Do most Americans know Hamilton or Ontario?

[dronald]

I didn't want to derail the discussions in the other Hamilton threads, so I apologize to anyone getting sick of hearing about Hamilton while so much is going on in the NHL atm, but my curiosity was growing and I wanted a discussion on what would be more profitable if Hamilton was to get a franchise. And I wanted some American opinions on it, based on what you know about Hockey/Hamilton and what anybody's friends in the States know about Hamilton/Ontario that are not into Hockey, what would be more appealing to watch?

Would the idea of a team playing "Ontario" or "Hamilton" sound more exciting. Put your team up against a team by either one of those names, would either sound exciting, just one, or neither?

Also, for people living in, and around Hamilton, what do you think?

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[Badger36]

Id be willing to bet that most Americans dont even know where Hamilton is.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Hamilton's probably a bit of an unknown to most Americans, due to the simple fact that it's not a major city and they don't have any connection to the major sports in the U.S. (AHL doesn't count) like the other Canadian NHL cities.

 

[Brodie]

Hamilton would be a complete unknown to 95% of Americans. Ontario would make a lot more sense, but to be honest most Americans are more familiar with Canadian cities than the provinces in a very broad sense (I imagine more Americans know of Winnipeg than of Manitoba, but this isn't the case with ever province) since many American shows will refer to Canadian places or people from them as simply "X, Canada" instead of "X, New Brunswick".

 

[Fugu]

I've driven past it numerous times.

 

[yotesreign]

I'd guess a lot of Southern Californians know where Ontario is (at least in relation to Pomona) and have no clue where Hamilton might be. So call it Hamilton so when the Ducks or Kings play 'em we don't wind up with a bunch of So Cal hockey fans lost on the I-15 and the 91 banging on their GPS unit wondering 'where the heck is the Arena in Ontario???' and tying up rush hour traffic, thanks!

 

[Hamilton Tigers]

If you can market hockey to Americans in non-traditional markets ("grow the game" ), then surely you can also teach a tiny little bit of geography.

It would be a hell of a lot easier to google or wiki Hamilton than it would be to learn the game.

Hamilton's probably a bit of an unknown to most Americans, due to the simple fact that it's not a major city and they don't have any connection to the major sports in the U.S. (AHL doesn't count)[/] like the other Canadian NHL cities.[/B]

Neither do Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary. Vancouver had the NBA for a few years, and Montreal lost the Expos a few years ago. Other than Toronto, such connections are quite tenuous.

Surely Americans know hockey has a very strong connection to Canada.

 

[Fugu]

I'd guess a lot of Southern Californians know where Ontario is (at least in relation to Pomona) and have no clue where Hamilton might be. So call it Hamilton so when the Ducks or Kings play 'em we don't wind up with a bunch of So Cal hockey fans lost on the I-15 and the 91 banging on their GPS unit wondering 'where the heck is the Arena in Ontario???' and tying up rush hour traffic, thanks!

This is a good point nevertheless. Coyotes aren't in Phoenix, but in Glendale. The Devils are in New Jersey, but obviously the state has many cities. Same for Colorado Avs. I think people are trying to nitpick at times.

 

[Made Dan]

I think Ontario sounds cooler for a team name.

 

[dronald]

This is a good point nevertheless. Coyotes aren't in Phoenix, but in Glendale. The Devils are in New Jersey, but obviously the state has many cities. Same for Colorado Avs. I think people are trying to nitpick at times.

Indeed, and there's a reason people down south dont cheer for the "Sunrise Panthers."

 

[TesseracT]

I consider myself fairly good at geography and even I had to look up Hamilton when I started hearing about the city getting a team. I think Ontario would be your best bet but Hamilton would work too.

Out of curiosity, did most Canadians know Anaheim or was the standard "just south of LA" necessary? Hamilton is kind of the same IMO. A quick, "close to Toronto" is sufficient in describing the location of the city.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

If you can market hockey to Americans in non-traditional markets ("grow the game" ), then surely you can also teach a tiny little bit of geography.

It would be a hell of a lot easier to google or wiki Hamilton than it would be to learn the game.



Neither do Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary. Vancouver had the NBA for a few years, and Montreal lost the Expos a few years ago. Other than Toronto, such connections are quite tenuous.

Surely Americans know hockey has a very strong connection to Canada.

I'm including the NHL as a major sport, duh. And I also mentioned "major cities" as a reason why people would be aware of them, too.

Even if they're not hockey fans, I'm pretty sure most Americans are aware of the existence of places like Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg. Same definitely can't be said about Hamilton.

Just as I'm sure there are plenty of minor league towns in the U.S. that Canadians don't know anything about, either.

 

[dronald]

I consider myself fairly good at geography and even I had to look up Hamilton when I started hearing about the city getting a team. I think Ontario would be your best bet but Hamilton would work too.

Out of curiosity, did most Canadians know Anaheim or was the standard "just south of LA" necessary? Hamilton is kind of the same IMO. A quick, "close to Toronto" is sufficient in describing the location of the city.

To answer your question, from my point of view being 20 years old Ive known of Anaheims existance my whole life, but this is due to Hockey. So I would argue that most Canadians know of Anaheim because Hockey is so big here...

(That Mighty Ducks movie really helped haha, it was huge when I was a kid!)

Edit: I would also like to add that I'm sure many Canadians know of Anaheim for other reasons besides Hockey too. Just so we're clear

 

[Brodie]

Ontario would be a lot better for marketing the team within Southern Ontario anyway

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Most Americans have heard of Ontario and know it's in Canada (though they couldn't necessarily place it on a map.

Almost nobody in the United States has heard of Hamilton.

 

[EvilPirateZamboni]

Probably a small percentage of Americans could find Hamilton or Ontario on a map. I was talking to a friend of man who is from Detroit and a hockey fan, and I had to tell him where Hamilton is.

Ontario already has a popular team don't they? Might be better to call them the Hamilton Whatever.

 

[Montrealer]

I consider myself fairly good at geography and even I had to look up Hamilton when I started hearing about the city getting a team. I think Ontario would be your best bet but Hamilton would work too.

Out of curiosity, did most Canadians know Anaheim or was the standard "just south of LA" necessary? Hamilton is kind of the same IMO. A quick, "close to Toronto" is sufficient in describing the location of the city.

I had heard of Anaheim before the Ducks and knew they were somewhere near LA. Probably because of Disneyland.

I'd say you're absolutely right, btw. Fans of a sport will usually figure it out one way or another (see Green Bay, which without the NFL would be virtually unknown).

 

[Pegger5]

I think to Hamilton's disadvantage they get tied into the "Golden Horse Shoe" (mainly Toronto) thus it does not hit the radar as much as other similar size cities in Canada.

 

[Brodie]

I didn't really know where Hamilton was before the Balsillie thing, and I've been going to Canada since forever.

I think Ontario is ubiquitous, except maybe in Southern California and even there I think context would win out there.

 

[Kanata Senators]

There may already be a couple teams in Ontario, so i don't think that would make much sense.

 

[Brodie]

how many baseball teams were there in California concurrently with the California Angels?

 

[Kanata Senators]

I can't see the leafs or sens wanting another team to be the ontario whatevers.
And if MLSE doesn't want it to happen, it's not going to happen!

 

[dronald]

I'm not sure if having two teams in Ontario is an arguement against it or not. I'm sure it would be taken into consideration when deciding what to name them.

But one must remember the Tampa Bay Lightning are located in Florida, but there are still the Florida Pathers located in Sunrise, FL. So I dont know if the NHL would have a problem having Ottawa, Toronto, and then a team named, "Ontario."

 

[Kairi Zaide]

I think it's a bit like Quebec City (Where I live) : Some people know, especially near the respective borders, but once you're far, they don't know where it is or just heard it one or two times in their life - or they just know it's in Canada.
When I went to Chicago this year, every time someone asked me if my friends and I were german (Well, seems like french canadians speaking english sounds like germans) and that we answered Quebec City, we had to tell it was 200 miles away east of Montreal. /mylife

 

[Bjorn Le]

I don't know whether it's ignorance, or whether it's just not notable enough, but bring up a similar city of Hamiltons size and noterity in the US and I've probably at least heard of it and know what state it's in, I can't understand why most American's can't do the same thing.