Darren Rovell's SportsBiz: NHL Gets "Dream" Finals, But Will It Get New Fans To Watch - Sports Biz with Darren Rovell - MSNBC.com

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Will The SCF Attract New Fans
Published 5/20/2008 by Paul at KK Hockey
... with the first two games on Versus and the rest on NBC. The real question is, can a good series bring in any additional hockey fans? (Go to the poll to answer that for us!) Ratings are up again we know and the NHL is doing a million times better than I thought it would do when they became the first sport to sit out the entire year due to a work stoppage. But when you stack a network game on NBC versus other network sports, the NHL is still far behind. read on plus a video interview with Gary Bettman…

NHL's best selling item: The 2-foot tall Stanley Cup
Published 5/21/2008 at Puck Daddy
... about $325. With the current state of the economy -- the price of stamps does indeed grow forever higher -- consumers may be wary about dropping that kind of coin on an NHL luxury item. If they're looking for that perfect extravagant hockey keepsake, they may search for a cheaper alternative. Like, for example, a 2-foot tall replica Stanley Cup that comes with a crate, a table cover, white gloves and a "New Keeper of the Cup" Certificate. For only $249.99. Darren Rovell of CNBC reports that these mini-Cups are actually flying out of the NHL's online ...

NHL, NBA play the scheduling blame game
Published 5/21/2008 by George James Malik at Red Wings Snapshots - MLive.com
... off against Canadian opponents (2006's Carolina Hurricanes-Edmonton Oilers and 2007's Anaheim Ducks-Ottawa Senators) on NBC. NBC's regular-season coverage was up 11% and has seen an 8% increase in the playoffs. On Versus, the national cable home of the NHL, regular-season viewership was up 28%, and the ratings for the conference finals jumped 77%, the best numbers since 2002. Ratings aside, CNBC's Darren Rovell wonders whether the Stanley Cup Finals will actually draw fans to hockey: May 20, CNBC : After all these years, and three straight years with a Canadian team in the ...

Is it Saturday Yet?
Published 5/21/2008 by Ryan (noreply@blogger.com) at The Goose's Roost
... CNBC's Darren Rovell wondered if this year's Finals will bring any new hockey fans to the fold, and to be quite honest, it's a good question. However, what I was more surprised about was this: ...