Could lockout ice ESPN-NHL deal?(Programming Briefs)(National Hockey League)(Entertainment and Sports Programming Network)(Brief Article)

Multichannel News, February, 2005

NEW YORK -- In the wake of the cancellation of the 2004-05 National Hockey League season, one of the biggest questions is whether ESPN will ice its rights relationship with the league altogether. ESPN, which inked a one-year pact with the NHL for about $60 million--half of what it paid annually under the deal that expired with the end of the 2003-04 campaign--didn't pay any money for the season that wasn't.

Now under two one-year renewal options, ESPN will decide in April if it wants to pick up the puck sport again. ESPN officials could reject the option and renegotiate at a lower fee. "We're hoping that [the NHL] resolves its issues, and that we can come to an agreement," ESPN senior vice president of programming David Berson said. "We're not...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.