Courtesy Sports Business Journal

(April 14, 2009) Though the NHL and NBC are expected to step up negotiations on a new TV deal over the next few weeks as the NHL playoffs get under way, nobody is suggesting that an agreement is close.

The two sides have to work through several advertising and scheduling issues, sources said, which includes picking the site for the next Winter Classic. The top two markets under consideration for the annual outdoor game are Boston and New York.

NBC and the NHL also want to wait and see what final advertising sales results are for the 2008-09 season and analyze prospects for advertising sales in 2009-10.

The league is looking for a one-year extension of its revenue-sharing partnership, which started in 2005. Sources said that the NHL would not seek a rights fee from NBC for the 2009-10 season.

Under their current agreement, NBC pays for production costs of NHL games and both parties sell advertising for those broadcasts. The advertising revenue covers production costs first and the remaining profits are split 80-20 between the NHL and NBC, respectively.

An extension would give the NHL significant promotional opportunities during the 2010 Vancouver Games, which NBC will broadcast, and give NBC the right to broadcast the 2010 Winter Classic, the league’s annual outdoor game, which drew as many as 4.4 million viewers in 2009.

The Vancouver Olympics promise to be one of NBC’s most highly rated events in February 2010. NBC averaged a 12.2 prime-time rating from the Torino Games in 2006.

Under their current agreement, NBC is committed to broadcasting a game each Sunday beginning in January at 12:30 p.m. It also airs the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Finals in prime time.

NBC has had mixed results with NHL telecasts. The network averaged a 3.2 rating and 5.4 million viewers during four telecasts of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins. Those ratings were up considerably from 2007, when the network averaged a 1.6 rating and 2.4 million viewers over three telecasts of a Stanley Cup Finals between the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks.