OLN/VS.

[BCWWF]

I was watching this channel some last night and I decided that if this channel can acquire the rights to some sort of soccer league it has the potential to be a strong station. It isn't the same type of sports station as ESPN because it doesn't and likely won't ever have any of the major US sports. That being said, it already has some great niche sports, covers them well, and seems to be moving away from the "outdoor" aspect that the channel was created on.

The big draws the channel has right now are: Tour de France, National Hockey League, International Track and Field meets, World Team Tennis, Americas Cup, as well as some boxing and other small, meh, sports.

Right now that is not all that impressive other then the first maybe three that I listed. But if this channel could just acquire the rights to a few more leagues. The two that I think would put it over the edge would be a major soccer league and a major racing league. Add some smaller tennis tournaments, one of the lacrosse leagues (MLL or NLL), grab something like the rugby World Cup. These are all sports that have large bases in the US, but on the national TV scene they don't really show up.

God knows that the big problem with ESPN right now is the lack of sports. Daytime programming includes at least five or six shows based on random suits speculating the events or various leagues and then a lot of bullshit, like poker. I think that there are a lot of sports that could get more airtime and have large amounts of potential fans, but ESPN either can't or just doesn't choose to air it. Just think about how many lacrosse players there are now, give them a better venue to watch it. Same goes for tennis. With soccer and NASCAR, you already have fan bases, you get these programs and you immediately bring in fans. Who the hell has NASCAR right now anyway, isn't it like USA or TNT?

[RoXer]

Actually, I THINK I remember reading somewhere that OLN/VS. already signed a deal with the NLL to show like one game a week.

[Linkbowler]

They've also got Arena Football for at least one game per week. I've got to say, with ESPN losing part of their MLB contract to TBS next year, I wouldn't count on Versus not being able to get something away from ESPN. I would venture a guess that if the new network takes off, part of the NBA deal might move over.

And BCWWF: NASCAR's contract this year is a half-and-half deal between the FOX/FX networks and NBC/TNT. Next year, it shifts to thirds: one third FOX/FX, one third TNT, one third ABC/ESPN. I think they're a little past Versus, unless they latch on with a major network (CBS?).

[BCWWF]

OK, well NASCAR is easily the most popular American car racing network, but what is next? Like does Indy car racing have a decent following? I Just think that some sort of well received auto-racing could really be good for that station.

As for the NBA and whatnot, if they did try to go that way then they would basically be trying to copy ESPN and directly compete with them. That could work and might be interesting, but what I was implying is that they become the network that shows the niche sports. The sports that have a big base but will probably never be the major, like the lacrosse leagues or a volleyball league or grab the Mexican soccer league or something.

I was just flipping through the chanels the other day and there was a big track meet on OLN, something like the Paris Games or French Games or something. There were a lot of fans, the production was good, it was taped but that didn't hurt it at all, especially because it moved so fast that way. I just got to thinking that if there was stuff like that on more often, a chunk of the sports audience would turn off Cold Pizza's 1st and 10 and turn on an actual sport. There are a lot of sports out there, especially worldwide, and it wouldn't hurt to start showing some of them.