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ESPN, Bettman say Team USA failure doesn’t hurt World Cup

ESPN
ESPN

TORONTO – The World Cup of Hockey appeared to be structured for one obvious outcome: To guarantee the Canadians and Americans would meet in a preliminary-round game and then put them on course to meet in the best-of-three tournament final.

One small glitch in that plan: Team USA’s two losses, to Team Europe and Canada, eliminated them from contention for the semifinals. It was an epic, unexpected flameout that left the Americans and their fans utterly embarrassed.

Furthering that humiliation: This was the first time since the 2005 lockout that NHL hockey had returned to ESPN, with the World Cup of Hockey airing on its family of networks rather than on NBC’s.

Players on Team USA expressed excitement over being on the network, easily found in hotel rooms and bars around the country. Canadian players who play in the U.S. agreed, with Brent Burns telling the AP: “Obviously, they reach a huge amount of households, and a lot of people watch it if you’re a hockey fan or not.”

So how much does it hurt the NHL on ESPN, and interest in the World Cup, to have the Americans out?

“As you know, we focus on the quality of the competition and not who ultimately wins, and the competition has been extraordinary,” said Commissioner Gary Bettman, as a sports technology event on Thursday. “We don’t root for teams in the World Cup or the Olympics or most importantly in the race for the Stanley Cup. It’s about how exciting and entertaining the games can be.”

Scott Guglielmino, senior vice president of programming at ESPN, said the network doesn’t take on an even like the World Cup of Hockey assuming everything will play out as expected.

“It’s one of those things that, for us, when we go after a big property like this, you know there’s the potential for a storybook ending and there’s the potential for it to go quite the way you didn’t hope. I will say that’s the beauty of sport. It’s unpredictable. It’s just one of those things,” he said.

They key, he said, is covering the event in a way that goes beyond partisan fancy.

“The reality is that when it’s a World Cup event, like World Cup soccer or in this case hockey, for us it’s about the consumer knows and the fan knows that these are the best players in the world,” he said, “and just because your team doesn’t end up on the final or wins, doesn’t mean that these aren’t the best players in the world, playing for their flags. You always have to build those stories into it. So you’re telling a much bigger narrative.”

The audience for the Team USA vs. Canada game, which was admittedly a snore, were low by ESPN standards: 766,000 viewers on Tuesday night. The NHL’s “Wednesday Night Rivalry” regular-season games on NBCSN last season averaged 608,000 viewers. (The game pulled a strong 472,000 viewers in the 18-49 demo.)

On Wednesday, the World Cup game featuring Team North America vs. Sweden had 310,000 viewers on ESPN and Canada vs. Team Europe had 287,000 viewers on ESPN2 that night.

If the ratings aren’t strong with Team USA out, will ESPN still seek to get back into the World Cup of Hockey business in four years, when the next one is scheduled?

“Hockey has always been a main sport for us, not only in the U.S. but all over the world. Hockey is a global sports, and when you have a World Cup, that’s something we want to be a part of,” said Guglielmino.

“We’re loving the experience. We would absolutely love to continue [this partnership]. No doubt.”

Maybe in four years, Team USA will love its experience a bit more as well.


Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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