hockey back on ESPN???

[Thieving Giraffe]

Just ran across this. Hope it\'s true. Dater\'s always been a reliable source.

NHL back on ESPN soon?
http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/2007...soon/#more-120
All Things Avs
Posted by Adrian Dater
August 3, 2007

The excellent “Sports Business Journal” reported a couple of days ago what has been making the rounds among NHL insiders for a while now: that the NHL is heading back to ESPN, probably by the 2008-09 season.

This might surprise some, given the league’s lousy national TV ratings in America - including in its previous stint on the Worldwide Leader - but not to sports media insiders.

The fact is, media execs have always liked hockey’s demographics. The sport tends to attract fans with upper incomes - if you’ve ever tried to enroll a kid in a hockey program, you know it takes considerable bucks - and has polled better numbers in the last couple of years among young males.

With the NBA’s ratings falling dramatically in recent years - last season, the NHL actually equalled the NBA in a head-to-head game-of-the-week Sunday matchup - and poker suddenly the hottest property on the network (which is a pretty sad commentary on our society, where watching fat guys in sunglasses play cards passes our time), ESPN seems to be taking another look at the NHL.

The NHL might finally start to get an upswing in popularity in this country, especially in TV ratings, for another couple of reasons that aren’t talked about much: namely, the rise of some top young stars with “crossover” appeal, the biggest being Sidney Crosby. This kid is definitely on the right track to being the player that best compares to Wayne Gretzky, and his good looks and apple pie demeanor translates into big dollar signs to American corporate interests.

The other is the resurgence of the New York Rangers. The signings of popular American stars Chris Drury and Scott Gomez figure to make the Rangers the NHL’s version of America’s Team soon enough, and that can only help the NHL on the national stage. The league has been greatly hurt by the Rangers’ poor showings of previous years, losing out on buzz in the most important media market in probably the world.

ESPN never wants to miss out on new upward trends in sports, especially in New York. So, it’s probably no coincidence the hugely influential network might be interested in the NHL again.

The mistake nobody should ever make again is to think the NHL will ever compete with the NFL or other top American sports in terms of sheer popularity, especially in non-hockey markets. There was a time when Gary Bettman and Co. had dreams of hockey being as popular in, say, Kansas, as the NFL. But that’s just never going to happen. It’s a sport most U.S. kids don’t grow up playing, there are too many foreign players whose names people can’t pronounce, hockey players are too “boring” when it comes to creating controversy and selling themselves as stars and too many people still complain you can’t see the puck on TV - which has always baffled me.

But there is obviously room for growth again, and being back on the Worldwide Leader, with fresher rules, fresher faces and big-market American teams back on top of the standings, can only help.

[honduranhockey]

That\'s definitely an encouraging sign!

Hockey needs to embrace its niche status - it\'s probably never going to equal the popularity of baseball or football. But still, it\'s gotta be better than watching fat balding poker players moisten chairs at casinos across Nevada State...