscribes to ANY cable TV, direct broadcast satellite provider, or FiOS and U-Verse. Most also carry the channel in a package that most of their subscribers elect to pay for. Outside of ESPN and ESPN2, Versus is in as many homes as any other sports channel, including SPEED TV and the Golf Channel, and substantially more than most. If college hockey is ever going to be seen as anything but the nichiest of niche sports, it will have to be carried by a channel available everywhere, and like it or not, a national name needs to be featured. Those who follow B1G sports are fooling themselves if they think the footprint of their teams extends substantially beyond the midwestern homes of 11 of their 12 teams. College HOCKEY fans know that North Dakota is arguably the standard bearing program in the history of the sport. And there are certainly any number of teams that have a history and traditions that far outstrip what Notre Dame has been able to accomplish. None of that is what Versus is looking for.
Look at the barbs directed at Notre Dame and their hockey program in just the last 3 or 4 seasons on forums like this. Before Jeff Jackson set up shop in South Bend, this team was hardly ever mentioned in college hockey circles, and in the initial season or two of his tenure most were happy that a school with the drawing power of Notre Dame appeared to finally care about hockey. Now there is enough jealousy directed this way to make one believe this team HAS accomplished far more than they actually have. It stands to reason that if a national network, any national network, is going to showcase college hockey, they'd do so with a brand that is recognizable to any college sports fan, whether or not they are a fan of Notre Dame.
Look, most Notre Dame HOCKEY fans know our team has a long way to go to be in the class of the truly established college hockey programs. But no one can deny that it appears they are on their way to moving in that direction. College hockey fans on this board and others have long pined for the time when the sport was more widely circulated and that TV paid it some of the attention we think it is due. Now that it appears that a little of that may be happening, don't shoot the messenger, so to speak.
Besides, it doesn't really matter. Notre Dame or not, there will still be hardly anyone tuning in to any college hockey on Versus, or anywhere else. The fact is the appeal of this sport will remain fairly limited. But look at the bright side anyway. You all hate Notre Dame so much and this will at least give you a chance to tune in and root against them on a regular basis. It sounds like a win/win for everyone.