This is only tangentially related to football, but I felt like putting it here, anyway, as most offseason news right now consists of the NFL’s desperate attempts to put a team in Los Angeles, Reggie Bush’s desperate attempt to keep the number 5 on his jersey, and the quiet desperation of Quincy Carter and Todd Sauerbrun’s juice pusher. Woo. Watching Matt Nagy throw nine TDs for the Georgia Force in an AFL playoff game is actually more interesting than all of this combined…
Is it just me, or is OLN — or Versus, as it’s soon to be re-christened — quickly becoming the place for sports with cult followings that other networks don’t really want anymore?
Look at the current sports getting the most publicity on this fledgling network — NHL Hockey, pro cycling, Arena Football, yachting, rodeo and motocross. Can you build a sports network on this? Is it possible to make the NHL, a league that lost its entire 2004-05 season to a labor dispute, your bright-shining centerpiece? According to this article, regular-season NHL games on OLN drew an averange audience of 117,000 this season. 117,000. Here’s a short list of things that get more viewers than NHL games on OLN this season:
1.) The WNBA on ESPN2
2.) Poker tournaments on NBC and the Travel Channel
3.) Rocketboom
4.) Tiki Bar TV
Those last two are video blogs, people. When video blogs regularly get more viewers than your top-level pro league, your sport has issues — even if Amanda Congdon and Lala are much more attractive broads than Brian Bellows.
It’s not getting any better for OLN, either, given that Edmonton, the smallest Canadian city with an NHL team, is about to run away with the Western Conference Title, while teams from Buffalo and Raleigh are battling it out in the Eastern Conference Finals. Yeah, it’s not exactly Rangers v. Red Wings, is it? Raleigh is actually a bigger TV market (29th) than Buffalo. (49th) Who knew?
Let’s not forget that OLN stands for “Outdoor Life Network.” It built its network on hunting and fishing shows. Hockey and Arena Football? Yeah, not very outdoorsy. No wonder it’s renaming itself. If it weren’t for the NHL, OLN would probably disappear from cable and become a collection of video blogs aimed at TiVo-loving gun owners.
But Versus? Oh, yes, it’s going to be that perfect catch-all for every marginalized sport on the planet. Maybe we’ll see the return of indoor soccer to television. With no hope of getting NBA or NCAA basketball, maybe Versus can televise the new ABA. Pro beach volleyball could always use a good home. So could Canadian and Australian football, which continue to baffle us Yanks. Hell, maybe Versus can invent some sports, Slamball-style, to keep that coveted sports-hungry audience interested. Up for some Footvolley or Wallyball? Is it too late to form a pro Ultimate Frisbee league, or have those crazy hippies and their “Spirit of the Game” killed off all commercial opportunities?
Hey, how about some Toccer? Yes, Toccer, or Tennis Polo, as it used to be called. It’s a new team sport that involves running around with tennis racquets and smashing a tennis ball into a soccer goal. Somebody’s launching a pro version of Toccer called Viperball. There’s a made-for-TV name for you. “Viperball on Versus” has quite the ring to it, doesn’t it?
Any way you slice it, though, both OLN/Versus and the NHL have huge uphill battles ahead of them, especially when you consider that the number of people who watched last night’s Hurricanes-Sabers game on OLN will likely be smaller than the number of people who will see this footbag champ on Rocketboom. Kind of shame, really. That hockey game was actually fun to watch…
7 responses so far ↓
1 Kick Save // May 25, 2006 at 4:23 pm
Dave…NHL fan here, couple things…
Video blog ratings are likely just total downloads over time. If that’s the case, the archives of the Terry Tate videos are probably on the cusp of being the most watched TV “shows” ever. Bash the NHL if needed, but do it on equal terms at least.
Secondly, OLN and the NHL’s promotion sucks, always has. That uphill battle you mention is like 90 degrees straight up…and they’re not doing a heck of a lot about it. That said, attendance league wide was up this year. The sport has NEVER translated to TV well, but the vast majority of NHL revenues are derived from the local markets. So, any thing from the US national TV deal is a bonus.
But, really, were you shocked that the NHL ratings were that low? I’m a fan of the sport and it doesn’t surprise me in the least.
2 Dave // May 25, 2006 at 4:46 pm
I’m assuming you mean NHL attendance in 2006 was higher than attendance in 2004. Obviously, attendance is way up from last year.
I’m not shocked that the ratings were low — not enough people know what OLN is, and it will probably confuse them even more when “Versus” carries the Stanley Cup Finals. That the ratings were lower than Rocketboom did surprise me. The Rolling Stone article says RB gets 350,000 viewers per day. Is OLN getting that much for these playoff games?
Comcast has a lot of work to do if it really wants to make Versus a viable sports network. I don’t think the NHL, Arena Football and men on bicycles are going to be enough. BTW, can the NHL not just dump Gary Bettman and bring in someone who knows what he’s doing? Obviously, the league is in worse shape than it was when he arrived…
3 Anonymous // May 25, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Well, Bettman made a very short-sighted decision, going with OLN and giving OLN exclusivity for its broadcasts. The NHL NEEDS exposure and Bettman should have begged ESPN to keep it no matter what money (if any) that ESPN offered. I LOVE hockey and it kills me my cable doesn’t have OLN.
4 Anonymous // May 25, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Well, Bettman made a very short-sighted decision, going with OLN and giving OLN exclusivity for its broadcasts. The NHL NEEDS exposure and Bettman should have begged ESPN to keep it no matter what money (if any) that ESPN offered. I LOVE hockey and it kills me my cable doesn’t have OLN.
5 Chris DeGroat // May 25, 2006 at 5:41 pm
As a hockey fan, I think Bettman absolutely made the right decision by going with OLN. It showed that they finally realize that in their attempts to grow the sport they were alienating the fans they already had. With OLN, hockey fans get considerably more coverage than ESPN ever has or ever would offer.
That’s not to say that there aren’t drawbacks with OLN. It would be nice if they were in as many homes as ESPN, but in the past 8 months they’ve increased their coverage by 7 million homes. And I also don’t like that they spent a year building the OLN brand only to make a name change.
It’s not perfect… but getting a lot of coverage on OLN is better than getting very little on ESPN
6 T0pShelf // May 31, 2006 at 4:40 pm
*why am I coming to a football blog to discuss the NHL – but I digress*
Sorry Dave…but your wrong about OLN and the NHL. Please read the articles written by a professionals regarding OLN and the NHL:
OLN scoring more, forced to play less defense
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/14700989.htm
OLN’s NHL coverage isn’t bad, but work is needed
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/allan_muir/05/17/oln.reportcard/index.html
Apocalypse not
Lousy postseason TV ratings are an NHL way of life
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=244377&page=13&pp=25
The NHL has never gotten good ratings on the tube. Why you people act like this is some big news boggles my mind. The NHL lasted through a year off and came back stronger than ever. Its not goin away so just move on and let the rest of enjoy the greatest game on earth without you oversatured ESPN wannabees butting in.
Get over yourself.
7 bossaball // Jun 10, 2006 at 3:19 pm
You should definitely add bossaball to the list !!!!
= mix of football, volleyball, capoeira and gymnastics on a pitch of trampolines and inflatables.
http://www.bossaball.com