How I got Schooled By Ted Leonsis ( Why the NHL ain’t dead, even though the Ratings Suck!)

Robert Seidman ©June 7, 2007

Many people ask me about my confrontational style and approach and while I primarily attribute this to genetics, it’s an approach I embrace very much because it’s quite often the best way for me to learn.

We live in a wonderful world where Robert Seidman – an out of work blogger – can actually “confront” a guy like Ted Leonsis (a man with a net worth after taxes of over $100 million, who owns an NHL franchise and part of an NBA franchise).

Fortunately, Ted doesn’t have any problem with the confrontation and so for me, the out of work blogger, there is a great opportunity to think and learn. And learn I did. Because I was wrong and Ted was right.

Yesterday at about 2:45pm PDT when I was watching ESPN’s PTI and listening to Kornheiser absolutely rail on the NHL about its abysmal ratings (“if Bettman looks at these ratings and says. ‘we’re fine, everything’s good, the league’s healthy…he’s whistling past the graveyard!” If you had asked me yesterday at 2:46pm if I’d ever get around to disagreeing with Kornheiser, I’d have said, “No way, Mr. Tony is my boy!” Mr. Tony is my boy, but he’s wrong just like I was.

There is absolutely NO correlation between the VALUE of the NHL franchises (which are going up) and the national ratings for the Stanley Cup (which are going down). I am convinced of this now in the way that I am convinced that at some point this morning Apple stock (AAPL) was at around $126.50 even though not a single iPhone has yet been sold. Still, the value at that moment was the value, and does not correlate in any way to the # of iPhones sold.

While I do not believe the NHL will be in better shape 2 years from now if the national ratings for the Stanley Cup are where they are now (or worse), I do believe that “right now” the ratings are not actually indicative either of franchise values or the health of the league, and that right now things are actually much better for the NHL than they were a few years ago. More on this later...

Influencer of the Influencers

I don't care about this Web 2.0 notion of "respect my authority". I have no authority because nobody is reading my blog. Nonetheless, I was able to influence Mr. Leonsis (it may all be subconscious to him, and I'm fine with that!).

Last night I wrote this piece on the growing irrelevancy of the NHL in pop culture, singling OUT my favorite show in the world, "Pardon the Interruption". i note though, I was incorrect that they didn't give ANY time to the Stanley Cup -- it did get about 2 seconds worth in the "Big Finish" (you can see "Ducks" if you click the picture).

Today, Leonsis wrote an entry singing the praises of Washington Post columnist and PTI co-host Michael Wilbon. That's exactly the kind of thing I think Ted ought to be doing: a.) because WILBON ROCKS! (and so does Mr. Tony!) and b.) it would be good for the NHL if the PTI boys felt like talking about the Stanley Cup while it was actually in progress.

i don't care if there's 140,000 people reading this or 14. I'm solutions and results oriented and the results are in: me and and you (all 14 readers) are already making a difference. God bless America.

My E-Mail to Ted Leonsis

Ted,

It seems like comments aren't working at ted.aol.com the last few days and I wanted to take a moment to respond to:

Hardest Thing to Do in Business.

I like that you're a man of the people, both for the Washington, DC area and your NHL Franchise. But I think I'd encourage you to change your focus from championships to improving the abysmal television ratings for the NHL. I know I am always harping on YOU to do this, and I'll tell you why. It's because you probably have a higher Q-rating than any of your stars, including Alex O. Does Alex O have a link to his Web site from the Engadget Blog? No. But Ted Leonsis does. You sir, are more in the pop culture than the NHL. It wouldn't shock me (at all) to find more households read your blog in a month than watched any of the Stanley Cup finals.

For the NHL, I fear the hardest thing to do may be to stay in business.

You know the ratings lines, you have seen these #'s (courtesy of Nielsen Media):

2006 *	**NBC/OLN	7	1.8	3	1,994,000	2,834,000	Carolina vs, Edmonton
2002	ABC	3	3.6	7	3,815,000	5,768,000	Detroit Red Wings vs. Atlanta Thrashers

In four years, the NHL lost half its households and viewers. HALF. In only 4 years. This year's #'s seem to be WORSE so far. Hockey isn't in the popular culture and as nice as ted.aol.com is, it did absolutely nothing to improve NHL television ratings. I'd encourage you to think about this: "why not". My best guess is: "that wasn't really what Ted was going for here," to which I must also ask, "why not?"

Sincerely,

Robert Seidman