Another reason why the NHL has no money...

So let's say you're me, a guy without a lot of money, but a big sports fan who wants to see everything you can. Most of the time, you need to get some Pay Per View's to be able to see it all. Right now, in the last week of the season, you want to watch the NHL's final week, plus the first round of the playoffs. In order to do that, you have to get Center Ice to view all the regional FSN's and other sports channels. So, since i have DishNetwork, I log on to see the cost of getting, for the most part, a month of non-market hockey games. I THOUGHT it would be cheap, considering not only is the season almost done, but the NHL would want to capitalize on the popularity of the Vancouver Olympics.

That's what I get for thinking.

If I ordered NHL Center Ice, for the rest of the season, my cost is $79.90, with no nightly option.

If, on the other hand, I wanted NBA League Pass, the cost would be $49.00, with a seperate option for me to buy the package for $5.95 on a nightly basis.

Does anyone else see the problem here?

Gary Bettman really thinks he's going to get 60% more for his PPV package than David Stern and the NBA can? How does he think people will pay almost double the cost for just as many games?

In comparision, you can order MLS's Direct Kick for $79.00... for the whole season.

Remember, Gary Bettman thinks that third full arena's in Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix (sorry Ty, GLENDALE), and Tampa Bay are better than full arena's in Kansas City and anywhere in Canada.

You can dog the NBA for the players and the cost of going to a game, but they at least want viewers. That is why you can see the NBA on at least three different channels through the week, and you MAY get lucky to view a NHL match on Versus (thanks DirecTv) and NBC. Do you think ESPN could do better? Maybe, but they are not willing to throw the money Westinghouse does when it comes to NBC and Versus.

BTW.. I really do not like Versus. They seem to halfass anything except the NHL, and on that they normally can't do more than simulcast other channels for big end of season and playoff games. College Football on there is a travesty at best.