Today’s feedback

Published 4:52 pm Thursday, September 25, 2008

Reader Jeff Camp sent me this question, and I figured it was worth sharing with everyone:

“In his pre season address (WHL commissioner) Ron Robison said that the WHL is working on a deal to get WHL hockey on TV in the pacific northwest. What do you know about this if anything?”

Honestly, not much. I’m not aware of what specifically is going on behind the scenes. What I do know is this idea has been kicking around for years. The U.S. Division teams would love to have something like a U.S. Division game of the week on Fox Sports Northwest, and I believe there’s been the occasional game broadcast in Portland and Spokane (as well as the delayed Tips broadcasts on Comcast). The problem has always been that there’s too much conflict with college/pro basketball programming, as well as questions about whether all the arenas in the division have the infrastructure necessary for a live broadcast (I’ve heard it suggested that Spokane is the only place really set up for it, given the T-birds are moving out of KeyArena and Portland hasn’t been playing games at the Rose Garden). With the Sonics packing up for Oklahoma City, it would seem some of the logjam for airspace has been alleviated, so I can understand the league deciding now is the time to push more aggressively. I haven’t heard anything that indicates a TV deal is imminent, but we’ll see.