CBA / Other Hockey Business Stuff

[slaps]

So what, third time’s a charm for Atlanta?

The revamped expansion rules might be a big help to give them a non-shitty team this time.

I don’t think it has much to do with the quality of teams after two failed franchises.

[Troy McClure]

I guess this means the Stars will theoretically get another dedicated hockey reporter, but we'll see.

[ScubaSteve]

Honestly if they just set up a ChatGPT bot for each team it would crank out better and more varied analysis than Heika.

[Knives Out]

Point in case: a stroke didn’t even affect the “quality” of Heika’s writing.

[slaps]

In all fairness, Heika is team employee. Greg Wyshinski once opened up about his time as an NHL-paid writer and the limitations on what they could say were mind blowing.

[Troy McClure]

He’s a Stars PR guy. And it probably pays twice what a DMN beat writer makes covering the Stars.

[Jason]

[B Kat]

32 is already too many. But KC would be a good location for PHX/AZ. And move the FL teams back up to Canada. Done and done.

[slaps]

Why would they move Tampa Bay? It's the gold standard NHL franchise.

[B Kat]

The administration of the team is good, and their winning has helped, but they still seem to have attendance issues. Plus Florida.

[mookie1010]

The administration of the team is good, and their winning has helped, but they still seem to have attendance issues. Plus Florida.

The Tampa Bay Rays faced the same disinterest from fans when they were good as well, but I think their stadium was in a shitty spot also. Not sure about the bolts.

[ScubaSteve]

I just googled it, and Tampa is a top 15 market, at least in terms of TV. And the Bolts are one of the most successful teams of the past two decades. If they are struggling, you really have to start questioning the overall health of the league.

Of course they could be doing just fine, but maybe Houston is willing to throw to throw a free billion dollar arena plus a ton of other laundered money at Tampa’s owners.

[The Frugal Gourmet]

Tampa is in the upper half of earnings and seem to be doing fine.

It's true that Florida teams tend to have the warm weather fan enthusiasm, but financially they are still well on the plus side.

Actually, though, I think 31 teams are fine. This league has the players by the balls.

[slaps]

I think it's dumb that Florida has two teams, but the Lightning aren't going anywhere. That's a prime "non-traditional market" success story. The Panthers should probably try going elsewhere, though.

[Troy McClure]

This implies Bally's SW might go dark.

[ScubaSteve]

So the same as before for 90% of DFW

[The Frugal Gourmet]

I liked it better when it was on My27.

[B Kat]

I liked it better when it was on My27.

Me too, cause that broadcast never got blacked out in Austin.

[ToddM]

Yeah, that literally changes nothing for me. I haven't been able to watch more than 1 or 2 Stars games a season since Sinclair took over.

[Troy McClure]

Yeah, that literally changes nothing for me. I haven't been able to watch more than 1 or 2 Stars games a season since Sinclair took over.

It's not going to get any better.

Bally's has opened up their $20/month streaming service that is independent of any cable company, but when Bally's goes under, whatever replaces it will not be any cheaper. If the Stars end up selling direct streams of their own games, it might end up being more expensive than what Bally's is charging.

[Troy McClure]

Here we go.

This is a press release from the Bally's people, so we will have to wait to see what the actual bankruptcy plan looks like and what it means.

[Jason]

7. What about the NBA and NHL? Are their teams at risk?
NBA executives have been working with Diamond to figure out a plan to move forward. The NBA wants to make sure that its teams continue to receive their local rights fees payments for, at least, the next two years when the league goes to market with its national rights. It’s in the NBA’s best financial interest to try to keep Diamond afloat until that time. The NHL also is working with Diamond to reach a solution. At the end of 2021, the NHL was the first league to cut a digital rights deal with Diamond, and sources say the league is looking to accommodate the company. Of all the leagues, the NHL is, perhaps, in the best position in the unlikely event that Diamond fails to carry its games. The NHL already has a deal that allows ESPN to carry the league’s out-of-market games on ESPN+. The league could fashion a deal that would give ESPN the in-market rights, too.

[Troy McClure]

Sounds like the Stars will remain on Bally's for the rest of this season.

[slaps]

The NHL already has a deal with ESPN+, so someone pointed out it's probably going to pivot over the summer away from RSNs (if needed) and leverage that deal.

[Troy McClure]

ESPN+ is a solution to get games out for fans to watch, but it doesn't fix the problem of the lost RSN money.

[ScubaSteve]

Also there are huge costs associated with doing an actual broadcast that ESPN is not gonna want to eat except for their handful of national games.

[B Kat]

Perhaps the regions can make a go of it, like the NY market's YES or MSG. Detroit has 3 popular sports teams and I'd think they could make it work. Not sure about Florida, Nashville and other small markets, tho.

[ScubaSteve]

Now seems like an appropriate time for the Coyotes to acquire Bally Sports

[Troy McClure]

Another undrafted free agent who is putting up huge numbers in juniors.

[mookie1010]

It looks like one of CD's twins could take that little guy out without breaking a sweat.