OLN OFFICIALLY BECAME VERSUS SEPTEMBER 25TH
On Monday, the OLN television network officially re-named itself Versus. The sports network added the NHL and Stanley Cup Playoffs to a roster that includes
cycling (Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a Espana, Tour de Georgia), the America's Cup, Professional Boxing by Top Rank, NLL, the
Dakar Rally, the Davis Cup, the Boston Marathon, and AMA Motocross among others.
Larry Stewart reported in the Los Angeles Times that the 2-year, $135 million television deal the network signed with the NHL last year includes options which could lead to 6 years. According to a
press release on the name change, Versus is now available to over 70 million homes.
OLN Switches to 'Versus', The sports network, which picked up the NHL last year, changes to its new name today to convey that its reach goes beyond outdoors - Los Angeles Times.
"It has a range that can suit everything from stick and ball sports to bull riding to field sports," said network president Gavin Harvey... "Versus captures the essence of our brand," Harvey said. "We felt it was a slam dunk, and sports fans we talked to all agreed.
Name change at OLN was inside job - Boston Globe.
One problem the network encountered is covered by this article in the
Media Post:
Versus has done research on 21 million TV viewers who are competitive, but don't watch OLN. "For some reason, they aren't watching us. They may watch reality shows, ESPN or local TV hockey games. But not national TV hockey games on OLN," he says. To get the word out, Versus will purchase spots in print, radio, local and national cable networks, as well as late-night broadcast programs that target young men. For print, Versus will be buying FHM, Sports Illustrated, Maxim, Men's Health, USA Today, and local newspapers, especially in NHL markets.
Guerilla Marketing is good, some of it can be
inspired. More exposure on the air, in print, and in bars will help. Another option is to simply air the best content. The inaugural
Tour of California cycling race had to pay ESPN for abbreviated coverage.
The Mavericks Big Wave Surfing Competition had a national telecast, but it was brief and tape delayed several months. There is an annual contest by
Billabong XXL with dual awards for the surfer who rides the largest wave, and the photographer who captures it. Watch this
youtube video of Mike Parsons at the 2005 Tow In World Cup from Peahi, Maui (aka Jaws). Man vs 70 foot wall of water. Sells itself, doesn't it?
Mixed martial arts has taken off with a UFC reality show, and a UFC highlight show on SpikeTv. Fox Sports is in the second year of broadcasting a Pride FC highlight show, which strips out a lot of the drama and entertainment from the main PPV events. ESPN airs kickboxing.
There are literally a dozen non-televised MMA events Versus could chose from and draw a respectable younger audience (Abu Dhabi, Sambo, Pancrase, Judo, Sumo). Or they could put together a regular highlight show once a week and cover all of them. Look at the events currently selling out arenas.
Versus was the first network I have seen stream an entire boxing event online. With the addition of
Legends of the Ring, and
Soul of a Champion features on past boxing champions, Versus is delivering compelling
boxing content. They just need to get the word out.
Stream hockey online, you can measure the audience with a much higher precision, reach a larger audience, and it will draw more eyeballs to the television broadcasts. Take a chance on more non-tradional sports, jump on the bandwagon with Versus Poker, and publish a blog that can tie together all of the disparate sporting threads with links, photos, and videos.
- Preview of the new
NHL.com website, from Vancouver Canucks Op-Ed.
- Compare this
article on NHL coverage in the Toronto Star with this
blog post.
Here is a 6-month
trend graph I posted that details sports coverage on blogs. It would be nice to have a 6-month or 5-year graph for newspaper coverage. I submitted NHL Blogs to Technorati.
This page now details the frequency of their posts, who they link out to, and who links back to them.
LEFT WING NILS EKMAN
- Left wing Nils Ekman was traded from a line with two scoring champions, to a line in Pittsburgh with a possible
future scoring champion?
Just for kicks, preseason stats for all 4 from
CBS Sportsline:
Crosby (3GP,2G,5A,7PTS)
Ekman (3GP,1G,1A,2PTS)
Thornton (3GP,1G,0A,1PTS)
Cheechoo (2GP,1G,1A,2PTS).
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Crosby, Ovechkin have hard act to follow — their own - Globe and Mail.
- In a post today from Dan Steinberg's excellent
DC Sports blog, he covers the Washington Capitals, Washington Nationals, and D.C. United's convergance on RFK stadium for batting practice.
- Pittsburgh rookie phenom Evgeni Malkin was diagnosed with a dislocated left shoulder, but he will not need surgery after being
re-evaluated Monday. Are there any owners who can take his place in the lineup until he returns?
- The NHL
exhibition game between the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers in Puerto Rico featured Al Montoya, the NHL's first Cuban-American player according to Vanessa Bauza of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The game also featured Jamaican-Canadian Anthony Stewart.
-
Rangers icing in the tropics - NY Newsday.
-
NHL crashes in as Sharks clip Ducks, Fans and Falcons officials ring in the hockey season at Save Mart exhibition - Fresno Bee.
For Sharks general manager Doug Wilson, it was a chance to connect with fans of his team's ECHL affiliate, the Fresno Falcons.
But truly, an NHL game in Fresno is made for the fans -- guys like Mark Haywood and Heath Baylis. Haywood, an ardent backer of both the Sharks and the Falcons, sat in the upper deck Saturday with group of family members -- all wearing Sharks jerseys.
"My team came to see me," Haywood said.
The Fresno Falcons, backstopped by former Sharks goaltending prospect Jamie Holden, came one overtime goal away from making the ECHL finals last season. Here is a photo of the ECHL Kelly Cup alongside its older brother Stanley and a post from the
ECHL Allstar Game hosted by Fresno in January.
From my experience
last season, the Sharks actually have a big fan base in Fresno, Stockton and Bakersfield. The Kings were the most popular NHL jersey at the Long Beach Arena. Maybe the now defunct San Diego Gulls favored Anaheim.
- Nice blogroll from
AOL:
Offwing, Hockeybird, Hockey Rodent, Canucks Corner.
The
Washington Capitals also have a nice list of local blogs on the front page, but you have to give credit where credit is due. The
St Louis Blues have been supporting "fan" websites for some time. If anyone links to or references Sharkspage in the future, please use the term "blog" or "website", not "fan site", "fan blog", or "blog site". Thank you.
- Blogs that should be added to this blogroll shortly:
Predspage (nice name),
The Pens Blog,
Phead, and
Hello Hockey Fans. Submit your blog
here, if there is no room on the front page you will be added on the
links section. Individual posts can be forwarded at any time, but not all can be discussed or linked to.
- From Bruins Legends:
Adam Oates.
"As far as I'm concerned, he's the second best playmaking center behind Wayne Gretzky in hockey," said Brett Hull. Hull should know. Considered to be one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of the game, Hull enjoyed his finest years in the three seasons Hull and Oates made fine music in St. Louis. Hull scored 72, 86 and 70 goals in those three seasons, an unthinkable total of 228 goals in 231 games.
Hull may be Oates' most famous recipient, but not his only. Oates is the only player to center three 50-goal scorers - Peter Bondra, Cam Neely and Hull. He is also the only one to center two players , Neely and Hull, who scored 50 goals in 50 games.
He ranks 6th all time in career assists, with 1079 in 1337 games, trailing Paul Coffey, Ray Bourque, Mark Messier Ron Francis, and Wayne Gretzky, all of who played more games. His career assists per game ratio of 0.85 is only outdone by Bobby Orr (0.98), Mario Lemieux (1.13) and Gretzky (1.32).
- From
