The NHL gets it. Last year, the league increased its emphasis on providing the better web coverage and saw a great deal of success in doing so. The powers that be have turned their efforts to improving NHL Network. First step? Put good people in charge.

Former executive producer for ESPN's Sportscenter Mark Preisler will now take the same position at NHL Network. This makes the second major hire at NHL Network in the past few months. Charles Coplin, who was president of programming for the NFL, was hired to overhaul NHL Network in late August last year. No surprise, Coplin was quoted in the press release announcing Preisler.

“The NHL is thrilled to have Mark join our team,” said Coplin. “The NHL Network is a vitally important platform that allows our millions of our fans across North America to follow their favorite teams and players. We look forward to the broadcast experience that Mark will bring to the Network to bring our fans even closer to the action and tell the great stories of our players in greater depth.”

NHL Network's push for success doesn't end with two top executives from two wildly successful sports entities, but the league joined hands with one of Time Warner Cable's programming execs to help drive distribution, SportsBusiness Journal's John Ourand reported in December. David Proper signed on as the NHL's executive vice president of media strategies.

It isn't a new strategy, but it sure is a good one: use media to sell, the more people know, the more they care. Take the NFL for example: quality of coverage has increased at a ridiculous rate on NFL Network as well as all the networks which cover the league. It shouldn't come as a surprise that every network has set viewership records and the popularity of the NFL is at an all-time high. The NHL is merely following the blueprint of increasing the quality of coverage to see dividends.

Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter

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NHL attendance is up 0.2 percent from December last year. While it isn’t a large gain, the numbers indicate that 16 teams have seen bumps in attendance anywhere from 0.1 percent to 13.2 percent. The Nashville Predators had the biggest gain going from 80.2 percent at last mid-season and 93.4 this season. Nine teams suffered a drop in attendance from the mid-point of last year, including losses of 13 percent by the Dallas Stars and New York Islanders.

Last year, the NHL ended two percent up from their mid-point attendance numbers. Some of the teams who have low numbers this year at mid-point such as the Phoenix Coyotes at 58.8 percent could see major recovery if they are again competitive. The Coyotes filled 12 percent more of their arena in the second half than they did in the first. The Atlanta Thrashers have struggled to bring fans in, but if they continue to pressure the Washington Capitals for the division lead, it’s likely they’ll see a similar recovery to Phoenix.
The Los Angeles Kings have filled nine percent more of their arena while the Carolina Hurricanes are putting seven percent more bodies in seats than at this point last year. Here are all the numbers:

Team           (mid-season 09-10 % of capacity) - (mid-season 10-11) = +/- %

Blackhawks - (105.1) -      (107.6) =      2.5%
Canadiens -   (100%) -      (100%) =        0%
Red Wings -  (95.3%) -     (96.1%) =     0.8%
Flyers -         (99.6%) -     (100.5%) =    0.9%
Maple Leafs - (102.3%) -   (102.8%) =    0.5%
Flames -        (100%) -      (100%) =        0%
Senators -     (96.2%) -     (96.2%) =        0%
Canucks -      (102.1%) -   (100.3%) =  -1.8%
Wild -           (100.7%) -   (96.5%) =    -4.2%
Blues -          (97.7%) -     (100%) =      2.3%
Sabres -        (98.2%) -     (97.9%) =     -0.3%
Rangers -      (100%) -       (98.9) =        -1.1%
Capitals -       (100%) -       (100%) =          0%
Stars -          (91.6%) -      (78.6%) =    -13.0%
Sharks -        (100.3%) -    (100.4%) =     0.1%
Bruins -         (97.9%) -     (100%) =        2.1%
Ducks -         (86.5%) -     (84.6%) =      -1.9%
Penguins -     (100.6%) -   (100.7%) =     0.1%
Oilers -          (100%) -      (100%) =          0%
Hurricanes -   (76.3%) -     (83.6%) =      7.3%
Kings -          (88.2%) -     (97.7%) =       9.0%

Devils -          (84.3%) -     (82.1%) =     -2.2%
Panthers -      (74.6%) -    (77.7%) =       3.1%
Blue Jackets - (80.7%) -    (70.6%) =     -10.1%
Avalanche -    (76.1%) -    (82.6) =           6.5%
Predators -     (80.2%) -    (93.4%) =      13.2%
Coyotes -       (56.1%) -    (58.8%) =        2.7% 
Thrashers -     (73.7%) -    (66.3%) =       -7.4%
Islanders -       (75.5%) -    (62.2%) =     -13.3%

*Lightning -     (72.9%) -   (84.5%) =       11.6%
Totals             (90.4%) -    (90.6%) =      0.2%\

*Correction - Tampa Bay was included in final numbers, but was accidentally not transfered over to the list. The Lightning have filled 11.6 percent more of their arena than at mid-season last year. My apologies.*

Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter

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The Atlanta Thrashers have been one of the NHL’s biggest early season surprises. They currently sit one point behind the Washington Capitals for first place in the Southeast division. The problem: nobody in the city of Atlanta seems to know about their success. Atlanta currently ranks 28^th in the NHL in attendance. Attendance struggles along with rumors about the possibility of moving the team have plagued the 2010 side of the Thrashers’ season.

The front office decided there was only one way to save the franchise: a mascot related publicity stunt. Atlanta Thrashers’ mascot Thrash stole a Zamboni in attempts to draw the type attention the team deserves for its hot start. Of course, stealing is wrong and Thrash was arrested. The only way Thrash will avoid jail time is if fans buy 5,000 additional tickets to remaining December home games.

Here’s the video created by Thrashers.com

It’s always fun to get the mascot involved, but it makes the team look desperate for attention. Can we imagine the Toronto Maple Leafs or Boston Bruins sending the mascot out on the freeway to sell an additional 5,000 tickets?

Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter

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Could it be? We’ve heard this song before, but this time the City of Glendale might not be crying wolf, or rather Coyote. The Associated Press reported Friday that The Glendale City Council has scheduled a vote for Tuesday on a new 30-year lease for the Phoenix Coyotes. The City would take on up to $197 million in obligations over the next six years.

If the city approves the lease, Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer would be clear to purchase the team.  Hulsizer, who was unanimously approved by the NHL Board of Governors this week,

The NHL, who currently owns the Coyotes, said a new lease agreement with the city was a requirement for any new owner of the team. As part of the plan, the city will purchase arena parking rights for $100 million and pay $97 million as a fee to the Hulsizer group to manage the arena.

Here’s how the payments break down:

First partial fiscal year - $10 million

Year two - $20 million

Year three - $20 million

Year four - $17 million

Year five - $15 million

Year six - $15 million

Glendale promised to pay back the $25 million in losses to the NHL if the sale did not happen. Hulsizer emerged as a buyer after deals with Chicago sports mogul Jerry Reinsdorf and Canadian group Ice Edge Holdings fell though.

Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter

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