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Don't mess with success
One thing I learned in this Stanley Cup final is never to enter into a pissing contest with ESPN. At Game 5 in Dallas, I was waiting on a Texas-sized line for the men's room when along came Barry Melrose, an ESPN hockey analyst. Melrose ignored the queue and cut into the bathroom through the back door. The men in front of me said hateful things. It was an act of true classlessness, but Melrose, one has to admit, peed first. ESPN has been marvelous for hockey. They have covered the sport extensively and very well -- Melrose is among the many who should be commended for that. The network has been a staunch and enthusiastic promoter of the game in good times and bad. It has been a promotion, like most promotions, conducted on their terms and, they naturally hope, for their benefit. When the Stars outlasted the Sabres to win the Cup on Saturday night, in what was the best Cup finals game since 1994 and by far the most important match in Texas's short NHL history. But, many thousands of Dallas fans were not able to watch the game in their house because ESPN reaches only 52% of the homes in the Dallas area. For the sake of the shut-out fans, the network had the power to allow a free, over-the-air station to carry the game in the Dallas area. The network declined to do so. ESPN did nothing wrong. It was honoring its NHL contract, which calls for it to have "exclusive" broadcasting rights to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. By maintaining exclusivity, ESPN showed an allegiance to its advertisers and to its Dallas area cable distributors. The only people who lost out were the fans. By now many have gotten used to that in the NHL -- and the other major sports -- where the cost of attending a game has become too exorbitant for many. The network was doing sound business and fitting in perfectly with the tenor of these times. Sure some fans were left in the dark, but eventually they would find out all about what happened in the game. Not unlike the fans in Dallas who would eventually get to the men's room. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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