As usual, Monaghan brings up some good points. And as usual, I've deleted
them,
so I can't add to any specific points.
 
Here's a hypothetical plan for developing sponsorship for college hockey: The
four hockey conferences would strike a deal with one or two national
companies. Each Div. I school with a rink capable of televising a game
would provide these companies exclusive advertising space along the center-
ice boards, in exchange for bankrolling a national game-of-the-week broadcast.
Let's say a board ad at center ice costs $5000 a season (I honestly don't know),
and let's say there are 40 rinks capable of supporting a broadcast. That's
$200,000. Get two sponsors involved and you have $400,000, which could probably
fund the production of four, five games?
 
There are bugs, of course, aside from any cost underestimation of my own:
1. Exclusivity contracts at individual schools. Suppose Coke is a sponsor at a
Pepsi campus?
2. Schools which do not own their own rinks, therefore don't control rink
advertising.
3. The NCAA's take on the whole thing. I originally thought of under-ice ads,
but there's no way Overlord Park would let that happen.
 
 
And a personal plea: the deal has to be on ESPN, not the Deuce. Third-largest
TV market in the US, and I can't get it. Grrrr....
--
Greg Sorenson
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