Re: NBC/Versus deal with College Hockey
It has nothing to do with Minnesota, and everything to do with the Midwest. And I need to go there to prove my point. I realize the polite thing to do would be to not state the obvious, but I didn't start this discussion or the brash statements, so I am laying all the cards on the table.
Bottom line. It doesn't matter which network is available in the most households because more people in Big Ten markets will tune in to watch college hockey.
Look I get what you are saying, and much of it is right (no one watches hockey on TV...they still wont despite BTN and Vs.) but some of your reasoning is just off the charts horrid. Then you come back with some really stupid stuff that has no basis in the argument anyways.
For example:
The Gophers were not expected to blow out UNH. Most GOPHER fans, including myself, thought they might win, but were unsure because UNH was a ****ed good team that year. The Gophers got lucky to beat Michigan in OT in the semis. Halfway through the third period most of the arena had no clue who was going to win. I was in Buffalo, I had season tickets that year and saw every postseason game live believe what I say on this. The ratings didnt drop because of the matchup, the date or the Wild game, they didnt drop because Gopher fans did not watch; they dropped because no one else watched. There was no casual interest in the game because there was no story to the game, no hype. The '02 games ratings werent inflated by Gopher fans as much as they were inflated by everyone else. Gopher fans watched, Gopher haters watched, Maine fans watched and so on. It was the perfect matchup at the perfect time.
Second, regional networks and their deals mean squat in the argument. As was posted Michigan (one of the teams you use to make your argument that the Midwest > East) gets almost no ratings for its regional broadcasts. That begs the question why do they have the contract but that is another argument for another day. You cannot compare the East and Midwest and their deals because the markets are just not similar. Lets say you are NESN in Boston...which team do you sign to show all the games of BU or BC? What about Northeastern or Hahvad? Lets not forget the UMASS schools...the market is saturated there. North Dakota has no other teams. The Minneapolis area is dominated by Gopher fans. Regional networks out here dont have to make any tough decisions. Maybe Fox Detroit does between MSU and Michigan, but it doesnt sound like anyone cares there anyways
There is more, but these are the important ones.
Your overall point is right, Vs. and BTN are not going to get really anything out of showing these games. FSN barely makes money off the Gophers (been confirmed on GPL a few times including once by a guy from FSN) so I doubt the BTN will off the games. Vs. will be able to fill programming and might convince a few local business to advertise who wouldnt normally but that is about it. Neither of these deals will change anything no matter how much people want to pretend they will. It will mean more access out of market, but sports tiers on satellite and cable provide the same thing.