In case you missed it yesterday, the Florida Panthers offered a deal to anyone that bought any type of season ticket package - Sponsor Party City would pay half of it for you - but it was only for one day. If I lived in Florida, I'd be all over that. What a deal! I'd be curious to know how many people took advantage of it and I'd also be curious to see how irritated other season ticket holders were who had already paid full price earlier in the off season. They had to have been placated in some fashion and I wonder what it was...money for concessions? free merchandise? autographs? a meet and greet?
I also heard from one of my tweeps who thought about buying the least expensive ticket package possible, even though he doesn't live in Florida, on the chance they'd make the playoffs and he could make some money selling those tickets. Reminds me of a guy I know who has 10 season ticket packages for the Phillies, usually giving them away to family and friends in the regular season and then selling them online in the post season. It's a risky business model to say the least, but at least he knows he's got tickets!
In the college hockey world, yesterday was a huge day as Notre Dame officially announced that they would join Hockey East in the 2013-2014 season AND that NBC Sports (what Versus will be called come January) would air all their home games. This was apparently a big sticking point for the NCHC who was trying to keep all the schools on the same footing in regards to TV exposure. If you think about it, four of the six schools involved from the start have had to deal with the Twin Cities bias in regards to TV for years as every Gopher game is televised by FS North with the exception of the few that are on CBS Sports or the Big Ten Network. They were looking for a national TV deal that would be fair exposure for all involved. With NBC only airing all home games for the Irish it leaves some weekends open for them to showcase other teams and leagues, so there is still the possibility of that working out for them on a bit smaller scale.
On the flip side, what a huge opportunity for Hockey East to expand their geographical footprint and get some exposure as well. Smaller schools like Merrimack, Providence and UMass-Lowell are lucky to get a game on NESN during the season but now, they'll get at least two games on national television every other year when they travel to South Bend. While the Hockey East teams might not benefit financially from this independent TV deal, the indirect benefits are through the roof. The NCHC obviously felt really strongly against it to pass up the opportunity.
This also means Hockey East is on the lookout for a 12th team to give them a nice round number, but let's not forget that they operated just fine with nine teams not too long ago. So they're not in any rush to add another team just to add another team. They want the right fit.
Many programs have been talked about. UConn would bring in the fifth New England state school with a hockey program. Problem is they're not very good and wouldn't increase the level of compeition not to mention that their current facility is far below other Hockey East programs. Holy Cross is within the geographical footprint of the league and while they're a better prepared program to make the transition that UConn, they're still not on par with other HE programs. Then there's talk about Syracuse or Rhode Island starting a program, but that's all it is right now...talk.
For me, the best option is RPI. I know most members in the league aren't thrilled about the idea of bringing in another school that is only DI in hockey, but they're a competitive program with a great rink and aren't too far outside of the league's current geographical footprint. Plus, if you look at the domino effect, RIT could take their spot in the ECAC, which opens up a spot for Alabama-Huntsville in Atlantic Hockey. Could be a win-win-win-win situation and save a program from getting lost in the shuffle.
I'll be back later today with the second episode of the College Hockey Spotlight featuring Michigan State, Colgate, Wisconsin, Northeastern, Holy Cross and Ferris State. For now, get caught up on what happened this week in college hockey....
NCAA Week 1 Highlights
All segments from Episode 1:
Minnesota Duluth - Looking For A Repeat
Boston Universty - Off-Season Workouts
Western Michigan - Yoga Practice
Robert Morris - Strong Non-Conference Schedule
Week One Scoreboard
Michigan - History of Yost Ice Arena
Rensselaer - A Program on the Rise
Minnesota State - Game Show
Julie
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