New York Rangers fights NHL over Website

In an on going battle between NHL and the New York Rangers on whether or not the NHL has the legal right to take control over the Rangers website. Last spring during the NHL playoffs the NHL had a vote between all of the teams to operate all team websites through NHL.com. The New York Rangers were one of three teams to vote against the referendum but lost in a landslide vote of twenty-five to three. The Rangers refused to hand over control of their website to the NHL, which resulted in the NHL fining the Rangers $100,000 a day until they handed over control to them. Cablevision which owns the Rangers and MSG Network the cable channel that broadcasts all of the Rangers games feels they should have the right to control the content on their website. Websites which in this day and age have become very valuable marketing tools could be hurt by the NHL taking total control.

The Rangers released this statement back in September. "The NHL has inappropriately and illegally claimed and usurped more and more control over what have been and should be independent competitive activities of the individual clubs. The Rangers said they filed the lawsuit after the league threatened to impose a $100,000 a day fine until it gained complete control of the site." (NYPost). The Rangers argue that they feel both websites can coexist and that the NHL can use the Rangers content as long as they ask for the Rangers permission. MSG wants to know what the NHL can control when it comes to merchandising, marketing, and websites.

The NHL argues that it is easier for them to put content on their site if they already have rights to the material. Instead of asking each individual team for permission. NHL.com which went a major overhaul in September of 2006 to open the 2006-2007 season is looking to put more video and content on their main page like MLB.com, NBA.com, and NFL.com. The NHL also says that the vote that the Rangers lost is a binding agreement between the team owners and the NHL according to the new collective bargaining agreement with revenue sharing that each team receives an equal amount for their website.

The reason this case is being brought up is because of new technology making online content and websites very valuable to teams. New cell phones, PDAs, and high speed internet becoming more prevalent in households makes websites and their video content more available to more people meaning more exposure for teams. The Rangers are the only team to still have their own URL address which is www.newyorkrangers.com. The other twenty-nine teams have an NHL domain name. For example the Carolina Hurricanes web address is hurricanes.nhl.com. The case is still on going.

So it brings up the question of who is the rightful owner of this content? MSG which owns the Rangers broadcasts all of their games and develops the website should have the right to video content. But the binding vote between the NHL owners says the Rangers must obey the NHL's mandate to give up control of their site. Should teams unify like the NFl or MLB? The Rangers say they put lots of money and time into developing their new site and don't feel they should just give up complete control. The Rangers feel the NHL is operating as an "illegal cartel" by trying to take away competition between the individual teams.