ST. CLOUD — St. Cloud State University Athletic Director Holly Schreiner is trying to find the right balance for the TV coverage of the school’s men’s hockey program.
The good news for the Huskies is that they have a contract with the CW Twin Cities to televise all of their home games through the 2027-28 season. SCSU was fourth in the NCHC in revenue from streaming their games last season.
SchoolNCHC.tv streaming revenue Avg. Attendance (nationally)North Dakota$704,705.5011,468 (1)Minnesota Duluth$95,727.515,403 (11)Denver$88,261.356,670 (6)St. Cloud State$69,689.303,561 (22)Omaha$59,580.646,562 (7)Western Michigan$54,8243,629 (20)Arizona State $50,486.604,973 (17)Colorado College$46,562.083,500 (23)Miami$22,673.102,538 (35)
The bad news is that they were seventh out of nine teams in the NCHC in attendance at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
So there has been some discussion as to whether or not to continue with the television contract.
“Do you lose more than you gain if you get rid of it?” Schreiner said. “That’s a hard one. We know that the university does a great service through Husky Productions and what these students can do and put out a broadcast that is so high quality.
“It’s going to be hard to say that we’re not going to do that live. I think they deserve to have that on live TV. But maybe it’s too good of a job. That’s a good problem to have. In a perfect world, we have it broadcast live, lots of viewership and yet we have a nice, full crowd every weekend.”
St. Cloud State Athletic Director Holly Schreiner (left) and new head men’s hockey coach Nick Oliver hold up the No. 27 jersey that Oliver wore during his SCSU playing days at his introductory news conference on Monday, April 13, 2026, at Atwood Memorial Center in St. Cloud.
Andy Rennecke / St. Cloud LIVE
Streaming has also kept fans from showing up. But that’s not just a St. Cloud State problem.
In an April interview with the Grand Forks Herald, NCHC Commissioner Heather Weems said the league will hire a consultant to help schools navigate their options.
“We’re partnering with someone in the media rights field, someone who works daily in that field, and has contacts and the valuation pieces that we want expertise on,” Weems said. “I’d expect in the next six to nine months, we’ll go through the process with the consultant and we’ll have an announcement in the spring or the late winter.”
Weems, SCSU’s athletic director from 2012-2022, said the league has already been contacted by some interested parties.
The league will weigh several factors when choosing its future. Revenue, exposure and fan experience are three of them.
NCHC TV via Sidearm has been quite lucrative.
League members received a combined $1.19 million in profit from NCHC TV during the 2025 fiscal year.
When fans sign up for NCHC TV, they select their favorite team, and the revenue from their subscription goes to that school.
In 2025, UND made, by far, the most from NCHC TV at $704,705.50.
UND was followed by Minnesota Duluth ($95,727.51), Denver ($88,261.35), St. Cloud State ($69,689.30), Omaha ($59,580.64), Western Michigan ($54,824), Arizona State ($50,486.60), Colorado College ($46,562.08) and Miami ($22,673.10).
League members received a combined profit of $1.2 million during the 2024 fiscal year.
Schreiner goes back and forth with how she feels about streaming.
Commissioner Heather Weems delivers the State of the Conference address during the National Collegiate Hockey Conference media day at the Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in St. Paul.
Clint Austin / Duluth News Tribune
“I think anyone who was at games this year would look at us and say that butts in seats weren’t good,” Schreiner said. “But I go back to streaming … that’s a hard conversation to have. When it’s 20-below zero, or even just zero, and you can watch a stream from home — what’s the incentive to come and be here in person? That’s the one thing that we’re working on this summer.
“We’re looking to bring the energy back to the (NHC) so that people want to be there. It’s not going be a conversation of do we go or do we not go? It’s going to be, ‘Yeah, we’re going to go.’ Getting people to understand that we want the team to continue to have the success that we’ve had and we need to have butts in seats. That’s critically important. We need that back. Winning helps make that easier. I’m excited about the energy that (new head coach) Nick (Oliver) brings to helping get that done. But we need to support the team by showing up.”
There’s also the question of whether St. Cloud State will renew its contract with the CW Twin Cities after the 2027-28 season. Schreiner said that question will be answered through difficult conversations.
“We go back-and-forth on that one,” she said. “That’s one of the biggest conversations we have on a regular basis. Does having our games televised live help us or hurt us? At the same time, we get sponsorships that advertise during that time that we otherwise won’t have without that partnership. Being on TV, we have great viewership in the Twin Cities metro areas. It’s hard to say you want to give that up. Yet there are days when you see almost no one at a game and I say, ‘Let’s get rid of that opportunity.’ That’s a hard one. I’m not sure what the right answer is.”
Weems told The Herald back in April that it’s possible that the NCHC could package a TV deal with a streaming deal, but it’s not guaranteed.
“At this point, anything is possible,” Weems said. “We’re cognizant of partnerships our members have. Obviously, what has worked well with NCHC TV is that it provides a consistent platform for all of our games, but it also gives our members opportunities from a linear and sponsorship perspective. We’ll look at everything, see what’s out there and see what sort of interest and responses we get. But we’re going to take the membership’s needs into account going forward.”
One of the good signs for SCSU has been the reaction to the hiring Oliver, a former team captain, as head coach.
“We want to ride that energy,” Schreiner said. “The excitement for him has been amazing. Yes, the renovation of the hockey center will get some people excited, even though that’s not going to be you walk in and everything looks completely different. There’s still some buzz around that. We have a new president (Dr. Gregory Tomso). The university is doing some different things with the community.
St. Cloud State President Dr. Gregory Tomso applauds head men’s hockey coach Nick Oliver at his introductory news conference on Monday, April 13, 2026, at Atwood Memorial Center in St. Cloud.
Andy Rennecke / St. Cloud LIVE
“We’re at a point in time where I think we need to take that energy and maximize it. It’s reconnecting those alumni with him to build that excitement again. How can the alumni help with donations to the program to help fill the butts in seats. We’re all going to be in it together.”
Schreiner admits to being a bit antsy about when she wants to see improvement.
“When you work in athletics, you always feel like you want to go faster,” she said. “I want the end game now and I want it to be a success. It’s hard to slow down to make sure we do it right. I think that’s the importance of this summer. We only have one first season with Nick as head coach. We only get one start to this with a new president. There’s great momentum. I think we’re on the right track, it’s just getting to the end line.”
The Huskies have been fighting an attendance battle since they moved from the WCHA to the NCHC in 2013.
St. Cloud State’s Austin Burnevik (23) celebrates after scoring his second goal of the game at 8:22 of the second period Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in a nonconference game against Bemidji State at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
Jason Soria / SCSU Athletics
“For so many years, we could rinse and repeat and the place was full,” Schreiner said. “Then the WCHA goes away and there are different teams. It’s trying to get people in in a different way. You always have to try something new.
“I think the way sports are now, it has shifted who our target audience is. Youth hockey parents are never free on weekends. We’ve been brainstorming a bunch of different things. Whether it’s getting more season tickets sold, or whether it’s single-game tickets from promotions to the way we advertise and see our information. It all needs to be looked at differently.”
—Grand Forks Herald sports writer Brad Elliott Schlossman contributed to this report.
SCSU men’s hockey attendance
SeasonAvg. Att.National rank1987-882,000NA1988-891,899NA1989-903,130NA1990-913,907NA1991-923,867NA1992-934,278NA1993-944,266NA1994-954,557NA1995-965,0047th1996-975,4738th1997-985,5937th1998-995,73610th1999-20005,8819th2000-015,867NA2001-026,07110th2002-036,33410th2003-045,84410th2004-055,89810th2005-066,1107th2006-075,9718th2007-085,8729th2008-095,9887th2009-105,8708th2010-115,9358th2011-124,93916th2012-134,41315th2013-144,50116th2014-154,39818th2015-164,20018th2016-174,36516th2017-184,02518th2018-194,14616th2019-204,30717th2020-21COVID, No attendanceNA2021-224,17815th2022-234,22513th2023-243,78721st2024-253,63920th2025-263,56122nd