NHL possibly getting bumped for a WNBA game

[joelef]

March Madness is popular. The WNBA is not.

And yet an nhl playofd is getting bumped for it.

 

[tarheelhockey]

In the United States, hockey is not the 4th major sport. NASCAR and college football/basketball are more popular than the NHL. The NHL is slightly more popular than the UFC, but less popular than women's college basketball.

The most popular U.S. sports leagues to watch​

#	Answer	Answer %
1	Football, NFL (National Football League)	65%
2	Basketball, NBA (National Basketball Association)	51%
3	Baseball, MLB (Major League Baseball)	42%
4	Football, NCAA College Football	30%
5	Basketball, NCAA College Basketball (Men's and Women's)	25%
6	Auto racing, NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)	24%
7	Hockey, NHL (National Hockey League)	20%
8	Auto racing, F1 (Formula 1)	17%
9	Combat Sports, UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)	17%
10	Combat Sports, Bellator MMA (Bellator Mixed Martial Arts)	13%
11	Basketball, WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association)	12%
12	Soccer, MLS (Major League Soccer)	12%

NASCAR is not more popular than hockey in the USA.

College football and basketball are not counted separately than pro football and basketball when people say “big 4 sports”.

 

[Grifter3511]

As an old-timer, I have some natural reticence to all these newfangled leagues, but have come to recognize that sky-high ticket prices and media oversaturation have tuned out a lot of folks to particular sports and so I guess it is natural that some of the newer sports will gain a foothold.

Soccer doesn't surprise me because it has spread like wildfire at the youth level. Maybe somebody else can look up the stats, but it would not come as a shock if soccer at the youth level has now surpassed the traditional sports of baseball, football and basketball.

Definitely the cheapest sport to play. I remember as a kid, if we had a soccer ball we could make nets out of anything. Hell, put two rocks far enough apart, or grab some chalk and draw a box on the wall. Grass, concrete, gravel, it didn't matter what the surface was. Basketball is probably the next closest in 'ease of play' but even it is slightly more limited (various surfaces aren't as forgiving, recreating a basket or target not quite as simple/satisfying as make shift soccer ones).

 

[lakeshirts37]

Its a once a generation player. everyone will go back to not caring about the wnba soon enough

 

[joelef]

Its a once a generation player. everyone will go back to not caring about the wnba soon enough

You mean like how no one care about the nhl once in a generation player?

 

[bleedgreen]

I’m glad we’re going to keep adding teams. Hell, let’s make the season longer while we’re at it.

 

[joelef]

NASCAR is not more popular than hockey in the USA.

College football and basketball are not counted separately than pro football and basketball when people say “big 4 sports”.

With nil they basically are professional

 

[12ozPapa]

The NHL is on most nights, a total snoozefest, so this isn’t surprising

 

[HBK27]

And yet an nhl playofd is getting bumped for it.

It's not a matter of "NHL Playoffs" getting bumped for "Regular Season WNBA game", but a unique circumstance of the best/most popular women's college basketball player ever (perhaps the most popular woman's college athlete ever) making her professional debut while still being at the height of her popularity.

Not like it's some random WNBA game. Still a long, long ways to go before the average WNBA game can compete with the average NHL game.

 

[joelef]

It's not a matter of "NHL Playoffs" getting bumped for "Regular Season WNBA game", but a unique circumstance of the best/most popular women's college basketball player ever (perhaps the most popular woman's college athlete ever) making her professional debut while still being at the height of her popularity.

Not like it's some random WNBA game. Still a long, long ways to go before the average WNBA game can compete with the average NHL game.

None of the other major leagues would get bumped for that.

 

[MuckOG]

NASCAR is not more popular than hockey in the USA.

College football and basketball are not counted separately than pro football and basketball when people say “big 4 sports”.

According to the survey I posted, NASCAR is more popular than the NHL in the States.

Whether or not college sports are included in the "big 4 sports" is completely subjective. Sports fans in many areas around the US would say they are. College football is a religion in the Southeast.

Regardless, the networks will televise the sports/games that provide the better ratings, thats all.

 

[Terry Yake]

and rightfully so

caitlin clark right now in the US is easily a bigger name than any of the biggest NHL stars

 

[MikeyMike01]

And yet an nhl playofd is getting bumped for it.

The NHL isn’t popular either.

ESPN would love for both to get more views.

 

[HBK27]

None of the other major leagues would get bumped for that.

I could see some random MLB game getting bumped, but maybe you're right...

I despise ESPN, but I get this decision as Clark's debut is more likely to get higher ratings than an NHL playoff game 5.

 

[MuckOG]

None of the other major leagues would get bumped for that.

Those other leagues get better ratings than hockey.

 

[bossram]

The fact that she a bigger draw then ta 100 year old “ 4th major sport” is a problem

You should let the NHL know.

 

[Rowlet]

ITT:

Some people lamenting the growing popularity of non-NHL sports who also don't want the NHL to expand into non traditional markets.

For maximum efficiency expansion, the league should consider expanding into:

Mexico City (metro population of 22 million people)
Houston (metro population of 8 million)
Atlanta (metro population of 6.5 million)
Phoenix (metro population of 5 million)
San Diego - Tijuana (metro population of 5.5 million)

 

[bb_fan]

It may be depressing to all of us, but Caitlin Clark is a much bigger sports star than Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, or any other hockey player.

Many more Americans know who Caitlin Clark is.

You mean 'was'.

A year or too into the WNBA no one will care anymore.

 

[joelef]

Those other leagues get better ratings than hockey.

I know that it’s just a very embarrassing look for the nhl .

You mean 'was'.

A year or too into the WNBA no one will care anymore.

So they’ll go back to getting Connor mcdavid level of popularity .

 

[MuckOG]

I know that it’s just a very embarrassing look for the nhl .

Not for the fans who know hockey's place in the grand scheme of things and are ok with it. I really dont care about how popular the NHL is vs other sports. To me, its always been a niche sport
It doesnt lessen my enthusiasm for watching the games.

 

[joelef]

I could see some random MLB game getting bumped, but maybe you're right...

I despise ESPN, but I get this decision as Clark's debut is more likely to get higher ratings than an NHL playoff game 5.

Again if this was a random sharks vs coyotes game I could understand but we’re talking about freaking playoff game.

 

[snag]

Good. The NHL is a trash league so if other major sports leagues can surpass it in popularity…go ahead.

Reminds me of the old "God made Polaris to keep assholes off of Ski-doo" sticker lol

Not saying anything either...I have seen that in all sorts of variants

 

[bb_fan]

I know that it’s just a very embarrassing look for the nhl .


So they’ll go back to getting Connor mcdavid level of popularity .

Who knows.

I think a big part of her 'draw' was the college aspect of it and the popularity of college sports.

if she can keep the same level of interest and elevate the WNBA good for her, i'm all for it.

I just don't see the college level popularity carrying through into the WNBA other than in the beginning maybe

 

[HBK27]

I know that it’s just a very embarrassing look for the nhl .

It is what it is. A lot of fans have trouble connecting to a sport they never played. NHL is also tougher for the average fan to follow - it's largely non-stop action and it's tough to follow the puck at times, whereas every other major sport stops/starts frequently and you can clearly see what's going on with the ball at all times. How many goals do you have to watch slo-mo replays to see who/what it deflected off of before it went in? It's always going to be somewhat of a niche sport for those reasons alone.

Not sure what the big deal is about seeing the NHL grow in popularity for fans of the sport. What's the upside - higher ticket prices? The satisfaction of knowing that the players and owners will be making even more money? Maybe a little extra coverage on ESPN and sports radio?

 

[flying squirrel]

If you honestly believe this, then why in the world would you continue to watch?

Thanks for reply and legit curiosity question. I'm watching less and less last yr or so, especially after realizing it's getting worse not better. Been very fortunate to be a Bama & Lightning fan over the years. This has given us more than any fans could ask for. Some here probably think I'm some angry fan who team(s) never won and I'm calling this all comes from spite. Well... that's way off if that's the case. Wish all fans could experience this success for their favorite team but...... life doesn't work that way. Not everyone gets a trophy in life, a lesson all should learn early as possible. Over the years, been on the good & bad side of fingers-on-scales moments concerning teams we follow (Jacksonville Jaguar fans, it's been rough ride.....lol). Still follow sports but not with same fever as before. Still love Lightning and witnessing them become a 5 -vs- 5 juggernaut to win 2 "Cups" was an awesome experience. After some many close frustrating late playoff exits, Lightning learned to take others ability to put fingers on scale away somewhat. They became a 4-line machine and that's sorta what one has to become, if they want more control over outcomes these days.

To many occurrences to list. Here's the one occurrence that started this doubting. Bama football get favorable calls at beginning of Saban/Bama era when they won 3 of 4 titles in 4 yrs time (2009-2012). But then watch the calls go way against Bama afterwards. Get that folks get tired of same teams winning, but it's not fair to kids that didn't win title previously though. Seen this knife cut both ways, wish fair would dictated day but human gonna human.

Bama has an insane Defensive front 7 from 2014-2016,

• Think Bama had 7-10 NFL 1st rounders (Can't remember exact number) on D front during those years.
• Bama's insane front 7 on Defense didn't any, or very few holding calls, for like 2 years straight against their opponents offensive lines.
• That was like 26 games worth -vs- best Bama D front 7 I've ever seen at Bama over the years. That's a high mark!
• That was impossible, and this data was found by by a Michigan fan trying to show how much BIg10 was not calling offensive holding -vs- their OL opponents for two seasons.
• That Michigan fan was right about their team lack of opponent OL holding calls, but this data crunch also found Bama was even worse off.
• Bama was such an outlier on that graph created, Bama's opponents non calls were far, far, far away from everyone else's grouping on graph grid.
• The graph grid had to be double sized+ to fit Bama's non opponent calls data dot. Bama data dot looked lile some distance planet within large galaxy, it was as bad as it gets for graph outliners.
• Was hard to argue against that data, and it obvious what was happening, if one look with honest eyes.
• Bama's anomalies were impossible to explain fairly and it helped we also watched holding after holding ball not get called during that time,
• This was what started opening my eyes to possibly of sports be tainted.
• Anyone can go find that Michigan fan opponent holding data...... Never seen such oblivious putting fingers-on-scales in my lifetime.
• Since, it;s been one event after another happening, throughout sports world that supports data shown in that graph.

Money, ratings, agenda's, right story lines has those in control putting fingers-on-scales for certain outcomes. Stinks, but I'll let this thread run it's course now after I've probably derailed it enough already. Sorry if doing so...... Planet Zoo, here I come......