On  1 Aug 96 at 1:07, Mike Machnik wrote:
 
> The first question I have is, what exactly does this entail?  I
> presume that Maine will not be able to appear on any NESN Hockey
> East telecasts, nor on Maine channels 2 and 6 as has happened in the
> past.  I also presume that no one Maine plays will be able to air
> the game on their own local broadcasts, including possible Prime
> broadcasts.
 
This is not true.  According to the decision, as I heard it, it
stipulates that actual game footage of a contest cannot exceed 5
minutes.  Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not going to go
back and listen to the tape, but I believe this is how it reads.
 
So in other words local tv could still have highlights from the game,
they just can't broadcast the game, or exceed 5 minutes in total news
footage.
 
I would imagine the same rule would apply to say College Hockey USA
and showing highlights.
 
> This has implications for some teams that will be playing Maine.  It
> probably means that, for example, that neither WABU-68 (BU) nor
> WNDS-50 (Lowell) will be able to air games in which those teams play
> Maine.  In a way, this hurts those schools, if you figure that they
> probably get some of their biggest audiences when they play Maine.
> I'm sure Maine benefits some when they appear on other teams'
> broadcasts, but this could hurt those teams more than Maine in those
> specific cases.  On the other hand, they'll have enough other games
> on tv, so it isn't that much of an issue.
 
The NCAA stipulated one condition regarding TV broadcasts and that
was they allowed Closed-Circuit TV, I believe, to the *other*
institution's campus.  Once again someone can check if they want I
don't have the time, but this would seem to be the way for the NCAA
not to punish other institutions.
 
Remember the "real" idea with TV and post-season sanction, while to
punish the progam, is also for Maine to gain no revenue for hockey.
I'm sure Maine receives money for TV contracts and what-not.  Maine
doesn't get money, to my knowledge, if WABU covers a game.
 
What is also important to note is that if WABU covered a game here at
Maine, that it could only be broadcast on WABU, Maine stations
couldn't pick it up.
 
I might also suggest that some stations, like WABU, will volunteer
not to come to Maine to broadcast a game as well.
 
> But perhaps a bigger implication has to do with the Hockey East
> tournament. Will NESN be prevented from airing HE tournament games
> in which Maine competes?  This isn't a big deal in the
> quarterfinals, since NESN will have other games it can show, but
> what if Maine goes to the HE championship game?  Will the HE
> championship game not be on tv?
>
> And to take it a step further, if HE is concerned about the
> possibility of its championship not being on tv with all the
> publicity that normally goes with it, could this lead to HE
> prohibiting Maine from taking part in the 1996-97 HE tournament?
 
I'll be the first to suggest this but Hockey East will likely bar
Maine in 96-97.  This isn't comparable with Lowell in the early 90's
this is far beyond it.  They tried to bar Maine in 93-94, the courts
blocked that, this time they will probably be successful.
 
If Maine didn't have the TV sanction I might think that Hockey East
should let them in, but without the TV it creates a sticky situation.
 
---
Deron Treadwell - [log in to unmask]
Orono, Maine
INFO-HOCKEY-L Administrator
ME-HOCKEY Administrator