Combined venture includes broadcast and digital
The ink is barely dry on the contract giving NBC and its Versus cable channel exclusive broadcast rights for the National Hockey League in the U.S., but NBC Universal is set to take over American ad sales for the league. The deal goes beyond its own broadcasts to include several NHL-owned properties.
According to Seth Winter, senior vice-president of ad sales for NBC Sports and Olympics, the deal puts “all of the NHL media assets under one roof.”
Although the National Basketball Association has in the past turned over some digital ad sales to Time Warner’s Turner, sports leagues and owners of major sports events typically oversee their own advertising relationships.
Approximately 14 NHL staffers will join in a combined venture under NBC Universal’s sports group to sell TV and digital ad inventory surrounding hockey content from both parties, said John Collins, the NHL’s chief operating officer. “We wanted to share sales opportunities, both to protect our corporate partners and to create opportunities for our corporate partners to spend on NBC and Versus.”
Still, the sports league won’t cede control of its most important relationships with marketers. The NHL will continue to sell broader league-based sponsorship packages.
The venture springs from a unique pact the NHL signed recently with NBC Universal in April. That 10-year contract gives NBC Universal exclusive American rights to hockey broadcasts and video streaming online.
Under the ad sales pact that followed, NBC Universal’s sports group will handle media sales for all American media venues featuring NHL content, including NBC, Versus, NBCSports.com, the NHL Network and all official NHL digital sites, including NHL.com. Additionally, all traffic generated by official NHL digital sites, including NHL.com, will now be attributed to NBC Sports Digital. The agreement continues through the 2015-2016 season.
The venture should help drive more ad money to hockey, Collins suggested, as NBC Sports can try to use its broadcasts of golf, Sunday Night Football, the coming Super Bowl and Olympics to interest marketers in broader ad packages for its sports properties. On the digital front, the two might drive more eyeballs to hockey offerings online together than they might apart.
To read the full article in Advertising Age, click here.
