Ed Snider: "We will have another cable network other than ESPN."

[Montrealer]

What you guys are talking about with spike tv and the like is mickey mouse.

Of course, the Devils were called Mickey Mouse once....

 

[Rails]

Mickey Mouse owns ESPN

 

[LadyStanley]

and following the game, they could just go to the local sports news. In my opinion (maybe its different in other areas), FSN does a great job with their local hockey broadcasts and this could be translated to success at a national level.

What? Pre-empt TBDSHP? Don't think that'll happen.

 

[Trizent]

I don't know if this has been posted in this thread or not, but FSSW has contracted with Dallas to carry 75 of their games each of the next 9 seasons.

That is a regional deal ... separate from national cable deal.

 

[Slapshot17]

I'm hoping ESPN picks up the NHL again. Cause if they don't where ****ed downunder.

I don't know how bad it will be because one of the Sky Sports Channels may pick up some NHL games off whatever cable network broadcasts it in NZ, and most likely Fox Sports 1, or 2 would broadcast a few games here in Oz.

Still hoping the broadcast the games online, so I can just stream them similar to the MLB.tv package.

 

[Emerald City Bruin]

What? Pre-empt TBDSHP? Don't think that'll happen.

Bart: What's that extra B for?
Homer: That's a typo.

Maybe TBDSSP?

 

[Slapshot17]

Spike just signed a deal with TNA. I don't think the NHL wants to go with Spike.

TNA will only be on Saturday nights at 10 p.m. before Ultimate fighter. It's no big deal, the NHL would still be the main sport on that channel, and would get all the promotion. I think a Saturday Night and Midweek game could work really well for Spike. Let them promote the game make it better, and then let ESPN come crawling back in a few years.

 

[futurcorerock]

Huh? See the ratings lately? The league averaged a .47 on ESPN last year. The freakin' WNBA does better. The NHL has fallen into the realm of MLS and women's college basketball. It would be the marquee programming on Pax TV and that's about it.

Right. Why is this?

They're competing directly with other sports. the NHL isn't going to come back if they're fighting for airtime with the WNBA. Putting them on another network increases their exposure to a specified demographic and ensures that the league will be able to properly market itself.

 

[Shizuka]

You fellow hockey fans down in the States have a better handle on which networks are best situated to promote and broadcast the games in the American market. As a Canuck I didn't get to see the much "vaunted" presentation of NHL games by ESPN, but on a whole I think it is just best to move on and find a new broadcast partner willing to commit itself to marketing the game in partnership with the NHL, to see it grow in key markets down south. Let's face it, no matter how popular it is up in Canada the U.S. is the area where the game absolutely has to push forward or it will be forever relegated to a fringe sport status as it is now.

Maybe at one point ESPN did a great job and was trying its best to expose the game, but with the .47 viewing share that it drew, I'm not surprised ESPN dropped it. So be it. Let's get on with it and pick up someone else who is showing the willingness and competency to promote the game in the U.S.

 

[MisterUnspoken]

they would show one or two games a week and maybe on ESPN8.

The OCHO!!!

 

[NJD Jester]

The NHL needs to BEG Espn to take back hockey. What you guys are talking about with spike tv and the like is mickey mouse. ESPN had the coverage, the HDTV, and the comedic brilliance of one Barry Melrose.

The Mullet will find his way to whatever network grabs the NHL. And hopefully that network will have the good sense to lose Darren Pang's resume.

 

[KFC]

I hope that spike doesn't end up televising games, personally i thought espn did a good job of broadcasting the games, it was just everything else they did with hockey sucked like NHL 2night and that stuff. But if you guys thought espn was bad imagine what hockey on spike is going to be like its going to be absolutley terrible, i think it will be just as bad or even worse than FOX was and FOX was really bad.

 

[ScottyBowman]

I hope that spike doesn't end up televising games, personally i thought espn did a good job of broadcasting the games, it was just everything else they did with hockey sucked like NHL 2night and that stuff. But if you guys thought espn was bad imagine what hockey on spike is going to be like its going to be absolutley terrible, i think it will be just as bad or even worse than FOX was and FOX was really bad.

The sad part is people saying things like "yeah guys they can cross promote it with wrestling" PATHETIC!

 

[NJD Jester]

The sad part is people saying things like "yeah guys they can cross promote it with wrestling" PATHETIC!

No offense, Scotty, but who do you think is watching hockey?

And considering the ratings professional wrestling gets, the NHL could do a lot worse. Would you rather it cross-promote with CSPAN's BookTV?

 

[CarlRacki]

No offense, Scotty, but who do you think is watching hockey?

And considering the ratings professional wrestling gets, the NHL could do a lot worse. Would you rather it cross-promote with CSPAN's BookTV?

Yes. I'd rather hockey not appeal to the lowest common denominator of society. And if you believe surveys that show that hockey has one of the more, if not most, affluent fan bases of any sport out there, then it doesn't. That's a good thing.

 

[NJD Jester]

Yes. I'd rather hockey not appeal to the lowest common denominator of society. And if you believe surveys that show that hockey has one of the more, if not most, affluent fan bases of any sport out there, then it doesn't. That's a good thing.

So wrestling fans are, by and large, not affluent. Is this your thesis?

I know what wrestling fans typically are: Young. And the NHL needs to do whatever it can do to attract new generations of fans.

 

[GagneScores12]

When are people going to realize that hockey is not a national sport in the U.S.? Hockey is a regional sport that does really well in specific areas. What the NHL needs to do is market it regionally first. Get firm footholds in the areas where it's struggling first before going for a national contract. If they can secure several regional TV deals that would equal what a national tv contract would pay, that would be the smart way to do it. From there, they need people who can really sell the game to the people in areas where hockey isn't popular. Make it fun, ensure that there is fan interaction. That's the big problem with hockey right now. It isn't really fan friendly when you compare it to other sports. IF, and that's a big IF, the NHL can find a way to bridge the gap between the sport and potential fans, they can make some big headway. But there isn't a genuine interest on the league's part to do that.

If I were commissioner, the first thing I would do once the lockout is resolved, I'd take a pannel of all the young stars the NHL has and I'd market the hell out of them. Get them out to fan forums. Have meet and greets. Go to the networks and bring these players with you (at least two to three young players from each team), market the NHL on speed, finesse, offensive ability. Get these players out to door to door campaigns in their respective cities. Just make sure that the future of the sport is involved around their respective cities. That's the only way to start building the sport again.

From there, I'd look at a grassroots campaign. Hockey in the inner cities throughout the Eastern Seaboard right through to the west coast. Get these players involved with stuff like that. But, that would take a hockey mind to think of something like that. And until the NHL realizes that they don't need just a businessman to run the league, they need a hockey man to run the league, they'll just never get it. And that's why the NHL will always remain a bush league in the U.S.

 

[CarlRacki]

So wrestling fans are, by and large, not affluent. Is this your thesis?

I know what wrestling fans typically are: Young. And the NHL needs to do whatever it can do to attract new generations of fans.

In that case, why not female players in bikinis? Folding chairs during fights? Hip-hop intros at every line change? Refs who just happen to look the wrong way at key moments? And, most importantly, a national broadcast team of "Mean" Gene Okerlund and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan?

No, the NHL shouldn't do whatever it can to attract a new generation of fans. Want to know how to attract fans? Put a quality, exciting product on the ice. Make attending the games affordable for families. Seek maximum exposure on television. Partner with major and innovative corporations like Nike and Miller. That's how you get fans.

 

[GagneScores12]

In that case, why not female players in bikinis?

I could go for that. Maybe even a few wet t-shirt contests down at center ice where it's nice and cold.....

Folding chairs during fights? Hip-hop intros at every line change? Refs who just happen to look the wrong way at key moments? And, most importantly, a national broadcast team of "Mean" Gene Okerlund and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan?

Folding chairs would be awesome. Let's have a bloodbath. I could care less about the hip-hop intros. Make it Slipknot or Pantera and you've got something. It's funny you mention the refs looking away at key moments because they do that in the game right now. As for Bobby Heenan, he's always good for a zinger or two.

No, the NHL shouldn't do whatever it can to attract a new generation of fans. Want to know how to attract fans? Put a quality, exciting product on the ice. Make attending the games affordable for families. Seek maximum exposure on television. Partner with major and innovative corporations like Nike and Miller. That's how you get fans.

The problem is that the NHL is boring. Their marketing incentives lack creativity. The onice product is crap simply because neutered zone crap hockey has become the norm for the league. As well, when you speak out in disregard of the league, you get fined for speaking the truth. Nobody wants to be held accountable for how horrible the product has become and while there are all these committees "dedicated" to improving the on ice product, someone needs to grow a set of brass ones and take some kind of leadership in terms of saying "yes, we're going to improve the product so that it is the game that you all can enjoy. It's going to be all about speed and skill and toughness once again, not about coaching systems designed to interfere, clutch, grab, hook, hold and impede a player's ability to play the game." Until someone steps forward and says that they'll be that person, the game will unfortunately remain the same stale and stagnant game it's become.

 

[NJD Jester]

In that case, why not female players in bikinis? Folding chairs during fights? Hip-hop intros at every line change? Refs who just happen to look the wrong way at key moments? And, most importantly, a national broadcast team of "Mean" Gene Okerlund and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan?

I don't think anyone is advocating turning the NHL into professional wrestling. Although I'd take "Mean" Gene over "Centering Feed" Levy any day.

 

[GSC2k2*]

Yes. I'd rather hockey not appeal to the lowest common denominator of society. And if you believe surveys that show that hockey has one of the more, if not most, affluent fan bases of any sport out there, then it doesn't. That's a good thing.

Lowest common denominator? I am a 42 year old corporate lawyer who is a huge wrestling fan. Am I the lowest common denominator to which you refer? What's more, I have known many others like me who are huge wrestling fans. Them too, I guess?

Yours is a typically snobbish reaction. There are those who would think hockey fans, with their bloodlust for fighting and attraction to a brutish sport filled with thugs and enforcers, are the lowest common denominator. I do not hold that view myself, since I don't judge people on what athletci endeavours they follow, but there are those who hold that view.

Incidentally, you would be surprised at the wrestling demographics. Last time I checked, wrestling fans are pretty well educated, with a significant number of college graduates (higher than the population), and of above average income.

 

[CarlRacki]

Lowest common denominator? I am a 42 year old corporate lawyer who is a huge wrestling fan. Am I the lowest common denominator to which you refer? What's more, I have known many others like me who are huge wrestling fans. Them too, I guess?

Yours is a typically snobbish reaction. There are those who would think hockey fans, with their bloodlust for fighting and attraction to a brutish sport filled with thugs and enforcers, are the lowest common denominator. I do not hold that view myself, since I don't judge people on what athletci endeavours they follow, but there are those who hold that view.

Incidentally, you would be surprised at the wrestling demographics. Last time I checked, wrestling fans are pretty well educated, with a significant number of college graduates (higher than the population), and of above average income.

You're labeling someone snobbish? Now THAT'S funny.

To answer your question, it would indeed seem your tastes do run to the lowest common denominator. I mean, let's face it: steroid-laden men running around in tights pretending to be outrageous characters while pummeling one another with metal chairs isn't exactly high art.
Of course, neither is hockey or any other professional sport. But at least sport has some redeeming value in that it's the world's greatest athletes going head-to-head in real competition. It's not make believe. It's not scripted. It's not acted. And it doesn't use gratuitous sex and phony violence as its primary means of entertaining its audience.

FWIW, the WWE's research (which I'll assume is more real than their matches) indicates 30 percent of it's fan base is college educated. That compares to 49 percent for the NHL, 47 percent for the NFL and 46 percent for MLB. Let's just say that in a game of College Bowl I'm not betting on the WWE team.

 

[ScottyBowman]

Lowest common denominator? I am a 42 year old corporate lawyer who is a huge wrestling fan. Am I the lowest common denominator to which you refer? What's more, I have known many others like me who are huge wrestling fans. Them too, I guess?

Yours is a typically snobbish reaction. There are those who would think hockey fans, with their bloodlust for fighting and attraction to a brutish sport filled with thugs and enforcers, are the lowest common denominator. I do not hold that view myself, since I don't judge people on what athletci endeavours they follow, but there are those who hold that view.

Incidentally, you would be surprised at the wrestling demographics. Last time I checked, wrestling fans are pretty well educated, with a significant number of college graduates (higher than the population), and of above average income.

'
Are you kidding me? Pretty well educated. I'm about to be an engineer in a year and hang out with engineers every day and none of them have said they watched wrestling or even talked about wrestling. Basketball? Yes Football? Yes Hockey? Yes WWF? NO WAY. Carl is right. Wrestling is pure redneck trailer trash. Yeah their are some people that are college educated but to say that wrestling fans are pretty well educated is LAUGHABLE.

Back to the topic. It is not a good idea to associate wrestling with hockey. People already think hockey is a joke but we can turn it around. Spiketv and the wwf is not the answer.

 

[NJD Jester]

'
Wrestling is pure redneck trailer trash.

Obviously you never had the pleasure of watching a hockey game at the old Cap Centre in Landover, Md.

 

[ScottyBowman]

Obviously you never had the pleasure of watching a hockey game at the old Cap Centre in Landover, Md.

Don't get me wrong, their is a trailer trash following of hockey in Detroit too.