[kgollop]

Originally Posted by Chad

I've been as vocal as anyone in the past 16 months about Premier Sports coming to Virgin however I still don't think the channel will arrive on the back of them securing NHL rights.

Let's be honest in the UK our 4 main sports are Football, Rugby, Cricket and Boxing. Premier Sports have tried their best to secure as much Football, Rugby, Boxing and MMA rights as possible. Also for the petrol heads they secured NASCAR and Swedish Speedway. I'm not trying to wee all over the NHL, or anyone who follows hockey, however trust me this will not change Virgins view on the channel. Virgin view Premier Sports as a niche channel, carrying niche content.

Over the past 12 months there has been various campaigns run on boxing forums, boxing websites and boxing torrent sites to bombard Virgin with demands for the channel to be added. Similar campaigns have been run by fand of the Blue Square Premiership too.

The only way we'll see Premier Sports on Virgin is if they land the rights to screen major football such as Europa League or FIFA World Cup qualifiers. It's football content that sells. Look how quickly ESPN turned up on Virgin after securing the rights to screen 46 Premeirship games and 30 SPL games. Would ESPN be on Virgin without their British football content?

I think you're spot on Chad