ESPN Opts Out of NHL

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NEW YORK ESPN has decided not to exercise its $60 million option to telecast National Hockey League games, regardless of whether professional hockey returns after a lockout scrapped the entire 2004-05 campaign.

In a statement this morning, Bristol, Conn.-based ESPN said that while it “would like to continue its long-term relationship with the NHL,” it was not interested in carrying games even if a new collective bargaining agreement can be hashed out.

The league had already been operating from a position of weakness before the cancellation of last season, as the network opted to shuffle its slate of NHL games over to ESPN2.



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