Isles' Wang investing for ice hockey in China

[Hasbro]

Hell if China had the notion to it could order its citzens to become hockey fans.

 

[weezman]

To kind of exapnd on what I said after reading discostu. Hockey has grown in popularity in northern China. Their problem has been getting money to expand it. The problem as I understood it was more political than anything else. They can't convince people to front the cash necessary to expand the sport. I have heard of/read about packed houses and strong support for teams in the north though.

 

[Kimi]

People are saying if you get half a percent of the people in China interested that's a hugh number of people. But you're forgetting that it's going to take HUGH amount of money to market to as you have to market it to so many people. I think money would be better of spent in smaller countires first.

Market it alot in the UK for example. We've already got an Elitie league set up, but it's not as good as it could be. Market it add kids, give them equpment to play the game. Money spend here could get the whole country going at once. Young guys join teams, a few year later get a decent national side. You've then got the ball rolling and can go on to the next country, like France or Italy.

Not too long ago Germany was a nothing nation in the world of hockey, a similar level to that of the UK. They spent money and now have a good league and are starting to get players into the NHL. I don't see why it won't work in other places.

 

[vexXed]

People are saying if you get half a percent of the people in China interested that's a hugh number of people. But you're forgetting that it's going to take HUGH amount of money to market to as you have to market it to so many people. I think money would be better of spent in smaller countires first.

Market it alot in the UK for example. We've already got an Elitie league set up, but it's not as good as it could be. Market it add kids, give them equpment to play the game. Money spend here could get the whole country going at once. Young guys join teams, a few year later get a decent national side. You've then got the ball rolling and can go on to the next country, like France or Italy.

Not too long ago Germany was a nothing nation in the world of hockey, a similar level to that of the UK. They spent money and now have a good league and are starting to get players into the NHL. I don't see why it won't work in other places.

I agree that it will cost more to market hockey in China, but I'm guessing the prices to do so are much cheaper anyway. Either way it is a risk but I think with the numbers, the tradeoff is worth it.

I was at school and university in Scotland and no one gives a stuff about hockey in the U.K. It's all about the football. I was shocked to see so much violent loyalty for these crappy football teams. Just an excuse to act like arses as these people have nothing else to do with their lives. All money is spent on football and they still aren't any good at it. No offense to football lovers, but I hate all the yobbishness associated with the game. I used to love football then found that there were so many idiots in the UK that use the sport as an excuse to be twats, and it was getting that way with hockey over there. Also, I HATE divers, and there seem to be more and more of them in football but I digress.

I went to a few of the Elite league games as we had a fundraising agreement with Scott Neil, GM of the Caps in Edinburgh, to help out our university club. It seems that the existing fans are very passionate about the game, but they are far too few in number. I rememeber trying to recruit new players or even just get a few of them to the games at discounted prices. My mate and I went round the entire halls of residence. Only 3 guys bought tickets and no one wanted to try it out. Our whole team was made up of guys that had played in Juniors or had prior experience, except perhaps 2 complete beginners from the previous year.

Then there was the problem of politics involved with the players, their parents and coaches. If the face fits, then you get ice time. It seemed that the powers that be were content with being where they were in regards to how many teams there were. Our uni team got so much crap cause they hated we existed. They hated we were all studying for degrees and they hated we were half decent at hockey too. These kind of people don't want to expand hockey in the UK, which is a shame, cause there just aren't enough British born players in the NHL and there should be.

I didn't see any serious effort to market the game in the UK at all. I wish more money would be spent on promoting it there, but that doesn't mean that you should not promote it in China to do so.

 

[Tyrolean]

This would make Dave Bidini proud.

I remember when everyone laughed about 20 years ago when China first started sending over figure skaters, divers, and others in sports where they traditionally had no participation. At this year's Olympic games in figure skating, the Chinese had a phenomenal showing-- NBC even dug out clips of those first few souls who paved the way. They said all they had was video clips to watch and from which to learn.

Think about it. 1.3 billion people. The upside is huge, and you only have to garner a 1% interest to still get some big, BIG numbers. That's the 'mystique' of China.

Not everybody laughed 20 years ago. China is a well respected country with many great achievements. Hockey unfortunately is a neglected sport and only popular in the North. Soccer( Football), table tennis and many other athletics are far more impotant to them.