This isn’t close to being accurate. The NHL is back. It is growing. We sell as many tickets as the NBA. Our attendance is up; sponsorship sales are up; ratings locally are up; ratings nationally are up; merchandise sales are up; and franchise values are way up. Every single metric on an income statement or balance sheet is up year over year. As I used to say at AOL, ”We have all green arrows.”
The salary cap post lockout was about $39 million. Next year, it will be well over $50 million. That is the surest and most accurate sign of health and robustness of the league. These stories are hackneyed and kind of lazy as a story line. We haven’t been hampered by bad luck over the last two years. We have racked up record breaking growth. I know of some companies that wish they were that fortunate! Why isn’t that message and set of facts getting through to some folks?
AOL hasn’t been the same since you left, Ted. -grin-
I think you are getting a little defensive here. The focus of the article is that NBC is, essentially, excited about the final four teams being alive. Ratings have been shading towards horrible with the likes of Tbay/Cal, Car/Edm, Ana/Ott. I’m not saying that should be, but it is. You get a good Det/Pit series this yeah and maybe the next Ana/Ott series gets better ratings.
I think the national media still loves to be “hockey haters”