The Deadline Day Obsession

On March 4th, many Canadian sports fans will abandon their daily chores and sit in front of their television sets, listening and watching attentively. Their reason won’t be to watch a championship match or the opening ceremonies of a prestigious tournament. Instead, fans will stop everything they normally do for an event that is inspired laregely by rumours and features minimal physical action – NHL Trade Deadline Day.

Hockey’s trading deadline has become one of the biggest events on Canada’s sporting calendar. Many sports publications will dissect every single rumour and discuss the trading possibilities for each NHL club. This is especially shown by Canada’s three English-language sports channels, whose coverage of Deadline Day is so intense, it can only be compared to the rigorous attention given to an election.

This year is no exception. TSN’s TRADECENTRE ’09, as stated in a recent press release, will offer 10 hours of “live wall-to-wall coverage and will include a team of more than 20 insiders, analysts, former NHL players, coaches and general managers, reporters and correspondents,” as well as interviews with any current player, coach or GM directly involved in a trade. Not to be outdone, a press release from Sportsnet boasts that the cable channel’s Hockeycentral Deadline ’09 will also offer 10 hours of deep coverage, analytical examination from experts and interviews with those involved. The Score will also have extensive coverage on Deadline Day.

It’s strange that these networks would suspend regular programming for 10 hours in order to review an unknown amount of transactions between NHL clubs. However, there seems to be an audience for it. According to a Globe and Mail article by William Houston, last year’s trade deadline brought in strong ratings. TSN led the way with 166,000 viewers, while Sportsnet and The Score attracted 54,000 and 12,000 respectively.

Regardless, it is intriguing how fans will tune in for an event that’s mostly discussion, and where the only exciting moments come from the faxes sent by the NHL’s head office or one of its teams. But as Toronto Star Sports Media Columnist Chris Zelkovich points out, this is attributed to the networks’ ability to make Deadline Day a made-for-TV event.

“They’ve managed to package this thing so well, that people will tune in throughout the entire day,” says Zelkovich. “I think a lot of that comes through some of the buzz that takes place before Deadline Day. The networks are giving all kinds of coverage, so that people get interested and are expecting big trades to happen, even though they don’t often occur. The networks have created a demand for information on a trade deadline day that in most cases produces very little in the way of actual big trades.”

While the NHL’s trading deadline receives ample attention, the same cannot be said for the other professional sports leagues. In most cases, the trading deadlines of the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball get a few minutes during the networks’ flagship news programs. An easy explanation for this would be that hockey is Canada’s most popular sport; therefore, it takes precedent over the other sports, especially when it comes to a trade deadline day. Zelkovich believes that the interest in the trade deadlines of the NBA, NFL and MLB just isn’t enough to warrant the same kind of coverage given to the NHL. He also notes that hockey’s Deadline Day tends to separate itself from the other sports.

“It’s not the same,” Zelkovich explains. “The other leagues don’t have that flurry of trades on their deadline days when compared to the NHL. The NHL trade deadline has become a much more entertaining package. With the other sports, you can sit their all day and only have one deal made, while many other deals occur before the deadline day.”

So despite the nominal excitement, many Canadians will find themselves watching Deadline Day unfold. Some will stay glued to the TV, waiting for an alleged big deal to happen. Perhaps the big winner on Deadline Day is not a particular team, but instead, the three sports channels. TSN, Sportsnet and The Score have successfully convinced a large audience to watch 10 hours of programming by providing enough material to fuel the viewers’ anticipation and enthusiasm.