Tuesday March 2, 2004
"Stephen G" infored us of an article in today' s Southcoast Today that contains an article where one of the beat writers spoke to hockey historian Jack Lautier above the reasons why the Whalers left Hartford and the prospects of getting a team back in Connecticut. Here's an excerpt:
Naturally, the insurance capital of the world is an obvious target should Bobby Hull realize his vision of a WHA comeback, an idea whose chances hinge on this year's NHL's labor negotiations.
But that's not what intrigues Lautier. He believes there's a better chance that the NHL will be back in Hartford before long.
His reasoning isn't that outlandish.
The NHL has failed miserably in its attempt to be a national sport and, more importantly, a nationally televised sport. ABC/ESPN is playing out the string but has already cut programming from last year, showing no intention of promoting the league for future's sake.
If the NHL can achieve its goal of "cost certainty" (i.e. a salary cap), it would take the pressure off the need for national television exposure and allow the league to restart what was once a successful formula for TV via local and regional coverage.
The regional growth of Philadelphia-based cable company Comcast is a perfect example of how this might work. Comcast is a corporate partner of the Flyers, similarly to MSG and the Rangers and NESN and the Bruins/Red Sox. With more partnerships like these, programming costs can be cut.
"If I read the scene right, they're a pretty big player across the country, and that'll be the best way the NHL can sell itself," said Lautier of Comcast. "If they can sell franchises and go with local broadcasting, that whole type of thing, with CN8, that's what everybody's looking for.
"It wasn't a bad market here; the misconception was people didn't care. They were drawing 13, 000 a game here for a team that had three winning seasons in 17, and when they won they showed up in droves. (Comcast) hasn't guessed wrong too many times. (Former Whalers exec) Howard Baldwin is trying to get something back here in the state ... WHA, AHL, who knows? It's a dollar game."
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