An example of why the league can't sell the sport.

[DuckyGirard]

I'm a jets fan, been following them all season. Nate Thompson is literally one of the least interesting players on the team. He's a fourth liner, barely played in the McDavid elimination match.

On paper there's no reason for any new fan to know who he is.

Yet a simple addiction-redemption story and this veteran players becomes one of the most interesting players on the team.

Why did I figure this out in the post season?

Why doesn't the league do more to highlight what a depth sport looks like?

The beauty of selling depth is you get to cherry pick, You can pick the guy with the most interesting story and worry about his play after the fact.

Why does a league focus so much on "stars" when they don't sell and they don't explain what a depth sport looks like? In my opinion stars are boring, they've been on top their whole lives, they are singularly obsessed with hockey. The depth guys are the ones that make the stakes feel real.

So why do they do things so backwards?

Click to read more...

 

[alko]

To play in our league makes you alcoholic addict (drugs, women ....) Not good for a reputation.

 

[DuckyGirard]

To play in our league makes you alcoholic addict (drugs, women ....) Not good for a reputation.

So you can beat the hell out of someone on the ice, but a redemption story is no good?

This just seems silly, lets be as bland and uninteresting as possible.

 

[Rich Nixon]

I agree, Nate Thompson should be a household name. One of the great exciting talents in the game.

 

[The Moose is Loose]

This sport struggles marketing itself because all of its big name players McDavid, Matthews, Ovi, Crosby, Draisaitl (minus Mackinnon) are eliminated immediately. Other guys like Kane and Panarin didn't even make it. Imagine the NBA playoffs if Lebron, Curry, Giannis, Harden etc all went home in the first round?

 

[JT Kreider]

The league can't market itself because every time a casual tunes into the game they get horrified by the offside goal reviews and view this is amateur BS

 

[Voight]

They have always sucked at marketing their players.

 

[redgrant]

Our league can't sell the sport because it's cool if it's open season on mcdavid Matthews petterson in the playoffs. Who cares. f*** the stars who sell the game.

 

[golfortennis]

This sport struggles marketing itself because all of its big name players McDavid, Matthews, Ovi, Crosby, Draisaitl (minus Mackinnon) are eliminated immediately. Other guys like Kane and Panarin didn't even make it. Imagine the NBA playoffs if Lebron, Curry, Giannis, Harden etc all went home in the first round?

Close. It's because those guys are allowed to be beat up, abused, and otherwise treated in a way no other sport lets their stars be treated. A fourth liner can draw a call a lot easier than a McDavid or a Crosby can have more than a couple infractions committed against them called in a game. The old iso-cam that was tried with Lemieux way back when would be an eye-opener for a lot of people if they saw what these guys put up with.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Why doesn't the league do more to highlight what a depth sport looks like?

The beauty of selling depth is you get to cherry pick, You can pick the guy with the most interesting story and worry about his play after the fact.

Interesting point. I disagree that stars don't sell, but you have a point about telling the story of a "depth sport".

The NFL does a pretty good job of finding the guy buried on the depth chart and telling his story.

 

[BCNate]

I'd argue that the league sells itself just fine. Not everything has to be bigger, grander and more corporate, that rarely makes things any better. Players get paid well, games are readily and easily available on many viewing options, most rinks are full most nights. Why does it have to be more than that, and why would it be any be any better if it was?

 

[golfortennis]

Interesting point. I disagree that stars don't sell, but you have a point about telling the story of a "depth sport".

The NFL does a pretty good job of finding the guy buried on the depth chart and telling his story.

I don't disagree, but I think the fact they sell the stars in the first place helps a ton with selling the depth guys.

 

[11Messier]

This sport struggles marketing itself because all of its big name players McDavid, Matthews, Ovi, Crosby, Draisaitl (minus Mackinnon) are eliminated immediately. Other guys like Kane and Panarin didn't even make it. Imagine the NBA playoffs if Lebron, Curry, Giannis, Harden etc all went home in the first round?

Yes... This. The NHL is the only sport that changes the rules for the playoffs (ie... just let them play). So on the one hand you need those star players to try and make the playoffs but then you watch them being mugged with no consequence in the playoffs. I really enjoyed watching the skill from all these players in the regular season. Watching suffocation in the playoffs has been a total turn off. Of course that's just my opinion, others may enjoy these types of games so I'm not going to says its wrong. But to me, changing how the game is reffed for the playoffs so that your stars and skill showcase gets eliminated is the biggest marketing problem.

 

[golfortennis]

I'd argue that the league sells itself just fine. Not everything has to be bigger, grander and more corporate, that rarely makes things any better. Players get paid well, games are readily and easily available on many viewing options, most rinks are full most nights. Why does it have to be more than that, and why would it be any be any better if it was?

Because talent follows money. How many guys who would have played baseball if this were the 70s have chased football and basketball instead for the last 2 decades? Baseball's money is quite good, sure, but it's a lot tougher to make it, so not a perfect analogy, I admit. But considering the costs involved in playing hockey growing up, there needs to be a payoff to go those extents. Similar to the question of whether Austin Matthews ever plays hockey if the Coyotes weren't in Arizona. The money draws the talent, and it's always a good thing to have a larger pool of talent to choose from.

 

[Boxscore]

The biggest problem the league has selling the sport in the States is the same problem its always had:

1. Cold weather and outdoor/backyard ice rinks.
2. Affordability

In the States, regardless of where you live, you can pickup a bat and ball, a glove, a football, baseball or soccer ball and go to the park -- or in your own backyard even -- and play. You can fall in love with the sport through playing it.

Hockey is different, especially ice hockey -- you need ice, plenty of time, and accessibility to play. It's not easy and it's almost impossible to play on a constant basis. Roller hockey is different, but you still need more equipment, rinks, schoolyards or large pubic areas with decent asphalt.

In the States, hockey has grown significantly in popularity, and there are way more ice rinks today than ever before, but ice time is severely limited and it cost a fortune to get your child involved in the game. Between paying for ice time, travel, and constantly buying new equipment -- you need to be fairly well-off financially to get your children involved in hockey.

It doesn't matter how much you market the game, its stars or its benefits -- if the average child cannot afford to play it, even recreationally in their neighborhood, the sport will be limited.

 

[BCNate]

Because talent follows money. How many guys who would have played baseball if this were the 70s have chased football and basketball instead for the last 2 decades? Baseball's money is quite good, sure, but it's a lot tougher to make it, so not a perfect analogy, I admit. But considering the costs involved in playing hockey growing up, there needs to be a payoff to go those extents. Similar to the question of whether Austin Matthews ever plays hockey if the Coyotes weren't in Arizona. The money draws the talent, and it's always a good thing to have a larger pool of talent to choose from.

As a fan of the NFL, who markets better than anyone, I'd say it is worse being a fan now than it was 15-20 years ago.

 

[golfortennis]

As a fan of the NFL, who markets better than anyone, I'd say it is worse being a fan now than it was 15-20 years ago.

Why do you say that? I stopped watching the NFL a few years ago due to not thinking guys should end up like Ryan Shazier, so I don't know what is or isn't going on too much other than the money ide of things. I have no dog in that fight, just curious as to why you feel that way.

 

[BCNate]

Why do you say that? I stopped watching the NFL a few years ago due to not thinking guys should end up like Ryan Shazier, so I don't know what is or isn't going on too much other than the money ide of things. I have no dog in that fight, just curious as to why you feel that way.

The cost of going to a game is crazy high, genuinely priced out many people. To go to a Seahawks game is pushing close to $250 CAD. I find the gaps in actual play, driven by TV are excessively long. The hype/excitement of going to a game is still great, but the game itself has become a lot less fun. When you watch a game on TV, they fill the gaps in play with commentary, stats, highlights, when you are at the game, guys just kinda stand around. There is so much of that time now.

 

[JPeeper]

Only took less than half a page for people to bitch about reffing in the playoffs. It's like some of you want to watch games that have 20 powerplays, that's garbage hockey. McDavid didn't draw calls in the playoffs because he played like shit, let it go.

Playoff hockey is unmatched in it's quality in a good way. Nothing beats an OT NHL playoff game.

 

[Daximus]

The biggest problem the league has selling the sport in the States is the same problem its always had:

1. Cold weather and outdoor/backyard ice rinks.
2. Affordability

In the States, regardless of where you live, you can pickup a bat and ball, a glove, a football, baseball or soccer ball and go to the park -- or in your own backyard even -- and play. You can fall in love with the sport through playing it.

Hockey is different, especially ice hockey -- you need ice, plenty of time, and accessibility to play. It's not easy and it's almost impossible to play on a constant basis. Roller hockey is different, but you still need more equipment, rinks, schoolyards or large pubic areas with decent asphalt.

In the States, hockey has grown significantly in popularity, and there are way more ice rinks today than ever before, but ice time is severely limited and it cost a fortune to get your child involved in the game. Between paying for ice time, travel, and constantly buying new equipment -- you need to be fairly well-off financially to get your children involved in hockey.

It doesn't matter how much you market the game, its stars or its benefits -- if the average child cannot afford to play it, even recreationally in their neighborhood, the sport will be limited.

This nails it down pretty well.

Hockey will never be at the level of most other sports because of it's niche nature. It's hard enough to just play the sport. Even in colder climates where there are plenty of outdoor rinks you have 4 months of the year maybe where the ice will stick around long enough for you to get out there. You can get a pair of 2nd hand skates and a stick and hit the rink as often as you want. But there are still a tonne of barriers to get to actually playing the sport at a level you'll get noticed at. Most schools in Canada don't have hockey programs. So the only way to get noticed is to play higher level AAA or AA programs. which can cost a parent a fortune before you might get drafted into the CHL or noticed by an NCAA team. Hockey is bar none the least accessible sport there is in Canada, let alone the US. Basketball, football and soccer pretty much all are available for kids through their high school. Most cities also have organized versions of those sports which cost nowhere near the same level as hockey. I played high level baseball in Canada and the cost to play wasn't even close to what my friends parents paid for them to play the same level of hockey.

 

[BruinsBtn]

1. It looks like they're doing exactly what you asked for at the exact time when casual fans would tune in (the playoffs)
2. Does anyone really tune in to watch at 4th liner who has a nice story?

I mean, there was this guy who Indianapolis drafted as an offensive guard this year year who was born in a refugee camp -- as good of a story as you'll ever hear --- but I guarantee you I will never tune in to watch this guy block people because NFL football is boring AF. Stories are nice, but the game is what sells the game.

 

[JT Kreider]

Close. It's because those guys are allowed to be beat up, abused, and otherwise treated in a way no other sport lets their stars be treated. A fourth liner can draw a call a lot easier than a McDavid or a Crosby can have more than a couple infractions committed against them called in a game. The old iso-cam that was tried with Lemieux way back when would be an eye-opener for a lot of people if they saw what these guys put up with.

The "McDavid doesn't get fair treatment" argument is such BS and anyone who tries to make that is missing a massive hole in this theory; McDavid has the puck arguably more than any other player in the league, so it just seems like he is getting more abuse that goes uncalled.

The last thing the NHL needs is the NBA where the power the stars have is uncontrollable.

 

[nickschultzfan]

You are mistaken that a business needs to sell itself in order to have value.

 

[IamNotADancer]

If you make the most milk toast and boring player in the league the "face of the league" for a good decade you generate a problem.
Sometimes the "best player" isn't the best player to promote the game. Not saying you want to make a guy like Sean Avery your poster boy because "he's gonna say something controversial and exciting" , but can we move on from trying to push down players down peoples throat that try to play politics in every interview they do?

PR management needs to stop teaching these players that "if you stay middle of the road you will be most marketable" and instead tell them "it's okay to have an opinion".

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

The NHL is all about status quo, avoiding upsetting the establishment, sitting on the fence. They don't want players to talk about their struggles, or anything in general, unless it's for their own gain.