Rights TV Canadian NHL players will expire in a year and a half and we are starting to hear that negotiations for the next contract will begin in January or February.
We know that NHL revenues are (largely) increasing and that the salary cap could increase by $7 to $9 million if players ET the owners give their OK.
But be careful! The Canadian dollar which falls week after week will have the effect of reducing the league’s hockey-related revenues since many revenues are first recorded in Canadian dollars. It could tarnish the current superb portrait a little.
And some people tell me that yes, Gary Bettman risks talking to traditional broadcasters and television services. streaming online in January or February… but that he will wait until he has a good idea of what the negotiations for the next collective agreement – which will also expire in 18 months – will look like before closer anything at the level TV.
What’s coming?
We all suspect that at least one service streaming ET an English-speaking TV network will be next deal. It remains to be seen who…
And to whom the French-speaking rights will then be allocated.
Amazon, which has begun to work closely with the NHL, is obviously in the picture. As for Sportsnet (Rogers) and TSN (Bell Media), everything remains to be seen…
Sportsnet is the current partner…
TSN has always been in discussions when it comes to sports television rights…
But Bell Media withdrew from MLSE…
While retaining the rights to the Raptors and Maple Leafs. It’s all mixed up.
If Sportsnet wins again, will they subcontract their French-language rights to TVA Sports again? Or will they look for new partners?
If TSN wins, it seems obvious to me that the rights francs will be given to the little Quebec brother RDS…
Amazon, the right solution for the NHL
Doing business with a service streaming Online is clearly the path the NHL will take. Gary Bettman knows it and has made no secret of it.
The danger is choosing the wrong one streamer…and give it all your content.
You will have understood that I was referring to the MLS and its deal exclusivity with Apple TV+.
For what ?
A study conducted by Digitize (And Tendances 2024) titled Digital portrait of Quebec households speaks for itself.
In Quebec, 30% of people subscribe to a service streaming, 18%, two and 30% three. The others don’t have a single one…
When they only have one, you will have guessed that it is often Netflix. In fact, 54% of people surveyed by Digitize had a subscription to Netflix.
Then it is Amazon Prime Video which comes second (41%).
Then follow in order Disney+ (24 %), Crave (17 %), Club Illico (15 %), Tou.tv Extra (10%)… then Apple TV+ (6 %).
(Credit: Mashable)
Of the 1,253 people surveyed, only 77 had a subscription to Apple TV+.
Netflixit was 674, or almost nine times more !
And Amazon? 517, or almost seven times more !
By making a simple rule of three, we can therefore think that approximately 4 to 5 million Quebecers have access to Netflix, that approximately 3 to 3.5 million Quebecers have access to Amazon Prime Video…but only 500,000 people have access to the content ofApple TV+. In the best of all worlds…
Netflix therefore invests in the NFL, boxing and wrestling to continue to please its subscribers (who are very numerous). Amazon sticks to hockey to do the same thing, especially in Canada, as well as to get a few additional subscriptions.
More Apple TV+ had bet that sticking to MLS (and Lionel Messi) would cause his share of subscriptions to explode. Except that’s not what happened…
And the league is suffering from it today. She stuck with someone who had a different strategy and she prioritized short-term money over the long term.
Let’s stay in Quebec…
Of the 500,000 people who have access to the service Apple TV+how many decided to pay a extra over $100 for MLS Season Pass ? Very little, I am told…
It’s lucky that we offered subscriptions MLS Season Pass (sans Apple TV+) to season subscribers otherwise Frédéric Lord and Vincent Destouches would speak not bad on their own on game nights.
Someone told me last summer that the television ratings (average per minute) for CF Montreal matches were in the three or four figures.
“If it’s in the four digits, it’s not in the high four digits. »
Yes, MLS and its teams pocketed $2 billion with the dealApple TV+, but we can already see the perverse effects of this deal-To be. Several traditional media have also decided to shun the team, having lost the rights they previously held…
I repeat myself, but the big sports leagues do well to associate themselves with the giants of the streaming…
But they need to learn from the mistake MLS made. Basically, they must:
1. Make sure you partner with the right one,
2. Do not give any exclusivity to their content.
The NFL broadcasts approximately 10% of its games exclusively online. I expect about the same ratio on the NHL side with its next Canadian deal…
To return to CF Montreal, it is fortunate that RDS has retained the broadcast of around fifteen games per year. It saves the patent, even if it is clearly not enough.
To think that there are still eight years left in the deal between CF Montreal and Apple TV+! #PatienceTheFans
Prolongation
– It is no coincidence that several games of CF Montréal are offered free to subscribers Apple TV+. We have clearly not succeeded in penetrating the Quebec market with subscriptions to MLS Season Pass and the club must be tired of not being watched as much as it was before on TVA Sports.
– In 2023, RDS had 1.7 million subscribers and TVA Sports, 1.3 million. In Quebec, we consider that a normal household is approximately 2.5 people. Brief, Netflix would therefore have around 1.8 million subscriptions and Amazon Prime Video1,4 million. These are figures that are very similar to those of our French-speaking sports channels.
– Only 44% of young people aged 18 to 35 have a subscription to a traditional cable provider. They were almost 60% before the pandemic…
There it is, the decline of traditional media. And it’s even worse on the English-speaking side, both in Canada and in the United States.
– Apple TV+ also made a big mistake in its coverage of the MLS : There is no interesting content between matches, before matches and during halftime. #LoyalizeYourAudience
– Since we are talking about CF Montreal, I am told that the chances of seeing the French-speaking radio broadcast of the matches remaining on BPM Sports are excellent.
– TSN and RDS (Bell Media) announced several partnerships with Amazon over the last few months. Interesting…
Although Amazon Prime Video currently broadcasts national Monday night games through a partnership with Sportsnet.
– In conclusion, since it is a question of streamers, Amazon Prime Video announced this morning that a second documentary series Faceoff : Inside The NHL will be presented in 2025 (six episodes). The Tkachuk family will be particularly involved in this second season.
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