The National Hockey League's pocket book has taken another hit.
ESPN will not pick up a $60-million US option to retain NHL broadcasting rights for next season, the network said Saturday.
ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys said the network would have further comment next week. The option deadline is Wednesday.
The league is now free to negotiate with any other US cable network, including ESPN who may try to negotiate a new deal at a lesser cost.
The NHL announced its cable agreement with ESPN last May, worth half the $120 million US a season it made under the five-year, $600-million deal that expired with ABC/ESPN after the 2004 Stanley Cup Final. Both sides reached a one-year agreement with options for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons in May 2004.
While ESPN and ESPN2 covered a plethora of games during its previous contract, the new deal called for ESPN2 to air just 40 regular-season contests. The cable sports network also held exclusive rights to the conference finals and the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final.
The league also signed a two-year deal with NBC last year, which had the same type of revenue-sharing agreement the network has with the Arena Football League. Under the agreement, NBC would take the first portion of income from advertising to cover production expenses, while the NHL takes the next portion and the two split additional revenue equally.
The regular-season ratings on ABC have declined 21 per cent since the 2001-02 season while last year's Stanley Cup final ratings were down 21 per cent from 1999-2000.