League Sees TV as Ticket to National Audience

Preaching the gospel of hockey to the unconverted has never been easy for the NHL, whose TV ratings are puny, compared with other major sports. Although it has expanded throughout North America, attracted support from major corporations and sent merchandising revenues soaring to $1.2 billion by 1998, hockey is still often thought of as a game played by toothless Canadian backwoodsmen--if it’s thought of at all.

Changing that image is the mission of Jon Litner, who became the NHL’s chief operating officer Dec. 6, and Richie Woodworth, who was hired in September to head NHL Enterprises. Both see opportunities here and internationally to increase merchandising revenues and build fans’ identification with players. And both see the NHL’s five-year, $600-million TV deal with ABC-ESPN as the cornerstone for promotion and growth--or as they call it, building the brand.

“We have a very strong, loyal, attractive core audience in virtually all of our core markets and in many regions,” said Litner, who had been senior vice president for programming at ABC Sports and was a fan of Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins as a youngster. “The challenge for us is to convert it to a national audience.

“There 1/8are 3/8 more choices today, for all sports. There are so many opportunities to be entertained. There’s more TV, movies, the whole Internet phenomenon. We’re competing against those things. Our deal with ABC-ESPN gives us an opportunity to leverage off those brands and fortify the NHL brand.

“ESPN today is the preeminent sports brand in the TV marketplace. You look at ABC Sports and you can’t help think about its rich history, including ‘Wide World of Sports’ and ‘Monday Night Football.’ . . . Game presentation is critical not only to the NHL but to ESPN and ABC. They’re selling it. They have a $600-million financial investment. It’s important that works from the audience point of view and a sponsorship point of view.”

Litner said the ABC telecasts, which begin Feb. 6 from Toronto with the All-Star game, won’t be gimmicky. No glowing pucks, a la Fox, which deserved points more for effort than execution.

Instead, ABC will use new technology to provide better camera angles and add microphones to enhance the sounds and flavor of the game. As HDTV becomes more widely available, fans should be better able to follow the puck.

“We’re going to educate, entertain and celebrate the game,” Litner said.

Woodworth, formerly of the U.S. ski team and more recently the head of Reebok’s Greg Norman Collection, knows he has a tough mission too.

“In order for us to be successful long-term, we have to drive our TV ratings over the long term. We have to take the game from a local high-interest level to a national high-interest level,” he said. “I think what I can bring to the party is do the right thing for our image and create a great product off the ice that will maintain the dignity of the sport and the game.

“One of the things I’ve heard loud and clear is, we don’t do a good enough job with our stars, in terms of getting broader exposure for them. While I believe North American culture is driven by the quest for heroes, hockey is the ultimate team game. I haven’t figured that piece out.”

Wayne Gretzky’s retirement deprived the NHL of its best ambassador and salesman, leaving no heir apparent. Woodworth believes other players’ talents can be better showcased to spur interest in the NHL and its merchandise.

“We have people like Jaromir Jagr who are an extremely positive influence on the game, and 1/8Paul 3/8 Kariya and his brother 1/8Steve, of Vancouver 3/8, that’s a story that’s developing,” Woodworth said. “We have more 1/8ethnic 3/8 minorities, like Mike Grier, Anson Carter, Scott Gomez. Those are nice stories and that will give us an opportunity to reach out and touch areas we haven’t really touched until now.”

HOWLING AGAIN

Even if every goalie in the Phoenix Coyotes’ organization were hurt, General Manager Bobby Smith probably wouldn’t re-sign restricted free agent Nikolai Khabibulin.

Sean Burke injured a thumb ligament in his second game after the Coyotes had acquired him from Florida but Smith didn’t reopen talks with Khabibulin. It can be argued that the team suffered for it--the Coyotes are 7-6 with Bob Essensa and rookie Robert Esche sharing time in net--but Smith intends to be patient until Burke’s expected return Jan. 10.

“We have not spoken with his agent since mid-November, when we got an offer from him,” Smith said of Khabibulin, who reduced his $4-million annual demand but is still asking more than Phoenix wants to pay. “We decided Sean Burke and Bob Essensa are going to be our goaltenders. When a goalie gets hurt, it’s normal to go to your minor league system, and we’ve done that.”

Smith also said he isn’t worried about the team’s slump. “In an 82-game schedule, it’s not unusual to go through a stretch like that,” he said. “This is a very tight conference, a very tight division. It’s a real battle.”

Coach Bobby Francis was patient too, until a 6-0 home loss to the St. Louis Blues last Tuesday spurred him to express his displeasure during the bus ride to the Arrowhead Pond to play the Ducks the next day.

“I don’t know if they needed to be told, but I needed to tell it just to get it out of my system,” Francis said.

The Coyotes responded with an 8-2 rout of the Ducks and a 3-2 overtime victory over the Kings.

“You’re never as good as you think you are when things are going well, and you’re never as bad as you think when things are going bad,” Francis said.

Said center Travis Green: “I don’t think we’ve played our best hockey yet. There’s better to come, but we know we have to work at it.”

STAR TURN

Canadian newspapers can’t get enough gossip about Florida Panther winger Pavel Bure having stolen the affections of teenage tennis player Anna Kournikova from Detroit Red Wing center Sergei Fedorov.

Even the usually staid Globe and Mail descended into tabloid territory, speculating about the supposed “love triangle” and reporting Bure and Kournikova bought apartments in the same building.

Bure is tired of the gossip.

“My private life is mine, so I will not talk about my private life. I guess it comes with the territory,” he said. “I understand people like hockey a lot and they want to know things. I am really open and I try to do the best I can to let people know how I play and what I do.”

Although Bure is playing well--he has 21 goals and the Panthers have a healthy lead atop the Southeast Division--the team’s attendance has declined.

“It’s hard to compete with the Miami Dolphins, and we have the Miami Heat and the Florida Marlins,” Bure said. “But if you go outside, you meet people and they are really starting to get interested in hockey, and that’s a good sign. We can only control so much, so we just have to go out there and do the best we can to try to win some games, and hopefully people will come.”

SLAP SHOTS

The Calgary Flames may lose their annual subsidy from the NHL. One of the criteria small-market Canadian teams must meet to get the money--about $5 million--is having sold 12,000 season tickets, and the Flames’ total has fallen to 9,000. . . . The best-selling NHL-licensed uniform as of Dec. 12 was the replica jersey of the Minnesota Wild, which debuts next season.

The coaches for the All-Star game Feb. 6 will be determined based on the standings after games of Jan. 3. The coach of the team with the best points percentage for games played in the East will coach the North American team, and the coach of the team with the best points percentage for games played in the West will coach the World team.

The Pittsburgh Penguins sold the naming rights to the Civic Arena to Mellon Bank in a 10-year deal worth $18 million. A deal with another company had been scuttled in the club’s bankruptcy filing. . . . Upset by rumors that had him being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Ranger center Petr Nedved sought assurance about his future from General Manager Neil Smith. Nedved doesn’t want to leave, and it seems unlikely the Rangers will deal for Keith Primeau.

Paul Coffey is getting more ice time with the Hurricanes. He has been a regular the last month and has three goals and 14 points in 23 games. . . . YankeeNets, the holding company that owns the baseball and basketball teams, reportedly plans to buy the New Jersey Devils from John McMullen. The Devils and Nets want to leave the Continental Airlines Arena, but the Devils want to go to Hoboken and the Nets prefer Newark. The state won’t help fund two arenas.