Image via WikipediaHere is an interesting blog post from the Colorado Springs Gazette that I found interesting and Mr Paisley hits on the points that is driving this new league. It's no mystery that some college hockey teams are committed to spending more money than others. That's not being elitist that's just stating the facts, I think with the twelve teams currently in the WCHA, Wisconsin, Minnesota, UND, UMD, C.C., UNO and DU are spending more money on their college hockey programs than BSU, MSU-M, MTU, UAA, SCSU.
Joe Paisley; Eye of the Tigers ----The changing voting dynamics in the WCHA membership had the smaller schools — by this I mean the ones with smaller athletic budgets that do not appear to be as financially committed to hockey as its No. 1 sport — numbering five in a 10-team league.
The five leaving the WCHA all have that large budget commitment and/or reputation in common.
That logjam and dissatisfaction with WCHA leaders’ efforts to get a league-wide TV deal were two big reasons.
A “WCHA network” was always brought up at league meetings, but you try to get CBS College Sports to go to Houghton or Anchorage. The Big Ten Network did not have such a concern with its six schools.
And falling behind in the TV world would have hindered a status quo WCHA’s recruiting efforts.
The new league is reportedly courting NBC’s Versus which has a 10-year deal with the NHL and may be looking to expand its hockey programming into the college ranks. North Dakota already has a good regional deal while Denver has Root Sports and CC has a relationship with CBS College Sports.
