from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail,
TSN believes it took another shot to the chin from the NHL after failing to win the broadcast rights to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
No one is saying much publicly, but broadcast sources say George Cope, chief executive officer of BCE Inc., the parent company of the TSN and CTV networks, is not happy. TSN executives worried about the bidding process because Rogers Communications Inc. is in the first year of a 12-year, $5.2-billion contract for the NHL’s Canadian national broadcast rights. But TSN expected the competition for the World Cup, which is being operated by both the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association, to be a blind auction with the winner being the highest bidder.
The auction was held about 10 days ago and TSN’s bid was between $28-million and $32-million for the two-week tournament, which will be held for the first time in 12 years. TSN executives were sure they had the highest bid but were informed by the NHL that Rogers was the winner.
“We were told the rights were being awarded to Rogers,” Phil King, president, CTV, sports and entertainment programming, said Wednesday. “As far as we can tell, they [Rogers] seem to have a quasi right to match.”
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