NCHC to look at Exclusivity Clause at NCHC Meetings

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For those that haven't seen it, the NCHC and the NCAA will have their summer meeting, and one of the topics of discussions at the NCHC meetings is going to be the league's exclusivity clause with the CBS Sports Network. I believe this short sighted clause has to change, and I have written about this in the past. I also covered webcasts as well.

Brad Schlossman, UND Hockey Blog -- NCHC MEETINGS: The exclusivity clause in the CBS Sports contract CBS Sports is a good network for college hockey because its broadcasters are so good and so well prepared. It makes for good shows. But the exclusivity clause makes absolutely no sense and is damaging to the league. Without it, the league could triple the number of games it has on TV each season through Fox College Sports and possibly even the ESPN networks.

I don’t think the clause even makes sense for CBS. What other major sport does that? I can’t think of any network that blocks games from national TV that it has no intention to televise. If CBS continues to block national games, I can’t imagine the NCHC continuing its relationship with the network. I believe there are two years left on the deal. I’m not sure if there’s an out clause, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was one. I know the league has one with the Target Center.

When this league was put together, we heard athletic directors talk all about exposure and moving the league forward in regards to television. There has only been one year — and there were bound to be growing pains — but if the league doesn’t address this issue, the athletic directors’ statements on that summer day in Colorado Springs back in 2011 ring hollow. - See more at: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/?p=97670#comments

This past year, I don't know how many comments, emails and tweets I got about the NCHC television exclusivity deal. The fans simply didn't like it. Many UND hockey fans live outside the regional area and used to watch "almost all" of UND home games on Fox College Sports. This past year, many of these same fans were no longer able to see UND's home games on FCS. Fans also don't want to have to deal with webcasts, either. Hopefully this changes this season.