Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire
I find it baffling that the CHL doesn't have any kind of national TV deal apart from a minimal few games on Sportsnet. Considering the national reach of the league, the fact that the teams are well established and the league's nature as the main talent pipeline to the pros, you would think there would be an appetite for at least a 'game of the week' or some such.
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SN does a CHL weekly game starting in January each season. More recently they've expanded their playoff league final broadcasts as well.
There are quite a few tiny speedbumps and logistics headaches to a national broadcasting deal for the CHL:
- Prioritizing Memorial Cup host in games
- Balancing large enough markets for TV
- Balancing compelling or competitive games
- Logistics for travelling to places with crew and cameras
- Prioritizing draft eligible or NHL property players
- Prioritizing World Juniors players (why TSN hasn't pushed for a CHL deal is beyond me. Running it in tandem with the U20s at Christmas makes too much sense).
Fortunately some of the larger markets (London, Halifax, Quebec) are usually pretty competitive most years so those games are easy to schedule. It becomes tough if teams like Rouyn-Noranda or Prince George are strong because you need to promote likely Memorial Cup teams but it costs money to transport to these areas for broadcasts, which means you're probably going to try and show those teams when they're visiting other competitive teams and markets. Figuring out a good, consistent schedule for that is tough.
The alternative is investing in enough arenas and broadcast booths to be able to provide quality enough broadcasts from most teams, but doing that in 60+ (or even 30+ arenas and markets) is costly and time-consuming.
If the CHL ends up contracting due to COVID I'd be interested in seeing what changes the league overall makes to further drive revenue while also keeping costs relatively low but also maintaining a competitive product.
Another argument, used decades ago in the major leagues, would be that increased broadcasts would take away from local crowds which are heavily relied upon for gate revenues. Not sure there's much to it but It's an interesting enough argument to hear out.