Are the Canucks the most popular NHL team on Vancouver Island?

[LightningStorm]

I think that baseball fandom has slanted much more to the Jays in recent years mostly due to the Mariners' suckitude. If they ever had a prolonged period of dominance in the AL I think you start to see a swing back to more balance in the Vancouver market.

Can't say I'm too surprised with the M's having the longest active playoff drought in sports.

 

[brock hughes007]

I live on the island,and I'm a big Canucks fan,,,tho my son is a Flames fan,,he is no longer my son,,lol...I did live in between Calgary and Edmonton in Red Deer at one time,and there was a lot of Canuck fans that I remember also,,,

 

[shottasasa]

What then does it say about the quality of the fanbase when they sell out all the time even though they are awful?

That they live in a place with really cold winters with not that many entertainment options. There might be an exception or two in big US cities like New York where tourists can make up a sizeable chunk of attendance or have a bunch of other teams in close proximity so casual hockey fans or fans of other teams attend.

 

[MS]

I live in Seattle, and I've heard that people in the Vancouver area are mostly split between the Blue Jays and Mariners when it comes to baseball. People may point out the Jays coming to Seattle in droves, but that's their only chance to see them each season. M's fans in Vancouver have all season to make a trip to Seattle.

There are definitely more Blue Jays fans in BC. Probably a 75-25 split?

The Blue Jays are my #1 team and the Mariners are my #2 team, although I’d cheer for the Mariners over the Jays if they were in the playoff picture and the Jays were out of it.

I hate that I’m a Blue Jays fan, though. I hate cheering for a Toronto team and I’d much rather be more emotionally invested in the Mariners.

Unfortunately, you can’t really help who you cheer for and I think I’m like a lot of other people in a couple ways :

1. The 1992-93 World Series wins happened when I was a kid, and contributed to creating a lifelong attachment. The Jays (and Expos) were the only team I really had access to growing up so you end up cheering for what you know.

2. The Jays currently do a terrific job of getting their product into the BC market and the Mariners do an absolutely terrible job. It’s really easy to follow the Blue Jays – every single game is on TV in this market, they’re at convenient times, and if you miss a game there is Blue Jays in 30 to get you easily caught up. Conversely, the Mariners have (stupidly) done nothing to win over this market through their history. You can maybe watch 25 games/year on TV and nearly half of those are against the Blue Jays, and you never really know when you'll be able to watch them. They do nothing to market here. They have zero presence. It takes a lot of effort to follow them.

The Jays have also done a great job of marketing this ‘Canada’s team!’ thing that a lot of casual fans have bought into. And the Vancouver Canadians are now a Blue Jays farm team, so there’s a local tie-in to watching future Jays when you go to see a baseball game in Vancouver.

 

[EpochLink]

Can't say I'm too surprised with the M's having the longest active playoff drought in sports.

Last time the Mariners made the playoffs, I turned 16 years old in 2001.
Fast forward to 2022 and I'm currently 36 heading towards 37 this November.

That is ineptitude to the highest level.

 

[Chairman Maouth]

Lived on Vanisle for 26 years and only met one hockey fan who wasn't a Canucks fan. He was a Bruins fan, but he wasn't too bright and ran what should have been a profitable business into the ground. After he sold it, the business increased by at least tenfold. Some of you may even know it - the Merville store, café and gas station.

 

[LightningStorm]

2. The Jays currently do a terrific job of getting their product into the BC market and the Mariners do an absolutely terrible job. It’s really easy to follow the Blue Jays – every single game is on TV in this market, they’re at convenient times, and if you miss a game there is Blue Jays in 30 to get you easily caught up. Conversely, the Mariners have (stupidly) done nothing to win over this market through their history. You can maybe watch 25 games/year on TV and nearly half of those are against the Blue Jays, and you never really know when you'll be able to watch them. They do nothing to market here. They have zero presence. It takes a lot of effort to follow them.

Worst thing is I'm not even surprised by this incompetence by the M's. You're right, that's a huge potential market there, being both closer to Seattle and the fact that a lot of BC doesn't like Toronto. Heck, the M's have their games broadcasted in Oregon, despite that probably having lower potential with the Cali teams being the next state south. But not marketing to BC is simply one of many examples of the incompetent M's front office.

 

[EpochLink]

Worst thing is I'm not even surprised by this incompetence by the M's. You're right, that's a huge potential market there, being both closer to Seattle and the fact that a lot of BC doesn't like Toronto. Heck, the M's have their games broadcasted in Oregon, despite that probably having lower potential with the Cali teams being the next state south. But not marketing to BC is simply one of many examples of the incompetent M's front office.

Mariners had the 90’s and early 2000’s to market in BC. Heck, the Seahawks have a massive fanbase here due to the sole geographical location. The massive Blue Jays fanbase go to Seattle and take over.

 

[pitseleh]

Mariners had the 90’s and early 2000’s to market in BC. Heck, the Seahawks have a massive fanbase here due to the sole geographical location. The massive Blue Jays fanbase go to Seattle and take over.

Yeah, I'm a Mariners fan that got into baseball right after the Blue Jays World Series wins. In the mid-90s you could get many Mariners games on basic cable, plus they had Griffey, A-Rod, Randy Johnson etc. which made them a ton of fun to watch. It's been a miserable existence ever since.

 

[Jyrki21]

2. The Jays currently do a terrific job of getting their product into the BC market and the Mariners do an absolutely terrible job. It’s really easy to follow the Blue Jays – every single game is on TV in this market, they’re at convenient times, and if you miss a game there is Blue Jays in 30 to get you easily caught up. Conversely, the Mariners have (stupidly) done nothing to win over this market through their history. You can maybe watch 25 games/year on TV and nearly half of those are against the Blue Jays, and you never really know when you'll be able to watch them. They do nothing to market here. They have zero presence. It takes a lot of effort to follow them.

I mean, this is a direct result of Canadian media , the Blue Jays' owners, choosing what the entire country sees and pumping up their own product; I'm not sure how much power the Mariners themselves would have to change that. When I was a kid you only had Mariner games on local TV (on KSTW) unless you had (expensive) TSN, which we didn't until I was a teenager. So between that (and actually going to games) I was a Mariner fan easily.

When CTV first started Sportsnet it was heavily regionalized and BC continued to get a lot of Mariner games that way. Then Rogers took it over and – presto! – all Toronto, all the time. One of the reasons I am very disdainful of nationalistic arguments (that can really only ever work in Toronto's favor, and not the other way around).

 

[Hit the post]

Mariners had the 90’s and early 2000’s to market in BC. Heck, the Seahawks have a massive fanbase here due to the sole geographical location. The massive Blue Jays fanbase go to Seattle and take over.

Mariners were pretty competative in the 90s & I suspect nearly packing the arena as a result; they didn't feel like they needed to market the club north of the border (*my* impression).

In the 2000s, they started to suck (and I believe so did the attendance numbers). Yet as you said, they *still* didn't really bother trying to market north of the border. Wasted opportunity (especially at this point).

I don't know the circumstances behind Seattle losing their first MLB team (The Seattle Pilots) but I think they only lasted one season under that franchise.

Yeah, I'm a Mariners fan that got into baseball right after the Blue Jays World Series wins. In the mid-90s you could get many Mariners games on basic cable, plus they had Griffey, A-Rod, Randy Johnson etc. which made them a ton of fun to watch. It's been a miserable existence ever since.

You can thank the Expos for trading them Randy Johnson for a rental (Mark Langston).

 

[MS]

I mean, this is a direct result of Canadian media , the Blue Jays' owners, choosing what the entire country sees and pumping up their own product; I'm not sure how much power the Mariners themselves would have to change that. When I was a kid you only had Mariner games on local TV (on KSTW) unless you had (expensive) TSN, which we didn't until I was a teenager. So between that (and actually going to games) I was a Mariner fan easily.

When CTV first started Sportsnet it was heavily regionalized and BC continued to get a lot of Mariner games that way. Then Rogers took it over and – presto! – all Toronto, all the time. One of the reasons I am very disdainful of nationalistic arguments (that can really only ever work in Toronto's favor, and not the other way around).

I mean, sure. That's what I'm saying - they've done a terrific job getting their product into this market. Great media power play by Rogers.

The Mariners have literally done nothing. They could get their games put on TSN - they haven't. They could have adopted Vancouver as a farm team location - they didn't. They could have sold their TV rights to a Seattle station that people picked up in BC - they didn't. They could have played preseason games at BC Place - they haven't since Edgar Martinez hurt his knee there in like 1995.

I'm someone who as a fan likes having a baseball game on in the background when I'm at home doing other things. Right now I'm working OT at home and have the Jays game on. I can't do that with the Mariners, and I end up following the Jays as a result.

We had TSN from when I was 9 or 10 so I've always had Jays games. And I still have a Tony Fernandez Woodwards glass in my cupboard that I assume I got in 1986 because it has his 1985 stats on it. There's a pretty deep connection there for me. Unfortunately.

 

[Jyrki21]

The Mariners have literally done nothing. They could get their games put on TSN - they haven't. They could have adopted Vancouver as a farm team location - they didn't. They could have sold their TV rights to a Seattle station that people picked up in BC - they didn't. They could have played preseason games at BC Place - they haven't since Edgar Martinez hurt his knee there in like 1995.

I don't know how viable any of this is... how do they get TSN to play their games? Pay-to-play? Not worth their time. Vancouver hasn't been a viable AAA location in two decades, and A-ball isn't going to make a dent in anything (at least not now). As for the Seattle TV station, well that's how it always was before but they still couldn't compete with the full Canadian media machine... and today, in addition to that being such a minor part of the total package that it'd be pretty crazy to give priority to it, so many people are cable-cutters anyway that I can't imagine it would matter.

I appreciate you mean over the past X number of years, not just now, but the trends have been underway for a long time already.

 

[Boeser Fan]

I don't know how viable any of this is... how do they get TSN to play their games? Pay-to-play? Not worth their time. Vancouver hasn't been a viable AAA location in two decades, and A-ball isn't going to make a dent in anything (at least not now). As for the Seattle TV station, well that's how it always was before but they still couldn't compete with the full Canadian media machine... and today, in addition to that being such a minor part of the total package that it'd be pretty crazy to give priority to it, so many people are cable-cutters anyway that I can't imagine it would matter.

I appreciate you mean over the past X number of years, not just now, but the trends have been underway for a long time already.

The same way Sportsnet show's the NESN feed of a Bruins game or a 2 US based team Bally Sports telecast on Canadian TV they negotiate the rights.

 

[MS]

I don't know how viable any of this is... how do they get TSN to play their games? Pay-to-play? Not worth their time. Vancouver hasn't been a viable AAA location in two decades, and A-ball isn't going to make a dent in anything (at least not now). As for the Seattle TV station, well that's how it always was before but they still couldn't compete with the full Canadian media machine... and today, in addition to that being such a minor part of the total package that it'd be pretty crazy to give priority to it, so many people are cable-cutters anyway that I can't imagine it would matter.

I appreciate you mean over the past X number of years, not just now, but the trends have been underway for a long time already.

You can tell when a team is trying to make inroads in a market.

Seattle was trying to make inroads in BC during the 1990s/Griffey era. They played some preseason games at BC place, most games were on a channel that we could watch here, and that team got some traction here.

Since then, BC might as well have been in Siberia.

And absolutely, I think that having the Canadians as a Mariner affiliate would be beneficial for the Mariners in this market.

Rogers has done a great job of putting their product into this market and marketing themselves in a way that resonates to people in BC. And full marks for leveraging that as well as they have.

The same way Sportsnet show's the NESN feed of a Bruins game or a 2 US based team Bally Sports telecast on Canadian TV they negotiate the rights.

Yeah, if I wanted to watch 70 Bruins games in 21-22 I could have done that no problem.

 

[RealGudbranson]

Island is full of Canucks fans. Lots of transplants in Uvic/downtown that cheer for other teams, but Canucks are Victoria’s team.

 

[LightningStorm]

This might be the most bitter trip back to Canada for Jays fans traveling to Seattle. 4 games up on the M's for the last WC spot at the moment and the M's proceed to sweep them. Definitely wish the M's would commit more to the BC market, especially TV. With the inroads the Seahawks have made there and with people from Vancouver not thinking fondly of Toronto, its a big untapped market for them.

 

[LightningStorm]

My trip there last month was a lot of fun! Went to Salt Spring Island, followed by Victoria, for 3 days each. For an anecdotal observation, I was surprised at the amount of Habs fans I met there.. Had a few of my Bolts shirts (including champions ones) and they weren't happy seeing it for obvious reasons. Canuck fans preferred me being a Lightning fan to a Kraken one though (from Seattle).

 

[EpochLink]

This might be the most bitter trip back to Canada for Jays fans traveling to Seattle. 4 games up on the M's for the last WC spot at the moment and the M's proceed to sweep them. Definitely wish the M's would commit more to the BC market, especially TV. With the inroads the Seahawks have made there and with people from Vancouver not thinking fondly of Toronto, its a big untapped market for them.

Mariners missed the boat on the BC market, also the Jays in the late 80's/early 90's were heavy World Series contenders and it paid off with 2 championships. Seattle rose to glory with Griffey/Edgar/Johnson/Arod/Buhner from the mid 90's but didn't reach to the mountain top.

Then the early 2000's came witih Ichiro and the Mariners fumbled the ball in 2001 with their record breaking season.

 

[MikeK]

The Canucks are definitely still the top team but it's not like it was leading into the early 2000s. I remember during the late 90s and into the 2000s where there was so much buzz about the team. There were always hockey parties going on. You never had to look very hard to find a place to go handout with people and watch the game. Game days were a big thing. Even pubs and restaurants were getting in on the action with game night specials and advertisements. Things are much different now. It's quiet now. This past decade of Benning and the complete dumpster fire that was has had a negative effect on the fanbase and the Island is no exception. I see more TOR/EDM/CGY fans showing their colors than I ever have before and I've lived on the Island all my life.

This fanbase is in a dormant period right now. At least here on the Island. I think a lot of Canuck fans are just begging for a contender again so they can come out of hiding. So yeah, the Canucks are still the top NHL team here on the island, but it's different now than it ever has been. Very quiet.

 

[JianYang]

I doubt the proportions are much different than the lower mainland, just much smaller numbers.

Heck, I remember I was in Kelowna during the first two games of the cup final in 2011. I didn't feel that much buzz in the okanogan for that final, which surprised me.

 

[JianYang]

Worst thing is I'm not even surprised by this incompetence by the M's. You're right, that's a huge potential market there, being both closer to Seattle and the fact that a lot of BC doesn't like Toronto. Heck, the M's have their games broadcasted in Oregon, despite that probably having lower potential with the Cali teams being the next state south. But not marketing to BC is simply one of many examples of the incompetent M's front office.

I think it's been hard for the mariners to look outward too much given that most of their time in the MLB has been mediocre at best.

The first time I recall any buzz for the mariners was when they had griffey and arod in the mid 90s, and finally had some playoff success. Then they moved to safeco away from that dungeon they called the kingdome, so I feel like they sustained the momentum until the early 2000s.... But then the team just fizzled, and they haven't done anything since.

I feel like the Vancouver contingent will come out when the mariners give them reason to, and it's not much different than the Seattle fans themselves.

 

[EpochLink]

I think it's been hard for the mariners to look outward too much given that most of their time in the MLB has been mediocre at best.

The first time I recall any buzz for the mariners was when they had griffey and arod in the mid 90s, and finally had some playoff success. Then they moved to safeco away from that dungeon they called the kingdome, so I feel like they sustained the momentum until the early 2000s.... But then the team just fizzled, and they haven't done anything since.

I feel like the Vancouver contingent will come out when the mariners give them reason to, and it's not much different than the Seattle fans themselves.

There’s about 24,000 Blue Jays fans a day during their series against Seattle that travel from BC. Depending on which game if the series, Jays fans pack Safeco Field.

 

[JianYang]

There’s about 24,000 Blue Jays fans a day during their series against Seattle that travel from BC. Depending on which game if the series, Jays fans pack Safeco Field.

Some of them come from beyond bc too. When your chances to see your team are so limited, you are going to get a bigger flock.

Like when the Habs come to town, it always amazes me when I talk to people and how many of them are coming from the island, the interior, or beyond. There's only one chance per year.