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Detroit will face Pittsburgh in their season opener tonight. The game will be broadcast on Bally Sports (more on that in a minute). It was revealed yesterday that Husso will start in net, but something interesting happened to Detroit’s opponent.
Pittsburgh faced the Rangers and were shutout 6-0. The team has a lot of pride and will not be in a great mood as they hit the ice in Detroit tonight. The concerns many of you have expressed in terms of the blue line will be put to the test almost right out of the gate.
In terms of how to watch, there is a stand alone Bally’s option available for about $20 per month. It’s also available as an add on with Charter, Comcast and DirecTV. For people using VPN or who live outside of the region ESPN+ subscription should be an option.
Remember that the game has an 8 p.m. start as the Tigers continue their post season play with a start around 6:00. The puck is about to drop, and LCA has sold out of season tickets for the team. Fans were excited by last year’s team and will be looking for a strong start to the season.
At this point, there is a bit of an update on the Bally’s situation, if this doesn’t interest you, fair warning.
The NHL is going to settle for a much smaller payment from Bally’s this season as the company is still struggling. We’ve watched over the past 2 years as bankruptcy has trimmed the service and some of you have been along for the ride from the start. Well, it’s coming to some sort of conclusion over the coming season.
I’d relayed that Diamond Sports (still using Bally tag) is losing all but one MLB team (Atlanta) and the MLB is ready with their own solution. The NBA has new deals kicking in next year that will see them on NBC sports, ESPN, Amazon and others paying a whopping 7B+ annually compared to the 2B currently being paid. The NHL needs to negotiate once again and can hopefully gain a larger footprint.
The original deal with Bally’s was paying 220m annually, this year could pay as little as 87m. Many teams have left the provider, and those that are left have been warned that November’s payment may not be coming. From the article:
For the NHL, Diamond owes the nine teams that it covers $135 million for the upcoming season, and if the Chapter 11 re-emergence plan collapses, the hockey league can expect between $87.3 million and $100.2 million, according to the disclosure statement.
This already shows the revenues were down nearly 90m but could end up down over 130m. The league has to hope that Bally’s can finish the season and needs to find a substitute for the 9 remaining teams on the service. Even if you have the ESPN+ service, it’s a pass through broadcast meaning that if the Bally’s broadcast goes down, you won’t be able to see it either.
This is a year where the NHL needs to stabilize as agents and players pushed negotiations based on the believe that the cap will rise quickly and this development is not a welcome one. The league and teams have had 2 years to find other options (as Chicago and Florida have) but need to stabilize what is going on.
That’s a friendlier version of the “heads up” on what’s happening in court. For now, Wings fans should be able to see 68 of the regular season games on the service.
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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