Philly not as big a hockey town as it is thought to be?

[jerseydevil]

Lou's original post referred to less media coverage-but admits to living in Central Jersey. He/she is no where near the true fan base of the Flyers which is more south-western Jersey and into Pennsylvania (obviously). I readily admit that Detroit may beat us, but do we know the exact criteria the Hockey News used? I don't recall, I just remember Philly being voted "#1 hockey city." Was it the number of sell-outs? Because I just read that Detroit is also having difficulty selling out their first round games. I can absolutely assure you that short of a nuclear holocaust, that would never happen in Philly.

Now to your other points, yes, the Devils are covered daily, but on an average day, what page are news of their games located on? I am a daily subscriber to the Record, and unless something really awesome happens, the Devils (and all of hockey) are usually regulated to page 4 or 6. They win the Cup, there is an awesome color pull-out in that weekend's edition and that's all folks. You can't compare a parking lot 'celebration' to a trip down the Canon of Heros in NYC. I haven't gone through my papers this week, but my guess would be that the Rutgers women's b-ball team and Imus got more coverage than the Devils winning the Atlantic. Am I wrong, I doubt it.

Next, when I said 4,000 I was being OVERLY generous, so you're right, I probably was out-right lying, but do know that I did so in an effort to throw your team a bone.

As for patting myself on my back, I am a VERY proud Flyers fan. I live in a nation that not only allows free-will, but encourages it, if I wanted to root for another team I would certainly do so. I don't need division titles and Cups to love my team. I'll love 'em when they're winning and love 'em just as much when they're losing.

Please stop. I have sen your postings on EVERY Devils message board.. and you need to stop worrying about the Devils...As a fan of the Devils, please stop posting on nj.com, devilsrule.com, and here about the Devils. It grows tiresome and annoying. We're glad you're a proud flyer fan, just keep it on the flyers boards..

 

[Whiplash27]

The Rangers aren't even in the top 5 teams in NY.

#01. Yankees (MLB)
#02. Giants (NFL)
#03. Mets (MLB)
#04. Jets (NFL)
#05. Knicks (NBA)
#06. Rangers (NHL)
#07. Nets (NBA)
#08. Devils(NHL)
#09. Islanders(NHL)
#10. Red Bull New York (MLS)

Although you probably will see more Rangers fans around than Knicks fans these days. That's because the Knicks suck though. Even saying that, the Knicks get much more press and talk than the Rangers do. The Rangers didn't even make the back page of the paper when they clinched the playoffs. Instead the Yankees losing the 2nd of 162 games made it.

That said, yes, in NY the Yankees are more popular than both Football teams. The Mets you may be able to say are more popular than the Jets but definitley less than the Giants. Rangers and Knicks I guess you can interchange. Nets are NJ but will be NY soon. Then there's quite a few Devils fans in NY, followed by Islanders, but then again, you go to Long Island and there's a ton of em. So they may be interchangable. Then Red Bull New York as no one ever even speaks of soccer.

In NY you should know that a large portion of the football watching population are not fans of the Jets or Giants.

 

[jerseydevil]

The Rangers aren't even the top 5 team in NY.

#01. Yankees (MLB)
#02. Giants (NFL)
#03. Mets (MLB)
#04. Jets (NFL)
#05. Knicks (NBA)
#06. Rangers (NHL)
#07. Nets (NBA)
#08. Devils(NHL)
#09. Islanders(NHL)
#10. Red Bull New York (MLS)

Although you probably will see more Rangers fans around than Knicks fans these days. That's because the Knicks suck though.

That said, yes, in NY the Yankees are more popular than both Football teams.

Agreed with that list...

 

[alrusso]

Lot of teams

The Rangers aren't even in the top 5 teams in NY.

#01. Yankees (MLB)
#02. Giants (NFL)
#03. Mets (MLB)
#04. Jets (NFL)
#05. Knicks (NBA)
#06. Rangers (NHL)
#07. Nets (NBA)
#08. Devils(NHL)
#09. Islanders(NHL)
#10. Red Bull New York (MLS)

Although you probably will see more Rangers fans around than Knicks fans these days. That's because the Knicks suck though. Even saying that, the Knicks get much more press and talk than the Rangers do. The Rangers didn't even make the back page of the paper when they clinched the playoffs. Instead the Yankees losing the 2nd of 162 games made it.

That said, yes, in NY the Yankees are more popular than both Football teams. The Mets you may be able to say are more popular than the Jets but definitley less than the Giants. Rangers and Knicks I guess you can interchange. Nets are NJ but will be NY soon. Then there's quite a few Devils fans in NY, followed by Islanders, but then again, you go to Long Island and there's a ton of em. So they may be interchangable. Then Red Bull New York as no one ever even speaks of soccer.

In NY you should know that a large portion of the football watching population are not fans of the Jets or Giants.

I follow the Boston teams. I can't imagine having this many teams in one area to follow.

 

[Whiplash27]

Oh I forgot one.
#11. Liberty (WNBA)

 

[Bixby Snyder]

And the Rangers have been around longer than all those teams except for the Yankees and they're only the #6 team? Pretty pathetic. NY hardly deserves 1 team instead they get 3.

 

[Free Edler]

And the Rangers have been around longer than all those teams except for the Yankees and they're only the #6 team? Pretty pathetic. NY hardly deserves 1 team instead they get 3.

NY actually has four teams if you include the Sabres. If you're talking about the city, you're completely wrong. There is the population base and interest level in hockey (even if they are further down the list - A LOT of people live in NY and the surrounding areas) to fill at least three arenas.

 

[krudmonk]

The Rangers aren't even in the top 5 teams in NY.

#01. Yankees (MLB)
#02. Giants (NFL)
#03. Mets (MLB)
#04. Jets (NFL)
#05. Knicks (NBA)
#06. Rangers (NHL)
#07. Nets (NBA)
#08. Devils(NHL)
#09. Islanders(NHL)
#10. Red Bull New York (MLS)

That's some rich Original Six tradition! Yay history!

 

[Bixby Snyder]

NY actually has four teams if you include the Sabres. If you're talking about the city, you're completely wrong. There is the population base and interest level in hockey (even if they are further down the list - A LOT of people live in NY and the surrounding areas) to fill at least three arenas.

I meant NYC.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

And the Rangers have been around longer than all those teams except for the Yankees and they're only the #6 team? Pretty pathetic. NY hardly deserves 1 team instead they get 3.

Yeah, the league should move 2 teams from a metropolitan U.S. market with 18 million people (the 4th largest in the world) to a pair of Canadian regions with maybe 500,000 because everyone knows that 500,000 people in Canada will give more support than those 18 million in the U.S. could possibly give even under the most optimistic assumptions.

 

[Bixby Snyder]

Yeah, the league should move 2 teams from a metropolitan U.S. market with 18 million people (the 4th largest in the world) to a pair of Canadian regions with maybe 500,000 because everyone knows that 500,000 people in Canada will give more support than those 18 million in the U.S. could possibly give even under the most optimistic assumptions.

A metropolitan U.S. market with 18 million people that has a one of the NHL's storied franchises and only gets 30k viewers on the local broadcasts while even the smallest markets in Canada get 100k for their local broadcasts.

 

[jerseydevil]

A metropolitan U.S. market with 18 million people that has a one of the NHL's storied franchises and only gets 30k viewers on the local broadcasts while even the smallest markets in Canada get 100k for their local broadcasts.

Yeah, but there are more than 4 stations on the tv down here in the NYC area..

 

[Whiplash27]

Yeah, the league should move 2 teams from a metropolitan U.S. market with 18 million people (the 4th largest in the world) to a pair of Canadian regions with maybe 500,000 because everyone knows that 500,000 people in Canada will give more support than those 18 million in the U.S. could possibly give even under the most optimistic assumptions.

Ok well let's put it this way. If there's 18 million in the NY Metro Area I'd say 90 - 95% of those people are Rangers fans IF they even like hockey or at the very least follow it lightly. That said, you leave a VERY small base for other teams. If you split it among two teams, it makes an extremely small base of fans. Which is why the Devils can't sell out a game even during the playoffs even though they won 3 cups in 8 years.

IMO one of the two teams is going to have to move. Heck not one sport has more than two teams in the NY area except hockey, the least popular of the big sports.
Baseball? 2
Football? 2
Basketball? 2

Why does hockey have 3? One of them has to go.

So when you divide the pot, down. Even if you say 5% of New Yorkers actually follow hockey (900,000 which is probably overstated). You're only leaving such a small pot for the smaller teams that it would be less than some Canadian city of 500,000 people where probably 50 - 75% of the people in that city will follow the team.

If you piece together all of the TV ratings and arena attendance... You can say that 100,000 people watch hockey on a regular basis in the New York area.

 

[jerseydevil]

Ok well let's put it this way. If there's 18 million in the NY Metro Area (if you include Long Island, Westchester, Rockland, North NJ, etc. there's more). I'd say 90 - 95% of those people are Rangers fans IF they even like hockey or at the very least follow it lightly. That said, you leave a VERY small base for other teams. If you split it among two teams, it makes a very small base of fans. Which is why the Devils can't sell out a game even during the playoffs even though they won 3 cups in 8 years.

IMO one of the two teams is going to have to move. Heck not one sport has more than two teams except hockey, the least popular of the big sports.
Baseball? 2
Football? 2
Basketball? 2

Why does hockey have 3? One of them has to go.

With the Devils getting anew arena and the Isles looking for one...I'd be surprised is ieven considered over the next 20 years...and I think your 90-95% might be justa tad high especially if you are including LI and Northern NJ..Be fair to Isles and Devs fans

 

[coolguy21415]

Yeah, but there are more than 4 stations on the tv down here in the NYC area..

That's a naive and stupid comment to make.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

That's a naive and stupid comment to make.

Let me guess. You have emoticons turned off?

 

[VanIslander]

A few years ago I met a black guy in Seattle who loved hockey. I asked him if he watched Seattle WHL games. He said no. I asked him if he was a Canucks fan and he said no. I then asked him how he became a hockey fan and he just smiled and said... "I'm from Philly."

 

[jerseydevil]

Let me guess. You have emoticons turned off?

Thanks...

 

[OG6ix]

Ok well let's put it this way. If there's 18 million in the NY Metro Area I'd say 90 - 95% of those people are Rangers fans IF they even like hockey or at the very least follow it lightly. That said, you leave a VERY small base for other teams. If you split it among two teams, it makes an extremely small base of fans. Which is why the Devils can't sell out a game even during the playoffs even though they won 3 cups in 8 years.

IMO one of the two teams is going to have to move. Heck not one sport has more than two teams in the NY area except hockey, the least popular of the big sports.
Baseball? 2
Football? 2
Basketball? 2

Why does hockey have 3? One of them has to go.

So when you divide the pot, down. Even if you say 5% of New Yorkers actually follow hockey (900,000 which is probably overstated). You're only leaving such a small pot for the smaller teams that it would be less than some Canadian city of 500,000 people where probably 50 - 75% of the people in that city will follow the team.

If you piece together all of the TV ratings and arena attendance... You can say that 100,000 people watch hockey on a regular basis in the New York area.

Wow, 100,000 people with all those teams put together? Damn...

 

[flyersfan97]

Please stop. I have sen your postings on EVERY Devils message board.. and you need to stop worrying about the Devils...As a fan of the Devils, please stop posting on nj.com, devilsrule.com, and here about the Devils. It grows tiresome and annoying. We're glad you're a proud flyer fan, just keep it on the flyers boards..

First of all, who died and left you in charge of when, where and about which subjects I can post? I do not post on devilsrule.com, and in fact hadn't even heard of it until you just mentioned it. If there's another 'flyersfan97' there, I can absolutely assure you it is not me. I do admit to posting on nj.com, but that has died down since all you people seem capable of talking about is attendance (or lack there of) and goal songs, sorry, I talk hockey, not irrelevant nonsense. As for this current thread, the subject was brought up by a Devils fan certainly not me, so basically it's about a Devils fan talking about the Flyers not the other way around as you seem to think. And this is an "general hockey discussion" thread, not a Devils only thread. Believe me, I do not worry in the least about the Devils, I talk hockey. One of your fellow fans brought up the fact that hockey is no more popular in Philly than in NJ, I know you won't agree, but I find that laughable.

Boards like this are meant/created for debate, if you can't handle it, I suggest you get out of the thread and head on over to CAA, don't you guys have a playoff game tonight? Enjoy.

 

[Whiplash27]

Wow, 100,000 people with all those teams put together? Damn...

Yeah, that's about a rough estimate.

Rangers average 30k a game on TV and 18.2k in arena
Devils average 15k a game on TV and 14.2k in arena
Islanders average about 8k on TV and 12.9k in arena

Total em up and you get 98,300

 

[Lou's Koolaid]

First of all, who died and left you in charge of when, where and about which subjects I can post? I do not post on devilsrule.com, and in fact hadn't even heard of it until you just mentioned it. If there's another 'flyersfan97' there, I can absolutely assure you it is not me. I do admit to posting on nj.com, but that has died down since all you people seem capable of talking about is attendance (or lack there of) and goal songs, sorry, I talk hockey, not irrelevant nonsense. As for this current thread, the subject was brought up by a Devils fan certainly not me, so basically it's about a Devils fan talking about the Flyers not the other way around as you seem to think. And this is an "general hockey discussion" thread, not a Devils only thread. Believe me, I do not worry in the least about the Devils, I talk hockey. One of your fellow fans brought up the fact that hockey is no more popular in Philly than in NJ, I know you won't agree, but I find that laughable.

Boards like this are meant/created for debate, if you can't handle it, I suggest you get out of the thread and head on over to CAA, don't you guys have a playoff game tonight? Enjoy.

I never said that hockey was more popular in N.J than Philly thats just down right stupid to even ponder that. The point is that Philadelphia loves the Flyers but not the NHL the fans not all and not you but in general don't know or follow the rest or the NHL. Watch the ratings Philly won't be near the top U.S T.V market and neither will N.Y/N.Y unless the Rangers go deep in the playoffs.

 

[jerseydevil]

First of all, who died and left you in charge of when, where and about which subjects I can post? I do not post on devilsrule.com, and in fact hadn't even heard of it until you just mentioned it. If there's another 'flyersfan97' there, I can absolutely assure you it is not me. I do admit to posting on nj.com, but that has died down since all you people seem capable of talking about is attendance (or lack there of) and goal songs, sorry, I talk hockey, not irrelevant nonsense. As for this current thread, the subject was brought up by a Devils fan certainly not me, so basically it's about a Devils fan talking about the Flyers not the other way around as you seem to think. And this is an "general hockey discussion" thread, not a Devils only thread. Believe me, I do not worry in the least about the Devils, I talk hockey. One of your fellow fans brought up the fact that hockey is no more popular in Philly than in NJ, I know you won't agree, but I find that laughable.

Boards like this are meant/created for debate, if you can't handle it, I suggest you get out of the thread and head on over to CAA, don't you guys have a playoff game tonight? Enjoy.

It's very creepy how you follow the Devils around...i don't understand it.

 

[flyersfan97]

The hockey news I think last year ranked Philadelphia as the top U.S hockey city/market. Living between both Phily and Newyork I see no difference in general hockey intrest. Though the Flyers get great support from their regional fan base there doesn't seem to be much intrest in the NHL like U.S markets such as Buffalo Detroit, Pittsburgh and Boston. I would be shocked to see Philly ratings for the playoffs higher than any of the above mentioned cities.

This is your original post, and I agree, I, too, would be shocked if the Philly ratings for the playoff are higher than that of Buffalo, Detroit and Pittsburgh due solely to the fact that we're not in the playoffs and they are.

I never said that hockey was more popular in N.J than Philly thats just down right stupid to even ponder that. The point is that Philadelphia loves the Flyers but not the NHL the fans not all and not you but in general don't know or follow the rest or the NHL. Watch the ratings Philly won't be near the top U.S T.V market and neither will N.Y/N.Y unless the Rangers go deep in the playoffs.

Again, see above. Truthfully, I don't think it should be expected that Philadelphia will have higher ratings than that of those cities whose teams are in the playoffs. I'm not from Philly, but I believe when they were voted "#1 Fans" it was how their enthusiam relates to the Flyers in particular. I could be wrong, maybe someone from the city itself or its surrounding areas could better explain.

It's very creepy how you follow the Devils around...i don't understand it.

What's even creepier is how you seem to follow me around. Unlike you however, I completely understand, you have three cups in the last 12 years but are still left with an inferiority complex. BTW-congrats on your opening game win last night.

 

[jerseydevil]

This is your original post, and I agree, I, too, would be shocked if the Philly ratings for the playoff are higher than that of Buffalo, Detroit and Pittsburgh due solely to the fact that we're not in the playoffs and they are.



Again, see above. Truthfully, I don't think it should be expected that Philadelphia will have higher ratings than that of those cities whose teams are in the playoffs. I'm not from Philly, but I believe when they were voted "#1 Fans" it was how their enthusiam relates to the Flyers in particular. I could be wrong, maybe someone from the city itself or its surrounding areas could better explain.




What's even creepier is how you seem to follow me around. Unlike you however, I completely understand, you have three cups in the last 12 years but are still left with an inferiority complex. BTW-congrats on your opening game win last night.

I can't get away from you...you're on every Devils message board..every one. I really don't understand the inferiority complex comment? It doesn't seem relevant in my argument that you are creepy...and seem to follow the Devils everywhere..I just got the chills you're so creepy..