“Frozen Frenzy” - the NHL’s latest awful marketing attempt

[Sean Garrity]

My issue is why are there commercials. The whole point of NFL RedZone is 7 hours of commercial free football.

Agree!

I don’t get the complaints - you’re watching non-stop hockey highlights and quick analysis - I love it so far.

Agree!

The commercials are a problem for me. Part of what makes RedZone (which I'm a fan of) great is its 7 hours no ads. I'm also not really a fan of this Crew, Weekes is fine. The others I'm not digging.

That and I've got kind of a rooting interest in this Baseball game.

Weekes just seems like he’s trying wayyyyy too hard and it’s almost cringeworthy. Might be just me though.

 

[JKG33]

The commercials I understand. Red Zone is a subscription service but this is on TV. I don't like it, but I get it.

Gotta say I'm really enjoying this. I hope the NHL/ESPN continues with this anytime there's more than 10 or so games in a night. Especially with the staggered starts.

I will say I'm very disappointed as a Canadian paying out the ass for SN+. Those idiots can't even pick thus up, forcing me to find alternate ways to watch.

 

[Ezekial]

It's the internet. We all complain just to complain.

Speaking of which, they couldn't at least done this a week prior to the NBA starting or even waited a week or two later?

Speak for yourself chump.

 

[coolboarder]

If the NHL really want a frozen frenzy, host it in the New Years Day with all outdoor games for every NHL teams starting at noon ET and ending at 10 or 11pm ET/7-8PT. That will start few games starting once every half hour, giving one full devotion to each game for half hour and no commercial breaks. That is how you market the New Year's day with every games being outdoor. If it's intermission, no analysis, just straight to the other game that is on. Then once it's halfway, give every games a big intermission, no games being play and show all highlights from 8 outdoor games to show fans what's happening that they have missed. This is how I would market the big day on New Year's day with conflict with college football bowls. Higher chance of snowy game somewhere with this marketing.

 

[Brodeur]

Worked out well for me since I have a two TV setup. Had the primary TV on Devils/Habs and the secondary TV (on mute) had Frozen Frenzy. Kinda used to passively watching something on the other screen during whistles/commercials.

 

[S E P H]

I had fun watching it, definitely a success for me.

 

[Dynamite Time]

From a marketing take (like others have said) they could have spread the games out more on a Sat. or Sun. as well as had better matchups.

As an NHL fan I’ve loved it. Had the day off work today and have been watching hockey since 5 this afternoon with a 3rd period to go.

 

[DelZottoHitTheNetJK]

There are only three games starting before the usual time of 7 eastern, the earliest being 6 so I don't think the school/work thing is a big deal.

The bigger error is scheduling this against the opening night of the NBA season, plus a NLCS game 7 in baseball.

Yeah because they knew the NLCS was guaranteed to go to 7 games

 

[Brent Burns]

I thought it was dumb. Doesn’t make sense with a dynamic sport like hockey.
My guess is the biggest allure to people who enjoyed it was watching games from markets/channels they don’t subscribe to

 

[PunchImlach is Alive]

They should let the fans play

 

[RedRocking]

I thought it started off a little slow, but really picked up as the night went on, and it was ultimately a lot of fun. They lucked out with a lot of goals, lead changes, and some OT. Plus, I saw teams/players that I normally wouldn’t watch. I also like Weekes and Bucci, but understand why they may annoy some.

If you had someone that wasn’t a big hockey fan watch from like 6PT - 8:30PT tonight - I think they would get more excited about the sport, with all the offensive skill on display.

I could see this working ~ 4 times a year. Maybe pick some better days - weekends or around holidays.

 

[MikeyMike01]

My issue is why are there commercials. The whole point of NFL RedZone is 7 hours of commercial free football.

I had to change the channel. It was terminally dull to begin with, and then they throw commercial breaks in.

RedZone is must-watch TV. This isn’t worth anything.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

With 16 games on, I'm watching my team, and then 15 Sports Network highlight videos.

It's not for me, but I applaud the NHL and ESPN for trying to do something different, even if it is a Red Zone clone. Sounds like quite a few of you enjoyed it.

Just occurred to me - is this mostly for the betting crowd?

 

[Canucks LB]

I enjoyed it

 

[ElGuapo]

From a marketing take (like others have said) they could have spread the games out more on a Sat. or Sun. as well as had better matchups.

As an NHL fan I’ve loved it. Had the day off work today and have been watching hockey since 5 this afternoon with a 3rd period to go.

Spreading games out would make the "Frozen Frenzy" TV program less engaging.

With 16 games on, I'm watching my team, and then 15 Sports Network highlight videos.

It's not for me, but I applaud the NHL and ESPN for trying to do something different, even if it is a Red Zone clone. Sounds like quite a few of you enjoyed it.

Just occurred to me - is this mostly for the betting crowd?

It's for me (as is RedZone) and I have no interest in betting or fantasy sports.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

From a marketing take (like others have said) they could have spread the games out more on a Sat. or Sun. as well as had better matchups.

As an NHL fan I’ve loved it. Had the day off work today and have been watching hockey since 5 this afternoon with a 3rd period to go.

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw this after Football is over.

 

[AslanRH]

I think it was a good trial run.
For me it was too chaotic early and the crew [mostly Weekes] were trying too hard. Once there were fewer games going on, I think they found a food groove.

I think an 8 game slate with 30 minute gaps in start times would be better. Allows for a bit more time to sit in a game and get a feel for how it is going. Much like what NHL network already does.

 

[izlez]

Some of my thoughts:

-Just cut to a game and add a bit of context. Don't hint at what's going to happen. Let them go up and down the ice a few times so we don't know what team is about to score. Don't have Buccigross introduce it by saying "Vegas is on a powerplay here. Lets see what Alex Tuch can do..." 10 seconds before Alex Tuch scores a powerplay goal

-Goal reviews are not an entertaining part of hockey. This is your opportunity to skip it and let us know the outcome, not watch the refs debate a replay for 5 minutes.

-The most goals in a single day in the history of the NHL is a fun tidbit after the fact when it happens naturally. I don't care if you specifically scheduled more games than usual and you break it. It's not something to strive for.

-Overall this was entertaining and something I'd watch... if my team wasn't playing. If they did this like the last Tuesday of every month and had 10 games on, it would be something I would look forward to if my team wasn't playing in one of the 10 games. If they are playing, I'd rather just have all my focus on that

 

[goldnblack]

i turned it off in 60 seconds

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

The concept was fantastic. Execution wasn’t quite there.

- Way too much focus on ESPN and its hosts. I’m sorry but I don’t care about Bucci and Weekes. I definitely don’t care about tweets about Frozen Frenzy. Just cut to games, there should’ve been no interruptions.

- The whip around coverage wasn’t focused enough. Why are we not showing power plays, 4v4s, intense games? Felt a little lazy in terms of “ok flip to this one now”. I know hockey is faster than the NFL, but it can be done.

- Felt too much like NHL Network’s On the Fly coverage, which I like- but it’s not the same as uninterrupted whip around coverage.

It’s okay to fail though, especially your first time. Just need to learn from it. I think they could have a great product here with tweaks.

It’s harder with the smaller venues because of their other uses, but if I’m the NHL I am definitely exploring set dedicated days of the week like the NFL has.

 

[stealth1]

For me the worst part was went on SportsCenter after the games were over. This Frozen Frenzy was ESPN's idea to showcase the NHL. Yet when SportsCenter comes on it's not the lead story or secondary story. The NLCS and NBA are the least stories.

 

[Jersey Girl]

i turned it off in 60 seconds

I stopped reading your post after the word I

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

The commercials are a problem for me. Part of what makes RedZone (which I'm a fan of) great is its 7 hours no ads. I'm also not really a fan of this Crew, Weekes is fine. The others I'm not digging.

That and I've got kind of a rooting interest in this Baseball game.

RedZone is a subscription service, which is why there are no commercials.

It's like comparing watching a TV show on TNT vs. HBO.

For me the worst part was went on SportsCenter after the games were over. This Frozen Frenzy was ESPN's idea to showcase the NHL. Yet when SportsCenter comes on it's not the lead story or secondary story. The NLCS and NBA are the least stories.

As they should have been.

Hockey just got an 8 hour triple header on the main ESPN channel and a 5 hour whip around on their secondary channel for a random day of the regular season, and you think that isn't enough coverage?

 

[Waterbuf]

I'm not willing to agree that the concept was "fantastic". The concept is very obviously copied from RedZone, without any real thought devoted to adapting it to a completely different sport.

The execution was very poor.

At the end of the day, just watching a normal game is a far superior and more entertaining experience. Therefore, I think we can conclude that this was a complete failure.

 

[MikeyMike01]

RedZone is a subscription service, which is why there are no commercials.

It's like comparing watching a TV show on TNT vs. HBO.

What? RedZone and ESPN have the exact same business model here.