Those Guys Have All the Fun - James Andrew Miller [291]
I think it speaks to what George really wanted delegated. He didn’t feel like he was qualified to really weigh in on production decisions. Now, obviously these decisions that were being made were having an effect far beyond what was on television. When you go from having great relationships with leagues to having tenuous relationships with leagues, that affects your business. They began to have a hard time, because none of the leagues was looking to do any favors for ESPN.
STEVE LEVY:
ESPN wanted hockey but we wanted it at a certain price, and the ratings dictated where the price should be. The people at Versus offered essentially more than twice what we did, and the NHL, and I believe this is shortsighted, took the money. And the league has made this mistake before over the years with that SportsChannel America. They got to make a few extra bucks, but nobody could see the games. It’s not as bad, but it’s somewhat similar. I’m constantly being told by players and the players’ association and the NHL that the guys are frustrated. Can’t get the games. Don’t know what channel it’s on. Can’t get it in the hotel when they’re on the road. They can’t watch their own sport. And in essence that’s driven a lot of people probably to ESPN because they can at least get the highlights and analysis. I think we’ve actually stepped up our hockey coverage since we haven’t had the sport. We’ve cut down on a lot of remotes here at ESPN due to financial constraints, yet we were still on the road for the Stanley Cup Final for all seven games. Had a three-man crew for that last critical game seven. So I think we’ve done as good a job as we can, but, but I don’t believe we did anything wrong as a company, as a network. I thought we made a fair offer. Nobody promotes the game the way we do. I wouldn’t swear by the financial figures, but I think it meant, by going to Versus, an extra one million dollars per team. So it was a $30 million difference, or something close to that.
And I think that’s shortsighted for the lack of promotion and the lack of visibility for the sport. Every time I see any of the execs, I think everybody would like to have hockey back. We always joke, “Hey, we’ll take the NBC deal where we don’t have to pay a rights fee and if there is a profit, we’ll be happy to split it with you.” But I don’t believe we were offered that.
GARY BETTMAN:
Once they have you, there’s no incentive to grow you because it costs them more money. Mark played tough with us because he could. I think they were trying to send a message, but they overplayed their hand because they drove me to the point of creating a new partnership.
BARRY MELROSE:
If you look at the time of the year when hockey is at its best, there’s a lull here at ESPN. It’s sort of before baseball gets going, before football gets going, before the NBA playoffs really get going, it’s sort of our own little niche there. And you can like hockey, hate hockey, whatever, but if you watch the NHL playoffs, you love the sport. There’s nothing like playoff hockey in the NHL.
BILL CLEMENT:
Most fans prefer to watch a fight than a good play. You want to create a buzz in the arena, drop the gloves. It’s that morbid sense of curiosity that everyone has. I would have put the fights on too had I been making the editorial decision at SportsCenter. It does not capture what the essence of the sport is. But if I want people to watch my show, I’d put the fights on too. The truth is, the fighting is a huge exception to everything else that happens. It’s very often the most memorable event of the game. It certainly creates a huge void in the appreciation of the sport, but it is what