As surely as my parked Zamboni weeps, the National Hockey League canceled its season yesterday after owners and players couldn't come to agreeable playing terms. While I have no problem saying that fans were wronged, I'm not going to argue over who was right. You can find that commentary on your favorite sporting news site. You didn't come here for that. You came here to dig for an investing angle -- and this botched season has plenty of market implications.
Let's start with video games. NHL 2005 should have been a great title for Electronic Arts
The ESPN NHL 2K5 title ranked higher in sales on the online retailer's site, but it must be yet another disappointment for the franchise that Sega and Take-Two Interactive
Who else has to deal with the cancelled season? Try Sirius Satellite Radio
Then we have Disney
The NHL will probably be back next season. Too much money is at stake for the league not to find a way to make things work. Yet with declining ratings even before the lockout took place, the league faces waning popularity that's going to get worse before it gets better. That's bad news for Electronic Arts and Sirius -- and it vindicates the revenue-sharing model that NBC drew up to make sure all of the parties involved had a vested interest in making hockey work.
Make it your goal to check out some more related content:
- The problems with ice hockey have been evident for a while.
- Read about the NHL getting Sirius.
- Vent your frustration with fellow hockey fans in our NHL discussion board.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz didn't have much to root for this season anyway with his mediocre Florida Panthers. Still, absence leaves a void. He does own shares in Disney but not in any of the other companies mentioned in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.