NHL Network Coming To America!

by Andy Strickland 1380 ESPN

It’s always nice of the major sports networks in the United States to donate about 20-30 seconds of their show to sneak in a NHL highlight or two. Hockey fans around the country definitely appreciate it. If you live in the United States and you are tired of watching 59 minutes of basketball and baseball highlights then listen up. As we sit today the NHL Network is negotiating with U.S. cable and satellite distributors with hopes of launching the NHL network in the United States in time for the playoffs this spring. The network is prepared to launch right now. A master control studio has already been built in the Washington D.C. area. The NHL Network would be its very own channel similar to the successful NFL network. The network would carry NHL related programming 24 hours a day seven days a week. When the original deal was agreed upon between the NHL and Comcast (on behalf on OLN now VS), Comcast guaranteed a launch of the network in the U.S. no later than 24 months from the time the original contract was signed. That was back in late July of 2005 after the NHL lockout. In other words the network was to be launched in the U.S. by July of 2007 or Comcast would have to pay a significant penalty to the league if the network wasn’t launched within 24 months (believed to be $15 million). Comcast is more than prepared to put the signal on a channel on its cable network. That is not the issue. The issue now is that the league and its partners as owners of the NHL network want cash per subscriber. An official announcement regarding the launch of the NHL network in the United States is just around the corner!