Why the NHL is Dead

A little overboard are we? The NHL is slowly recapturing a place in the American sports mind. Slowly…but look at how long it took baseball to shine again after the lockout and baseball was WAY bigger then the NHL.

The NHL has focused its marketing on controlling certain markets locally, and has completely abandoned a national agenda. The NHL and its broadcast partners promote Detroit, Philadelphia, Colorado, and Dallas to the exclusion of taste-making markets like LA, Chicago, and New York.

What kind of store would only have locations in those cities? “Cool” stores have stores in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and Chicago.

Wow, there’s just so much wrong here that I don’t even know where to begin. I’ll just go with this (http://ted.aol.com/index.php?ID=1964): NHL attendance (as of March) was on par with NBA attendance in total numbers, but when you factor in the NBA’s slightly larger arenas, the NHL’s average attendance was 93.1%, compared to only 89.2% for the NBA.

The NHL doesn’t sound dead to me…

Sean, how original of you to trot out the tried-and-true canard about the NHL TV ratings. When all else fails, and you can’t bash the NHL for steroids or employing wannabe gangsters like all of the other major sports, by all means bring up the easy mention of the all-important allure of the TV. We won’t discuss how the NHL fans flocked back to the league following the lockout in even greater numbers while baseball still struggles to retain the fans it lost following its own work stoppage. Keep up the good work, but remember it is okay to praise one sport without needlessly denigrating another.

SeanMC - I agree that Hockey for the average fan is no longer in the top 4 of their sports watching endeavors, but I think the problems in Boston do not flow throughout the entire league. For instance, perhaps I am simply fortunate to be in Minnesota, the State of Hockey, but there is nothing better in the Minnesota Sports World than a Wild game at the Excel Center. This is partially due to the fact that the Twins aren’t where they used to be, the Vikings are still struggling and I don’t even need to mention the woes of the T-Wolves. But I think Boston has the reverse problem. The Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots are too good for the Bruins to matter at all.
The NHL also comprises the widest variety of nationalities into the game. While the NBA is expanding and MLB is gaining more and more international players, the NHL doesn’t have a majority of US players and that makes the game less marketable to US viewers and more marketable to Canadian, Czech, Slovak, Russian, and Finnish viewers.
Overall, yes, the NHL is in trouble, and saving it won’t be easy. Not to be too cheesy, but it may take another Miracle to save the game of Hockey for the US.

Even though your post is based solely on your opinion, i felt oblagated to throw you my two cents. Firstly, football would be on the top of my list even though hockey is my favorite sport. Second would be hockey. Why? because baseball is the most unfulfilling, boring sport that it always was, its not even a fun sport to play. There is never any action and maybe a luckey diving catch every couple games or so. I also hope that when u said basketball as being the second (or third) , you were talking about the NCAA Because the NBA just plain blows. No one plays defense and no players care about the sport except maybe lebron, kobe and AI jus pick up their checks and leave. I wont even go into the other sports being that there completely irrelavant. But now we have hockey…. theres a hard hitting play every possesion, at least 1 fist fight per game, and every goal scored is nothing short of amazing. The kids in hockey today, brier, crosby, ovechkin bring a whole new playing stlye to the table and are more entertaining then ever. Bottom line hockey shits on every sport except football and i should slap you for putting NASCAR ahead of it. Dumb redneck sport where cars drive around in circles for hours.

Yawn…Another lets-bash-the-NHL article filled with the usual unorigional flawed arguements recycled by a wannabe writer hack. I can’t believe an editor actually gave this dribble the green light. Must be a slow newsday.

Note to author: If you really can’t find what channel versus is, do the world a favor and don’t procreate. If my five year old can find versus and you can’t, then there is something seriously wrong with you. Best not spread that type of stupidity around.

I’m not bashing the NHL. I love Hockey. I grew up watching Cam Neely, Ray Bourque, Adam Oates, etc. I’m bitter towards the Bruins, mostly because of their ownership, but I still love hockey.

The point I was trying to make was the overall “blah” about this year’s playoffs. Whether it’s TV ratings, general sports discussion, etc…there just isn’t interest this year outside of the passionate hockey fans who are ALWAYS interested.

Something has to be done, or the sport is in some serious trouble in the United States.

As for the baseball comment, they’re enjoying record ratings and attendance…they’re not having issues getting fans back as was suggested in one of the comments. Maybe they did initially, but certainly not in 2008.

-Sean

I guess I shouldn’t get upset over a topic written by a guy who blogs once every other Thursday.

Probably the worst piece of writing I’ve seen in a long time. A bad situation in Boston does not out an entire league on thin ice (pun intended). Typical retarded beantown logic. I’m actually trying to figure out how to get the last five minutes I just wasted reading this column (and then commenting on it) back.

Once again, people commenting have failed to read through the article thoroughly and missed SeanMC’s point completely.
Something does need to be done for hockey to regain popularity in the US. Do you have any suggestions? I think the outdoor games are a good idea. Maybe the NHL simply needs to work harder to get a major network to pick up more of their games.
The time is ripe for the NHL, it has been a long time since this many young talented players have emerged. If you are watching it is exciting, but getting people to watch seems tough. I am not exactly sure why.
Thanks for the writing Sean.

Hey Andrew,

I think you are missing everyone else’s point…if you want to make a point about the state of hockey, use real facts to support the argument, not fake ones and don’t compare the rest of the country to Boston - that is flawed reasoning. First - VERSUS is very easy to find, I think it’s available in more than 70 million homes and just go to versus.com and it will tell you exactly what channel it’s on in your area. Second - NHL attendance is up for the third straight year and merchandise sales have surpassed what they were selling before the lockout. Third - NHL TV ratings are up on NBC, VERSUS and all the local broadcast stations and regional sports nets by double digits as well. Fourth- there is more buzz about the Stanley Cup playoffs this year than during the last 6-7 years. All of these facts are available online if he decided to do more than 30 seconds of research for this piece. This story would’ve been more credible if it was written in 2006, not today.

Ask 100 people, and 98 won’t know what channel Versus is in their town.

Are you all suggesting that hockey isn’t struggling? Are you all suggesting that it’s not an afterthought to most sports fans right now?

I understand that it’s worse in Boston, but it’s not great ANYWHERE outside of Canada.

As for facts, do a little research on the ratings….

The Stanley Cup ratings were down 20 percent last year.

The NHL on NBC set a record for lowest rating during their time period EVER earlier this year.

The TV ratings for the first week of this years playoffs were down, even in comparison to last year’s low numbers.

But you’re right, ignore the issues. Pretend they don’t exist. And soon the NHL will go the way of the ABA and the USFL.

-Sean

you’re losing credibility by the minute

From Sports Business Daily:

The NHL has closed the books on its regular season and most would agree the league has some positive stories to tell. Attendance has hit an all-time high, and the league is showing an 11% ratings jump on NBC and a 28% bump in viewership on Versus. At the local level, 15 NHL teams saw their local ratings increase, while only nine saw a dip from last season’s numbers.

NHL Ratings Up For NBC Regular Season, RSN Playoff Coverage

NBC averaged a 1.0 Nielsen rating for its 10 telecasts this regular season, up from a 0.9 rating last season for nine telecasts. For complete NHL regular-season ratings, see today’s Back of the Book.

PLAYOFFS RATINGS: MSG earned a 2.61 HH rating for the Sunday night’s Game Three of the Devils-Rangers NHL Eastern Conference quarterfinals, making it the net’s highest-rated hockey telecast since the ‘04-05 lockout. Combined with a 0.63 HH rating on MSG Plus, which showed the same game using the Devils announce team, and the rating hits 3.24. Rangers-Devils Game One earned a 2.3 HH rating on MSG, with MSG Plus delivering a 0.53 HH rating for a combined 2.83 HH rating. Meanwhile, CSN Philadelphia’s coverage of Flyers-Capitals Game One averaged a 3.4 HH rating (101,076 HHs), a 54.5% increase over the regular-season average of 2.2 (THE DAILY).

Don’t quit your day job.

wow…Sean.. You must get paid by incorrect facts.

The NHL will go the way of the ABA and the USFL?

You shoud quit while you’re behind!

ABA 1967-1976
USFL 1983-1985
NHL 1917-

NHL = ABA?
NHL = USFL?

NOW I know why he blogs every OTHER Thursday!

George,
You are flat out wrong.

The NHL on NBC got a 2.6, which is the highest rating since fox, for the outdoor game earlier this year. Remove that game from the equation, and they average a 0.8, down from last year. It also makes the NHL the second lowest rated sport nationally on average, just ahead of Arena Football.

The National playoff broadcast ratings are down from last year, locally the home teams will do OK because they have a local fanbase.

The average sports fan isn’t watching.

-Sean

Matt,
I never said NHL = ABA or USFL, I said if they weren’t careful they would end up meeting the same fate.

-Sean

To put things into perspective, the lowest rating the XFL pulled on NBC was a 1.5, which at the time was a record for the lowest ever rating for a sports broadcast on a major network. The NHL can’t even AVERAGE that.

Like I said, there are issues that need to be addressed….

Why does the NHL need to be popular across the whole US? This is the dumbest argument ever, and I don’t understand why it keeps getting brought up ever year.
Look. There is no reason any average sports fan outside of the region where ponds [might] actually freeze over should care about hockey. Hockey has always been a regional/niche sport and it always will be.
According to the Sports Business Journal, NHL revenue was up again last year. The NHL is not going to die.

This is the typical close-minded, anti-hockey fan argument, which is never objective. Hey Sean, don’t be a fan of the sport. We don’t care what you think.

Enjoy the NBA playoffs.

Hockey fans on here are saying who cares if it’s not popular nationwide, and shunning casual sports fans for being close-minded, etc. Hockey is clearly trying NOT to be a regional niche sport by having teams in the sunbelt. As for the “we don’t need you” argument, that’s the same as being a close-minded hockey hater; you’re just a close-minded hockey nut. Fact is, the NHL needs casual fans if it ever wants to reclaim being a major four sport. I don’t think the NHL or its fans should settle for being a regional niche sport, and they need to stop being in denial about needing casual fans.

I don’t think SeanMC is hating on hockey, it’s a great game, let’s turn this into constructive ideas about how we can fix this, not beat up each other.

Love the back and forth. Let’s cut through all the crap.

The fact of the matter is the NHL is not in as great a shape as some people point out on here and it’s not remotely close to being dead as Sean writes. Think it’s somewhere in the middle, closer to getting better than dying. The sport is still niche, but did have a great year and is rebounding nicely from the lockout - not as fast as some people would like, but is growing none the less.

I think most of Sean’s comments demonstrate that he’s uninformed, but if you read between the ignorance, you will find what I hope is the true nature of the piece - hockey still has a way to go to get back to where it was 15 years ago.

I agree with Marc James - we need constructive conversations on the topic, not stories like this that leave the sport out to die, which isn’t even close to being accurate.

I guess what I’m saying is that this article is some of the worst “journalism” I’ve seen in a long time, but hockey does still need to do a lot more work to build its fan base and appeal to the casual sports fan.

It’s bad journalism because you disagree with it. It’s an opinion piece. In my, and the bulk of the United States’ opinion (as is evident by the apathy towards the NHL playoffs) the NHL is struggling.

That said, I could have loaded the article with facts like the NHL on NBC has only pulled higher than a 1.1 rating ONCE. The XFL on NBC never pulled a rating lower than a 1.5. The NHL on NBC is averaging a 0.8 rating since the first game of the season, making it the least watched sport on a major network. Behind NASCAR, Golf, Tennis, and Professional Wrestling (on UPN).

To pick out the few local areas where the NHL is doing well is fine, but it’s a NATIONAL sport. Nationally, people don’t care. Attendance may be up, but I know plenty of people who would go to a game if given the chance. They still won’t watch it on TV. They still don’t care.

South of Canada, for the most part, people don’t care about hockey. It wasn’t always like this, but it is today.

All the insults, fact twisting, and bashing of the messenger isn’t going to change that.

What I wanted to do was start a discussion of the things the NHL needs to do to help save their sport. Market their players, who are generally good guys. Change some rules. Fix the officiating. What can they do?

That was what the purpose of this article was…

-Sean

Hey Sean -

Little defensive are we? The more you fight back, the more insecure you appear. If your article had merit, it would stand up for itself. Unfortunatley, it doesn’t.

The NHL is never going to get back to where it was 15 years ago. The average sports fan these days would rather watch NASCAR, golf, pro wrestling, or whatever. I don’t think that was true 15 years ago. Times have changed. ESPN used to care about hockey but, they’ve turned into hockey haters. Maybe if they had a share in the NHL they would care more.
And please stop comparing hockey ratings to the XFL. Football is king in this country and will always beat out everything. I thought the XFL was a dumb idea and I still watched it. It also didn’t have to compete with many other sports.
I think they’ve done a good job with the rule changes already. The games are back to being more exciting like before the trap era.

Yes the NHL needs casual fans. But, they aren’t going to come from places like Arkansas or Oregon. They’re going to come from places where its cold in the winter so kids can go out on the frozen pond and pretend to be Crosby or Ovechkin with their friends.
Here is what the NHL needs to do…
They need to contract and/or move teams to better locations.
Why contract? The talent is too spread out. More consolidated talent would generate much more exciting hockey.
The NHL needs to put or move a team to Milwaukee. Why? The Cheeseheads already love college hockey and would certainly support a pro team. It creates a natural rivalry with Minnesota, Chicago, and Detroit. There’s a whole state of fans just waiting. And they could even get Brett Favre to come out and drop the puck.
Columbus is a good example. Hockey seems to be doing well in Ohio, a state where not long ago people didn’t really know or care about hockey. [I should know. I grew up there.]
Where else? Canada. Put a few more teams in Canada. Bring a team back to Winnipeg. And didn’t they nearly sell out season tickets in Hamilton, Ontario just on the rumor the Nashville Predators were moving there. Canadians will pack the house…build it and they will come.

You know skiing and curling are never going to be popular in the south so, I don’t see why people think hockey could be. Winter sports need to focus on getting fans in areas where it actually is winter.

Consistency in the officiating, not from one game to another (though that would be swell), but within the same game should be of paramount importance to The League. Until the game is called consistently, and obvious blown calls such as what lead to the Fliers’ second goal last night (game 7 Caps/Flyers series) are no longer missed, The League will never be a first-tier league such as the NFL or MLB.

Sean, I don’t really care if hockey is the biggest sport. It’s the best sport.

You probably listen to Justin Timberlake because he sells a lot of records. That’s nice.

The NHL could do a much better job of marketing itself, but regardless, it’s by far the best sport going. And I really don’t care if people in Arkansas agree. They can have their race cars. I’ll take the NHL playoffs everytime.

Hockey is BORING. It’s like soccer, knock the puck up and down the ice, call icing every 30 seconds. Score 3 points a game. If they banned fighting the NHL would be rivaling Shuffle Board and Power Walking for the no.76 spot in the national interest. Without the US market it is doomed to the fate of the CFL, second rate. It’s popular in a tiny country population wise, and dwarfed by MLB, NFL, and NBA.