 Montreal owed this success in large part to its ability to resist WHA efforts to lure away its players, and many American teams believed they were able to do this because Canadian "Hockey Night in Canada" television revenues were mostly distributed among the three Canadian teams instead of across the league.Hence, adding Canadian teams would lessen the financial advantage that teams like the Canadiens had.Also, both NHL and WHA owners realized that the Canadian markets were a vital economic base, both to the WHA and any future rival league that might take its place.