Despite complaints about the network from National Hockey League players and their union, Comcast-owned Versus still wants to keep the rights to the NHL, MediaPost reports. Versus President Jamie Davis said some of the players’ frustration stemmed from the issue of the network not being available in many of the hotel rooms where they stay. He said that issue has been addressed and now Versus is available in most of those hotels, if not all of them. The players would like the NHL to back to ESPN for other reasons as well, MediaPost says. “The marketing and sponsorship activities will flow from a good, solid national TV contract, which the sport has lacked now for a number of years,” said Paul Kelly, head of the NHL Players’ Association, about wanting NHL games to air on ESPN.
—Christopher Perez