DMVhockeyman84
Registered User
- Aug 28, 2019
- 15
- 2
I was just curious is there a large Blue Jackets fanbase in Cincinnati or is (NHL) hockey just not a big deal in Cincinnati or Cleveland for that matter?
Too me, the biggest reason the Blue Jackets aren't more popular around the state is we've pretty much sucked for our entire existence. Who wants to follow or invest their time in a team that's going nowhere.
Listen whippersnapper, you say you're in grad school which means you're probably in your 20's. I can't even remember my twenties anymore. The Browns and Indians have been around forever with some history of championship seasons. As much as we all like hockey on this board, it can't compare to the natural popularity of football and baseball.How about all of the browns/bengals/reds/Indians fans in the Columbus area? It’s not like fans of those teams have had much to root for over the past 20 years either.
I’ve been living in Cincinnati for two years now for graduate school and I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve seen people wearing CBJ clothing
How do you know they didn’t give a damn about Cleveland? THey tried for YEARS to get in the market and get the AHL team as their affiliate but could not due to existing contracts that Cleveland had with first Colorado (who had a five year contract) and then I believe San Jose. They tried but couldn’t get the contracts aligned until a few years ago.One of the biggest disappointments with the CBJ is their lack of outreach with the other markets in the city. Honestly the jackets didn’t give a damn about Cleveland until we could get the Monsters as our affiliate. We should try to get Cincinnati as our ECHL team, and do some outreach in that area to make more people in Cincinnati care about the CBJ, especially since the bengals are so bad.
Why haven't Torts or Foligno done anything to improve the teams relationship with Cincinnati??
If we cant get people in Cincy to put on a CBJ jersey, how do we expect to get elite talent to do so?
The Jackets regularly (as in once a summer) send a player or players to Cincy and Cleveland to promote the team through the various local teams. For example, CBJ players have thrown out the first pitch at the Reds game, this year a trio of players went to the Browns training camp. Cincy isn’t their main market, neither is Cleveland, but once they start winning, those markets gain interest. It happened last spring when stations in both Cincy and Cleveland talked about the run the CBJ had in the playoffs. The best way for the CBJ to gain a foothold is to win, plain and simple, when they win people will talk about them. It takes time.Why haven't Torts or Foligno done anything to improve the teams relationship with Cincinnati??
If we cant get people in Cincy to put on a CBJ jersey, how do we expect to get elite talent to do so?
They should send Rick Nash down 71 to hang out at a mall or something.
Why would you want to do that to yourself?Hey! Any CBJ fans in Dayton? Is there any bar where CBJ fans gather and can actually get the game with the sound turned on?
Judging by Bengals and Reds attendance there is too much competition to care for any team that has been mediocre for 20 years.I’ve been in Cincinnati for a year, also for grad school. I haven’t seen any CBJ gear or logos, and hockey merch is something I notice. I’ve seen one guy wearing an Avalanche shirt, and one wearing a Cyclones shirt. I see tons of FC Cincinnati and Reds, and have seen more Bengals since football season started back up, and of course UC. What I notice about Cincinnati is that the people here love sports. It’s basically an untapped potential for CBJ, and no doubt people here would take notice if the team did some serious damage in the playoffs. Reaching out and possibly a Cyclones affiliate couldn’t hurt, but I think a real winner would be what turns Cincinnati’s attention onto CBJ. As it stands, there’s too much sports competition just in Cincinnati for the people to care about a team in Columbus that’s mostly been mediocre for the best part of 20 years.
Swap out "Cyclones" with "Chill" and you have pro hockey in Columbus at the end of the last millennium. Which gives me hope that there's something to be tapped...The ECHL Cyclones have developed a very nice following. They averaged over 5,000 per game last year which is a very nice attendance number for the ECHL. Their management understands that their product is entertainment and not hockey, per se. The percentage of people who come to a Saturday night game-where crowds commonly reach 8,000-who could name 10 players on the Cyclones roster is probably less than 10%. It's all about having fun, $1 beers during the week and something to do with the kids on a weekend night. The crowds are enthusiastic and they love the fights and scrums.
Option #1 would not have helped, but option #2 would have outright killed any hope of success here - and, indeed, I doubt the team would have had any chance of existence otherwise. Columbus in general is deeply resentful of particular attention constantly going to Cincinnati and Cleveland while getting pretty much ignored itself in any capacity outside of "an unusually large college town" - especially after taking the #2 in size spot from Cincy fair and square. Mr. Mac made a point of wanting a team for Columbus; that's a not insignificant part of why he was so loved. Heck, you can see some of that dynamic in action here on this board when folks gripe about OSU.
- Clevelanders consider Cleveland to be a major league town and there can be a certain level of animosity/competitiveness when it comes to the capitol region of the state. Some have a hard time accepting that the Monsters are the feeder team for Columbus. They think the NHL Blue Jackets should be in Cleveland and the minor league team in Columbus. I have heard two things quite often: (1) "If the Blue Jackets were in Cleveland I would be a fan" or (2) "If the Blue Jackets were the Ohio Blue Jackets and not the Columbus Blue Jackets then I would accept them as the team representing the entire state rather than some smaller market down south I don't identify with".
Swap out "Cyclones" with "Chill" and you have pro hockey in Columbus at the end of the last millennium. Which gives me hope that there's something to be tapped...
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