Disney has offered US$400 million for exclusive US television rights to National Hockey League games -- roughly double the combined annual rate ESPN and Fox Sports pay the league, The Wall Street Journal reports. The five-year pact would let Disney carry matches on its ABC and ESPN outfits. Fox, whose $155 million five-year deal expires after next season, has a week to make a counterbid as the entertainment powerhouses jostle for supremacy in sports programming. But Fox may not bother, as even its "glowing puck" promo hasn't hooked many new hockey viewers.
Disney Power Play
Disney has offered US$400 million for exclusive US television rights to National Hockey League games -- roughly double the combined annual rate ESPN and Fox Sports pay the league, The Wall Street Journal reports. The five-year pact would let Disney carry matches on its ABC and ESPN outfits. Fox, whose $155 million five-year deal expires after next season, has a week to make a counterbid as the entertainment powerhouses jostle for supremacy in sports programming. But Fox may not bother, as even its "glowing puck" promo hasn't hooked many new hockey viewers.