1) Our reaction to the
NHL's greed in adding outdoor games after five successful Winter Classics, was we were skeptical that this would work out.. The
Winter Classic will kick off the games on New Year's Day, as Toronto and
Detroit meet at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. In later January, between
the Superbowl run up: Anaheim will face off against the Kings at Dodger Stadium
in the first outdoor game staged by the NHL west of the Mississippi. Then, Yankee Stadium will host a pair of games with the
Rangers, one against the Devils on Jan. 26 and against the Islanders
three days later. In March, Chicago's Soldier Field will host the
Blackhawks and Penguins, and Ottawa and Vancouver will take an outdoor
game to Vancouver's BC Place.
2) The Winter Classic has
become the crown jewel of the NHL's season.
From 2008 through 2012, the
Winter Classic at times eclipsed both the NHL All-Star Game and several
playoff matchups. For example, according to StubHub, the 2011 Winter Classic outsold
Games 2, 3, 5 and 7 of the Stanley Cup finals that season. Previously,
the 2010 Winter Classic outsold Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals, and
the 2008 Winter Classic was the second-best-selling game of the entire
regular season.When it comes to television
ratings, the Winter Classic has also bested the All-Star Game and some
Stanley Cup games.
3) The 2011 Winter Classic (in Pittsburgh with the Pens playing the rival Capitals) was played in prime time
because of weather, which pitted it against the Fiesta Bowl and the Rose
Bowl. Regardless, the Winter Classic saw its ratings rise by 8 percent
to a 2.9, dominating the 1.2 from the All-Star Game. The 2011 Winter
Classic also had better ratings than Games 1 and 3 of the 2010 Stanley
Cup finals..
Can that success be duplicated with five additional
outdoor games, however?
The
Winter Classic will always be a special national game on the New Year's
Day holiday where everyone celebrates the game no matter your rooting
interests.WE understand the reasoning that the Stadium Series is
focused more on lighting up the local market and community at a
different time of the year. When you attend these events and witness
the impact on the club's popularity, TV ratings, merchandise, media
coverage, fan engagement and, maybe most important of all, the millions
of dollars of revenue generated in the local economy, the games are way
too important to wait 10 or 15 years either to return or to wait for a
turn to host.
4) The NHL says these additional games aren't all
about the teams, however. They're also
potentially part of a larger
strategy by the league for a bigger television contract next time
around.
The games are events that will capture
eyeballs, possibly on national television, which is extremely valuable
for the NHL. The league does a fairly good job of generating revenues
via game-day attendance -- with the exception of a few franchises in
small non-hockey markets -- but the real payoff for the league would be
a bigger national television contract. While some of our insiders tell us that indeed
the outdoor games are part of a strategy to
get a larger television contract, it clearly
is premature right now since the
NHL's current television contract with NBC expires following the
2020-2021 season. In our opinion the NHL has 'jumped the shark' and displayed greed that will haunt them when there is diminishing return when they try this multiple out door game strategy annually
