- The way that hockey is portrayed in the newspapers and on television is completely disgraceful, it goes the same for college hockey, high school hockey, and even the profesional teams.
I.- In the US, there are four major sports; football, baseball, basketball, and hockey. Out of the four, hockey gets the least amount of respect. The fact that hockey is neglected deeply disturbs me especially as an ex-hockey player and deeply devoted Chicago Blackhawks fan, and it also upsets other hockey fans around the country. .
TRANSITION.- Lets start at the top with the, National Hockey League, NHL. .
II.- The NHL has a television deal with ESPN and ABC so that the two companies share the Stanley Cup Finals, the NHL's championship series.
TRANSION.- Please allow yourself to understand that ESPN is also owned by NBC, allowing the large company to control coverage of the games. .
III.- The major problem with television deal is that ESPN is a paid for cable station, which means that you can only watch the finals games on ESPN if you have cable.
A.- Since the NBC network is in control of the games, hockey doesn't get as much exposure as other sports do too a new audience or even the already established viewers. .
1.- The World Series of Major League Baseball, MLB, is on FOX or NBC, the National Basketball Association, NBA, Finals are on NBC, and the National Football League's, NFL, Super Bowl is on FOX, CBS, or ABC. .
2.- There is no monthly charge for service of ABC, FOX, and CBS stations unlike ESPN where their is an additional viewing charge.
TRANSITION.- Hockey starts to get the downfall due to the effects of television programming, the NHL is the only sport that has its championship game or series on cable television where only a specific audience as access to it as opposed to the entire nation.
B.- Also, the way that the NHL is covered in the newspapers and on television is different to that of other sports.