Should NHL Grow The Game Towards Hispanics?

puckhead103*

Guest
we know in a couple of years, hispanics will lead in population growth in the US....

to grow the game internationally, the nhl should think about catering to hispanic fan...

we got a goalie in manny fernandez for the wild, who is hispanic.....

we got the one of creative playmakers in the league, scott gomez........

the plan should be placing three teams in texas: san antonio, dallas, and houston....

those cities have a strong hispanic demographic....the nhl should do this...
 

Boris Le Tigre

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Jan 9, 2007
6,079
611
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here are my recomendations

low rider zambonis (I expect you'll get a lot of this)...

have los lobos or los lonely boys replace all cheese hockey songs with something much better

teams have bulls instead of goons...

sorry about all the cliches and stereotypes... i was trying to be satirical... no disrespect but i don't think this is necessarily a good idea or a good train of thought... there are allready spanish/mexican hockey fans and they don't need anything to be force fed... i disagree... respectfully of course.
 

jsginsocal

Registered User
Feb 1, 2007
505
0
Orange County, CA
Yes

I agree - however, the NHL shouldn't just stick franchises in these markets in hope of attracting the hispanic fan. They need to do things within these communities to turn them on to hockey. One roadblock the NHL will be quick to discover is that most hispanic families can't afford to attend a game...
I think the NHL should install roller hockey rinks in cities with warm weather. They could then have the cities pay for the up keep and run organized leagues that are free for kids under 12.
I live in Orange County and they are making "The Great Park". This park has countless basketball courts, tennis courts, soccer fields, raquetball, etc...but ZERO roller hockey rinks. I don't get it - the NHL (or the local team) should have immediately contacted the city/county when the plans for this park were in the beginning stages and offered to pay the cost of installing a roller hockey rink.
I mean, this park even has indoor basketball courts - underground. I think it is pretty sad that there isn't even one location to play hockey there.
 

puckhead103*

Guest
i would like to see that so called "partnership" that bettman purports in helping to build ice rinks in non traditional markets for the kids who want to play hockey.....
 

midg14*

Guest
Who cares what race or nationality is playing. If your good then you can go far no matter what.
 

jsginsocal

Registered User
Feb 1, 2007
505
0
Orange County, CA
Yes

I agree that an ice rink would be ideal. But think of it this way: An outdoor roller hockey rink could be the equivalent of the outdoor basketball courts we see in all the parks. I mean, it could be a place where people show up to play pick up hockey games at any time. It is cheaper and a more viable opportunity for most people. Once they see what a great sport it is, my guess is they will naturally pick up ice hockey.
There is an outdoor roller hockey rink about 20 minutes from my house and it is always packed with people playing hockey.
 

Meichel Kane

My Name Is
Jun 6, 2006
11,027
342
I've always wondered how you "grow" a game to a ethnicity that doesn't care about it. It's equivalent to trying to get football fans to watch ballet.
 

jsginsocal

Registered User
Feb 1, 2007
505
0
Orange County, CA
Hispanics

I don't want to over extend my last statement. Obviously the majority of the fans in attendance are your typical white american. However, I have definitely noticed Hispanics at the games, more then I would have expected. I think their interest in soccer helps translate to an interest for hockey.
 

J-Zilla

Registered User
Jan 19, 2007
36
0
we know in a couple of years, hispanics will lead in population growth in the US....

to grow the game internationally, the nhl should think about catering to hispanic fan...

we got a goalie in manny fernandez for the wild, who is hispanic.....

we got the one of creative playmakers in the league, scott gomez........

the plan should be placing three teams in texas: san antonio, dallas, and houston....

those cities have a strong hispanic demographic....the nhl should do this...

The NHL can't even sell the game to people of Northern European heritage in the US. Why would Hispanics be different?
 

kdb209

Registered User
Jan 26, 2005
14,870
6
I don't want to over extend my last statement. Obviously the majority of the fans in attendance are your typical white american. However, I have definitely noticed Hispanics at the games, more then I would have expected. I think their interest in soccer helps translate to an interest for hockey.
Same in San Jose - there are a significant number of hispanic (and asian) fans at the game.

One big step would be to get a Spanish language radio station (there are many in the area) to do Spanish language broadcasts - similar to what the Giants do.
 

Shootmaster_44

Registered User
Sep 10, 2005
3,307
0
Saskatoon
The NHL is trying I would think. That is one of the reasons the Rangers played the Panthers in San Juan, PR. The problem with reaching out to Hispanics is largely hockey, for that matter ice, is a foreign concept.

The first step is to get a television contract on ESPN Deportes or one of the other Latin American tv stations. Show the games in English, but with a rules explanation here and there. You can't expect people with no basis in the game to understand what is going on otherwise. This is how Aussie Football games used to be presented in North America. At the top of the broadcast they'd explain the basics of the sport, then whenever a finer point came up, they'd break from the game (which was tape delayed) and explain what happened. As the season went on they would do this less and less. Meaning if you followed the game on tv you would become as knowledgeable about the rules as an Aussie who grew up with the game. So if the NHL was willing to do this, as well as promote the Mexican national team, you could find a market developing.
 

EbencoyE

Registered User
Nov 26, 2006
1,958
5
I think spreading to China would be a better idea.

Everyone knows China will rule the world in 20 years.
 

Jazz

Registered User
The NHL is trying I would think. That is one of the reasons the Rangers played the Panthers in San Juan, PR. The problem with reaching out to Hispanics is largely hockey, for that matter ice, is a foreign concept.

The first step is to get a television contract on ESPN Deportes or one of the other Latin American tv stations. Show the games in English, but with a rules explanation here and there. You can't expect people with no basis in the game to understand what is going on otherwise. This is how Aussie Football games used to be presented in North America. At the top of the broadcast they'd explain the basics of the sport, then whenever a finer point came up, they'd break from the game (which was tape delayed) and explain what happened. As the season went on they would do this less and less. Meaning if you followed the game on tv you would become as knowledgeable about the rules as an Aussie who grew up with the game. So if the NHL was willing to do this, as well as promote the Mexican national team, you could find a market developing.

Exactly, it is good that the league is finally trying to 'think outside the box'

I like your idea regarding ESPN Deportes, but I'm not sure if ESPN will allow this if the league is not on ESPN proper.
 

WheatiesHockey

Registered User
Dec 19, 2006
585
5
There is an ethno cultural element to sports in the USA and much of it has to do with exposure to the actual sport or having actually played the sport and watching it later in life as played by professionals.
In inner city America, many African American kids grow up in neighbourhoods where shooting hoops is a daily part of life. For many Latinos baseball is the first game they are exposed to as kids and they play and enjoy the game with great passion. For rural African Americans in the Deep south and Gulf states, making the local football team is a stepping stone to a college scholarship. For kids growing up in rural Minnesota, making varsity hockey at high school or becoming a Golden Gopher is really big. It really isn't about race so much as it is about daily local life in the USA.
Canadian kids of all races play road hockey with great passion as if the next goal is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup.
Much of the love for professional sports or even amateur has a great deal to do with local daily life within a community. If local kids play the sport it is natural that there will be an interest in seeing kids move up in the game regardless of their ethnicity.
At the professional level of sports there exists a true meritocracy, a black person can be a celebrated superstar in football or a Latino can be a big baseball star.
It is a big challenge to manufacture a genuine love for any game. If the game is a part of local community life then the local community will embrace it, otherwise not.
Do kids in Latino kids in South Florida or Southern California grow up playing street hockey? Most likely not. Do kids in Memphis dream of becoming an Edmonton Oiler? Not likely. Do Kids in Saskatoon worship the Oilers? Yes. Why? because it is local and the local kids play the sport.
Are the Oakland Raiders popular because they have an NFL team or is because the local community identifies with the team?
Tip Oneill once made a statement in the US Congress that all politics is local. He might as well have said that about sports too.
 

Jaded-Fan

Registered User
Mar 18, 2004
52,446
14,304
Pittsburgh
How about just make the game fun to watch and people of any ethnicity can enjoy it and be attracted to it? That said, accesibility to a particular market, and not ignoring it, be it rinks or spanish language television is not a bad idea and good business sense.
 

weezman

Guest
Isn't the Southern / Hispanic audience the entire reason the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, Phoenix Coyotes and Florida Panthers exist?

You broke the Ignorance meter. Well done. I didn't think it was possible around here on hf, but bravo. :clap:

The game grows itself. There's no need to push it to ethnic groups. The only thing that could/should be done is to make the game more accessible to children who aren't as well off.
 

Tb0ne

Registered User
Nov 29, 2004
5,452
33
Victoria
You broke the Ignorance meter. Well done. I didn't think it was possible around here on hf, but bravo. :clap:

The game grows itself. There's no need to push it to ethnic groups. The only thing that could/should be done is to make the game more accessible to children who aren't as well off.

Wang's Chinese Hockey development program is a pretty good idea. At the very least those kids are going to get good educations, and maybe 15-25 years down the line the hockey version of Yao Ming will step onto the ice to open up an entirely new place for NHL teams to draft from.
I can just see it now, with the 15th Overall Pick the New York Islanders selection Zhang Cheng from the Chinese National Development program.

Great for the league, and great for the sport.
 

Fugu

Guest
There is an ethno cultural element to sports in the USA and much of it has to do with exposure to the actual sport or having actually played the sport and watching it later in life as played by professionals.
In inner city America, many African American kids grow up in neighbourhoods where shooting hoops is a daily part of life. For many Latinos baseball is the first game they are exposed to as kids and they play and enjoy the game with great passion. For rural African Americans in the Deep south and Gulf states, making the local football team is a stepping stone to a college scholarship. For kids growing up in rural Minnesota, making varsity hockey at high school or becoming a Golden Gopher is really big. It really isn't about race so much as it is about daily local life in the USA.
Canadian kids of all races play road hockey with great passion as if the next goal is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup.
Much of the love for professional sports or even amateur has a great deal to do with local daily life within a community. If local kids play the sport it is natural that there will be an interest in seeing kids move up in the game regardless of their ethnicity.
At the professional level of sports there exists a true meritocracy, a black person can be a celebrated superstar in football or a Latino can be a big baseball star.
It is a big challenge to manufacture a genuine love for any game. If the game is a part of local community life then the local community will embrace it, otherwise not.
Do kids in Latino kids in South Florida or Southern California grow up playing street hockey? Most likely not. Do kids in Memphis dream of becoming an Edmonton Oiler? Not likely. Do Kids in Saskatoon worship the Oilers? Yes. Why? because it is local and the local kids play the sport.
Are the Oakland Raiders popular because they have an NFL team or is because the local community identifies with the team?
Tip Oneill once made a statement in the US Congress that all politics is local. He might as well have said that about sports too.


Please don't overwhelm the board by being reasonable. Nice post.
 

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