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

[Flair Hay]

If anyone is jealous of the NBA Playoffs, good for you. I couldnt care less honestly. I love playoff hockey.

 

[Subway Schenn]

The demographics of North America are changing as well. They don’t cater to Asian, Indo Asian, Middle Easter and African house holds.

But if you look at Canada as an example our society is changing fast. I see more immigrants now than ever. My parents are from India and my dad was/is a massive fan but he’s been here for 50 years. When he moved here he couldn’t watch cricket or keep up with other sports.

Now because of technology any immigrant who moves here can just watch their favourite sports teams back home on their smart phones . No need to get in to hockey. It will continue to dwindle.

Very true. At the start of the 2000s when I moved to Toronto I couldn't stream or watch cricket/soccer on TV and so naturally over time I stopped following these sports (tracking scores wasn't doing it for me). There was a void that hockey was able to fill, especially with a competitive local team. Whereas nowadays, you can move to Canada from x cricket-obsessed country and pay someone a small monthly fee to allow you unlimited access to all the live cricket.

 

[vancityluongo]

Soccer does have a huge following in N.A., it's just that it doesn't show as much since all soccer superstars play in European leagues only and the MLS is a farmer's league. You can see just how popular soccer is during major events like the Euro or the World Cup.

If I go down the streets of Toronto right now and ask random strangers who recently moved to Canada if they know the names of soccer superstars, I would expect that they could name Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar or older retired superstars like Zidane or Pele.

If I ask them to name superstars that are still in the hunt for the Stanley Cup, I don't think they would name guys like Kucherov, Stone or Barzal. Aside from the local team superstars like Matthews or Marner, they may know Price because he plays for the Habs and they are a main rival of the Maple Leafs, but that's about it.

Ever since the Raptors won in 2019, and partly due to the monumental disappointment that the Leafs are, I've found that the Raptors have passed the Leafs in popularity around here. More people in my company follow the Raptors than people who follow the Leafs. On Facebook, the Raptors have twice as many followers as the Leafs.

As much as other sports aren't really exploding in popularity, I can see hockey losing popularity in the near future the way things are going.

Oh, absolutely.

All I was getting at is that cost and accessibility are weak excuses for the NHL. You're spot on about the Euro and the World Cup, because those are major events. The Olympics is a major event - and I'd bet 95% of Canadians in 2010 could at least name Sidney Crosby. It's a significantly lower percentage that can name Connor McDavid now, because a) he hasn't been in any major events b) the NHL does nothing to create hype around him. Lamelo Ball hasn't done jack shit, but his dad was a one-man hype team that got his sons media coverage that the NHL's entire marketing department could only dream of, lol.

The Raptors have 3x as many followers as the Leafs on Instagram too. Sure, part of it is that they have a much more broader national following (ie. i'm a Raptors fan but not a Leafs fan), but the NBA has over 10x the following that the NHL does. Even secondary media outlets like Bleacher Report and House of Highlights on Instagram or even TikTok (which is what millenials and younger largely use for sports content vs cable) have multiples higher following than the NHL itself.

Again, I think that getting the NHL in the hands of ESPN and TNT will help immensely. There are incredibly talented marketing minds at those organizations, and they have the infrastructure in place through their coverage of other sports to spin the NHL into the mainstream.

 

[bacon25]

I'll say it.

NHL stars aren't marketable because they're a bunch of boring knuckleheads who still need to abide by a 'code' in a sport that's, on the ice and in the stands, 99% white.

Who do you consider an exciting star in another sport? Most players end up in trouble over comments they make which ends up losing fans or will cost the league money.

Our society is rapidly evolving into a multicultural one; one with a different set of norms and values. A bunch of white dudes saying "well, uh, I give all credit to my teammates, eh" isn't gonna cut the mustard in today's urban youth culture.

What do you want them to say? Do you value a player's opinion on anything other than the game they play?

It doesn't matter how exciting our game is. There's nothing for many kids to grab on to in a cultural sense. Same reason NASCAR can't market itself beyond its existing base.

I am fine with the NHL's place in pro sports. Football, Basketball and Baseball are so far ahead of the NHL it is pointless to compete. Hockey already has a strong place in many cultures, hockey being a winter sport limits the cultural impact that it will have. Kind of like how the Summer Olympics are by far more important culturally, more watched around the globe than the Winter Olympics.

 

[varsaku]

Oh who gives a shit

the NBA is full of divas who care more about their brand than winning games. Hockey players don’t care about the spotlight and that’s how it should be.

the whole “please watch our sport” crowd is so weird to me, as long as you love hockey then who really cares that it’s not popular all over the place.

If interest in the sport decreases as people are drawn to other sports, the talent pool will continue to shrink. We won't see the effect till its decades later.

 

[cliffclaven]

The sports kids grew up playing are the most popular here in the US. It’s that simple.

 

[Devils090]

If interest in the sport decreases as people are drawn to other sports, the talent pool will continue to shrink. We won't see the effect till its decades later.

Hockey has always been 4th fiddle in the US and our hockey program produces more and more talent every year. The US never won a WJC until 2004, since 2010 no country has won more WJC gold than the US. I’m well aware hockey is way more difficult to get involved in for kids than the other sports and that’s something that needs to be worked on(a lot of teams do have programs that help kids get equipment and ice time they wouldn’t be able to on their own). However if you think the talent pool is shrinking you are sorely mistaken.