from Kevin McGran of Sportsnet,
“This is a historically bad year for Canadian team performance in the NHL,” said Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL properties at Rogers. “It’s clearly affecting our ratings this year, which has an impact on our revenue. But we can’t overreact to that.”
The 7 p.m. game on Hockey Night In Canada is averaging 1.66 million viewers, down 16 per cent from last year. That’s on top of another 16 per cent drop from 2013-14.
The Leafs, once good for about 700,000 viewers mid-week on a regional or local broadcast, are treading water lately between 300,000 and 400,000. They have averaged 411,700 on Sportsnet, down 23 per cent.
“They lost money last year, and they’ll lose this year,” said Brian Cooper, the president and chief executive of S&E Sponsorship Group. “This is a long-term play for Rogers. It’s going to be in years 5, 6, 7, 8 that you’ll see the investment paying off. But they’ll take a hit this year.”
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