Confirmed with Link: Molson Wants the Habs to Play Games in Paris - Possiblilty 2025-2026 Season

[vokiel]

Real dumb, not even a hockey country. Australia was dumb as well...

Might as well play games in Morocco.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

They want to do what the NFL has been doing for the past 10 years, it's all very much a prestige/image thing. For what it's worth, hockey is more of an actual ''global'' sport to begin with than american football is. I can see the logic behind it on a marketing level

 

[LaP]

American foot ball is very much a regional sports outside of the super bowl.

 

[GordonGraham]

90%+ of the crowd will be Quebecers who live in France

 

[BLONG7]

Stupid idea.................then again it comes from a dumb-a$$ who kept Bergevin and Therrien around too long, so no surprise there I guess.

Did I mention this is stupid?
Mol$on...............Brutal.

 

[vokiel]

90%+ of the crowd will be Quebecers who live in France

Doubtful, there aren't that many...

Specially in Paris.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

I wouldn’t go to France for any reason

 

[McGuires Corndog]

They would probably have more financial success playing in New Orleans, if we’re just doing this because of the language.

No one gives a flying… about hockey in France.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Real dumb, not even a hockey country. Australia was dumb as well...

Might as well play games in Morocco.

Stupid idea.................then again it comes from a dumb-a$$ who kept Bergevin and Therrien around too long, so no surprise there I guess.

Did I mention this is stupid?
Mol$on...............Brutal.

...why is it dumb?

The NHL (and hockey in general) is slipping in popularity in the US. Hockey fans skew older (but more willing to spend). The NHL has a more international brand than other sports and hasn't done a ton to tap into that.

Demand for the global series has grown based on ticket sales (Australia was pretty successful considering it was preseason) and Paris is a logical market for the Canadiens to be interested in internationally.

A lot of sports nowadays is making more "events". You either try to make events that "mean something" (like the NBA's in-season tournament) or you go for novelty. This makes a ton of sense.

 

[Team_Spirit]

2 Habbies in Paris

 

[vokiel]

...why is it dumb?

The NHL (and hockey in general) is slipping in popularity in the US. Hockey fans skew older (but more willing to spend). The NHL has a more international brand than other sports and hasn't done a ton to tap into that.

Demand for the global series has grown based on ticket sales (Australia was pretty successful considering it was preseason) and Paris is a logical market for the Canadiens to be interested in internationally.

A lot of sports nowadays is making more "events". You either try to make events that "mean something" (like the NBA's in-season tournament) or you go for novelty. This makes a ton of sense.

It's dumb because the NHL will always be located in North America only. If you want to attract players, and not spectators, then I would argue that games aren't the right marketing event to do.

We should have rookie camps in Europe for that no?

Edit: Same reason the NFL stopped doing exhibition games in Europe. It was never going to achieve anything.

 

[Captain Mountain]

It's dumb because the NHL will always be located in North America only. If you want to attract players, and not spectators, then I would argue that games aren't the right marketing event to do.

We should have rookie camps in Europe for that no?

I'm not sure why that matters. The NBA benefits a lot from its international presence, as does the NFL. Even the MLB gets a boost from its international presence (although not to the same degree). All are only ever located in NA.

The fact that the NHL is still a more gate driven league is a problem, especially with the profile of hockey fans. As streaming and sports gambling continue to become a bigger part of the pie, expanding markets and reaching new audiences is going to be more and more important. A lot of money in sports right now isn't even the games itself, its the betting and the drama sports generates.

 

[vokiel]

I'm not sure why that matters. The NBA benefits a lot from its international presence, as does the NFL. Even the MLB gets a boost from its international presence (although not to the same degree). All are only ever located in NA.

The fact that the NHL is still a more gate driven league is a problem, especially with the profile of hockey fans. As streaming and sports gambling continue to become a bigger part of the pie, expanding markets and reaching new audiences is going to be more and more important. A lot of money in sports right now isn't even the games itself, its the betting and the drama sports generates.

Your first paragraph contradicts the second one. Gate revenue is still the standard.

The issue is the marketing is bullshit. It won't give you a significantly bigger return on investment passed your actual local communities. That's the reason why the NFL stopped doing those. That's also the reason the league polices new franchises' territories vehemently.

 

[1909]

A outdoor night game under La Tour Eiffel ....

No. On the Seine River.....

 

[Cournoyer12]

Not sure how much interest Paris has in hockey and NHL hockey.

About as much as Arizona!

 

[Captain Mountain]

Your first paragraph contradicts the second one. Gate revenue is still the standard.

The issue is the marketing is bullshit. It won't give you a significantly bigger return on investment passed your actual local communities. That's the reason why the NFL stopped doing those. That's also the reason the league polices new franchises' territories vehemently.

No it doesn't. Just because a business earns money one way now doesn't mean it will 20 years from now. That way of thinking is one of the things that has hurt the NHL.

The marketing isn't bullshit, its just not important on a team level, but on a league level. Which is where the business actually is. The Canadiens and Kings aren't in competition in business as much as the NHL and MLS are.

That's the reason that the NFL hasn't stopped "doing those", with games on tap this year for Sao Paulo, London (Hotspur Stadium and Wembly) and Munich, with Madrid already announced for 2025. That's the reason NBA teams aggressively market to different markets and why smart teams target international markets to get around local territories.

Of things to complain about, this is incredibly low down on the list.

 

[dinodebino]

Bercy will be packed.

 

[Ezpz]

Sacrebleu.

 

[HuGo Sham]

Doubtful, there aren't that many...

Specially in Paris.

wondering how many of you have actually been to Paris lately.
Anyway, there's far more Parisians in Montreal now than vice versa.
I get the Paris link but maybe Slovakia would make sense too.

 

[viceroy]

The bedbugs are great though…

Cooked in butter? Isn't that the secret of all French cuisine?

No, one trip to Paris was enough for me. I was 13 and I almost got into a fight with a clerk from a Money Exchange counter at Charles-De-Gaulle. He tried to short change me.

...why is it dumb?

The NHL (and hockey in general) is slipping in popularity in the US.

Aren't ALL pro sports declining in popularity in the West? Most of Gen Z don't give a smeg about the NHL, the NBA, ...

 

[vokiel]

wondering how many of you have actually been to Paris lately.
Anyway, there's far more Parisians in Montreal now than vice versa.
I get the Paris link but maybe Slovakia would make sense too.

I've not been there in several years. I was 6 or 7 IIRC last time. The point is there are limited to no gains playing there, because they care far more about PSG than some fringe sport known as hockey.

 

[CanadienShark]

wondering how many of you have actually been to Paris lately.
Anyway, there's far more Parisians in Montreal now than vice versa.
I get the Paris link but maybe Slovakia would make sense too.

Around a month ago myself. I don't see it working there.

 

[TRG]

Wait, what? He was calling out the French for having prejudices against the Québécois. Which is simply true. I don't know if you've ever spoken French with someone from France, but it's a f***ing annoying experience when you have a Québécois accent.

The idiotic thing is that accents are simply something you pick up culturally when you're young and learning your mother tongue. All the French I've met try to correct the different pronunciations as if their way of speaking is the correct and only way. Even the traveling Frenchmen are the same and have no tolerance for cultural idiosyncrasies. Yes, I know, I'm generalizing slightly.

Funny, I went to France last year and the French people I met only had positive comments about my QC accent.

What I'm saying is anecdotes don't belong in a debate.

 

[MonkeyBusiness]

Funny, I went to France last year and the French people I met only had positive comments about my QC accent.

What I'm saying is anecdotes don't belong in a debate.

You're right, I should have searched on scholar.google.ca to find erudite academic papers on why some French people are condescending towards the Québécois accent. Or maybe the discussion isn't that serious and anecdotes are all we have to go by? It doesn't mean I dislike the French, I dislike it when some try to correct my pronunciation or choice of words.

 

[_vivelequebec_]

Given the length of the schedule, I don't care about that. And by the way, hockey is far less popular worldwide than baseball and basketball. It's a good thing to hit Europe in October. Last thing, some people care about hockey in France. 18 686 persons played the sport in 2022.