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

[Ezekial]

For me it was a success, although I don't enjoy the cool lingo Weekes and Bucci inject into everything they do I can put up with it well enough.

I liked having the Wings game on my main screen and the Frenzy on the off screen on mute during the broadcast.

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

Holy moly, Tuch scored a PP goal in Las Vegas all the way from Ottawa?!

 

[missionAvs]

Yeah the whole thing happening on a Tuesday is grade school level incompetence. Do it again but on a Saturday/Sunday and have some of these games start earlier in the day and the later ones into the evening/night. That would be immeasurably better than what we got.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

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

Maybe now through Youtube or wherever people get it. For years when it was run through Directv you had to pay extra for it.

 

[izlez]

For me it was a success, although I don't enjoy the cool lingo Weekes and Bucci inject into everything they do I can put up with it well enough.

I liked having the Wings game on my main screen and the Frenzy on the off screen on mute during the broadcast.


Holy moly, Tuch scored a PP goal in Las Vegas all the way from Ottawa?!

lol, whoops. I guess all those games going back and forth messed with me a bit

 

[TheBeard]

I immensely enjoyed it. It was constant action and just enough banter in between to distract you.

For those wondering why it was a Tuesday and not, say a Friday or Saturday, it's simply because it was done to get casual viewers.

 

[MikeyMike01]

Maybe now through Youtube or wherever people get it. For years when it was run through Directv you had to pay extra for it.

I think you’re confusing RedZone with Sunday Ticket.

 

[RANDOMH3RO]

I'm pretty sure there is nobody "super upset" at this. It's a chat board. Just discussing ideas to make it better. Though, now it looks like you're "super upset" that anyone dares to question the league's marketing...so who knows?

I just find it to be an annoying personality trait when someone has zero insight into a situation, thinks about it for 5 seconds and their only thought is “there must be a better way, are they too stupid to realize??” Maybe someone in the know actually thought of that as well and then realized it isn’t feasible for whatever reason. Or maybe Joe Blow on hfboards is actually a much better thinker on these things than the many people and moving parts that were considered to make this happen. I don’t know.

 

[Elvs]

Absolutely hated that the highlights from last night (the all goals video on NHL.com) had all the highlights in random order. I hope it's related to this "frozen frenzy" thing and not something that's gonna continue every night. It was impossible to keep track of the scores.

 

[Team_Spirit]

How can someone with a carebears avatar be so jaded?

Weird

 

[Evergreen]

NHL Tonight on NHL Network is legitimately better than the Frozen Frenzy. Have some guys at a desk discussing the games going on that night, pop in for some live looks, and show highlights. That’s all you need.

Having two games on the screen at once is too much. And having guys in studio commentating over the in-game commentators for minutes on end is auditory overload.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

I just find it to be an annoying personality trait when someone has zero insight into a situation, thinks about it for 5 seconds and their only thought is “there must be a better way, are they too stupid to realize??” Maybe someone in the know actually thought of that as well and then realized it isn’t feasible for whatever reason. Or maybe Joe Blow on hfboards is actually a much better thinker on these things than the many people and moving parts that were considered to make this happen. I don’t know.

I do see where you're coming from, but that is basically what a chat board is...A bunch of fans (not experts) sharing their opinions.

 

[kingsholygrail]

It's neat. Not subscribe to ESPN+ neat.

 

[RANDOMH3RO]

I do see where you're coming from, but that is basically what a chat board is...A bunch of fans (not experts) sharing their opinions.

I appreciate the desire to make the nhl into a perfectly run machine. I think they did a decent job yesterday, and all season so far. They seem like they’re really trying to open up broadcasts to the new fan. Just feels a little unfair to shit on something that was overall a positive thing.

 

[Jersey Girl]

I do see where you're coming from, but that is basically what a chat board is...A bunch of fans (not experts) sharing their opinions.

I share RANDOMH3RO’s sentiment - even tho he’s a Devil fan lol.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course, but so many came into this thread to state how the NHL is a bunch of morons for doing this when they did it or how they did it. Or even that they tried to do it in the first place.

I mean, look at the title of the thread. A lot of people decided it was awful before it even started. There is no perfect time to did this. They tried it once, and hopefully they’ll try it again because we enjoyed something different for a change.

 

[Fantomas]

Love having a crapload of NHL hockey one day and then almost nothing the next. I love it.

And by love it I mean that I hate it.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

I share RANDOMH3RO’s sentiment - even tho he’s a Devil fan lol.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course, but so many came into this thread to state how the NHL is a bunch of morons for doing this when they did it or how they did it. Or even that they tried to do it in the first place.

I mean, look at the title of the thread. A lot of people decided it was awful before it even started. There is no perfect time to did this. They tried it once, and hopefully they’ll try it again because we enjoyed something different for a change.

I do agree that most of us aren't marketing executives, but I think a discussion of opinions with backup (ie, not just "this sucks") is why we're here.

For example, I do think it's a good idea to market a full slate of games, but I would think it would have been better to have it on a weekend or holiday and include mostly day games spread throughout the day. This way, families and kids, who the NHL (and all sports leagues) desperately needs to connect with, can attend. Maybe include ticket incentives or sales just for that one day so larger families can all enjoy.

 

[ElGuapo]

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

Agree to not spoil what's about to happen.

i turned it off in 60 seconds

Then why'd you turn it on in the first place?

 

[ElGuapo]

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.

Complete failure is a bizarre take and I don't believe that you didn't have that last sentence written up before the show. The concept IS fantastic. RedZone is a fantastic concept and this being copied has no bearing on it being fantastic or not. They need to improve the execution. This was basically a trial run, so if they do it again they can work on improving the execution.

Yeah the whole thing happening on a Tuesday is grade school level incompetence. Do it again but on a Saturday/Sunday and have some of these games start earlier in the day and the later ones into the evening/night. That would be immeasurably better than what we got.

Again someone missing the point of what this is. It's a frenzy of games not a bunch of games spread out all day. The point is to have a lot of stuff to cut back and forth to.

 

[ElGuapo]

I do agree that most of us aren't marketing executives, but I think a discussion of opinions with backup (ie, not just "this sucks") is why we're here.

For example, I do think it's a good idea to market a full slate of games, but I would think it would have been better to have it on a weekend or holiday and include mostly day games spread throughout the day. This way, families and kids, who the NHL (and all sports leagues) desperately needs to connect with, can attend. Maybe include ticket incentives or sales just for that one day so larger families can all enjoy.

They could have a day where they have a full slate spread out all day. But that wouldn't be "Frozen Frenzy." The point of Frozen Frenzy was to have a lot of games happening at the same time and "RedZone" it.

I think you’re confusing RedZone with Sunday Ticket.

There were (until this season) two Red Zone/RedZone shows. One (the original I believe) done by DirecTV and another (the one still around) directly by the NFL as it's own premium channel. Either way both are things that don't need commercials like ESPN does because customers are paying extra for them in one way or another.

 

[Salsa Shark]

NHL fans are such whiners. I watched the Rangers, checking in on the Devils and Islanders like I usually do when they're all playing at the same time which seems to happen 30+ times a season.

 

[Golden_Jet]

It’s a crappy attempt at trying to be the nfl except the nfl plays once a week so it doesn’t work at all.

NFL doesn’t have start times every 15 minutes, not sure what you’re saying.

 

[MessierII]

NFL doesn’t have start times every 15 minutes, not sure what you’re saying.

They are trying to mimic nfl sundays.

 

[Golden_Jet]

They are trying to mimic nfl sundays.

No their not , NFL doesn’t have staggered starts.

 

[MessierII]

No their not , NFL doesn’t have staggered starts.

Lol come on dude.

 

[Rob Brown]

It was very disappointing that it wasn't available in Canada at all. I don't even think Sportsnet had a nationally broadcast game on until like 9:00 and it was on SN360.