Hockey is dying!!

[ShooterMcGavin*]

You don't know much about the sports culture in America.

A few more tickets will sell for a couple of years. Then the game will have to sell people - which it will not in America. Beckham will go home and nobody will care about soccer in the US.

Just like every other time.

It's obvious the Beckham thing will die down and we won't hear about soccer for another 5 years. Kids usually play soccer tell there about 10, and then they discover real sports like golf hockey baseball football whatever. MLS has no real future. I only see the NHL progressing.

Hockey dying is the most ignorant thing I've heard in a while.

 

[Brad*]

Oh ya it's about -15 here. Global warning isn't that serious of a issue, as people we can fix it.

Do you pay attention to the news, at all?

 

[ShooterMcGavin*]

Do you pay attention to the news, at all?

Dude, in 20 years global warming will be afterthought. I'm not even worried about it.

 

[VanIslander]

More people went to see an NHL game last month than in the entire history of the league.

It will do just fine, thank you.

In the emerging web age of fragmented audiences, sports like hockey are on solid ice.

 

[saskganesh]

Dude, in 20 years global warming will be afterthought. I'm not even worried about it.

don't worry, be happy.

 

[Brad*]

Dude, in 20 years global warming will be afterthought. I'm not even worried about it.

Thank God we have 16 year olds on a hockey message board to set the story straight. For a minute, I almost believed the thousands of highly qualified scientists.

 

[statistics]

I think worldwide hockey has a bigger fanbase then sports like football. Look at countries like Sweden Finlad Russia Slovakia Czech Kazachstan etc..all of them are huge into hockey. Add the fact it's number one in Canada, and 4-5 in USA I think it has a pretty good backbone. Why all the negatism on hockey? It's very healthy right now. There even talking about expanding to a 32 team league. Every team is either making a revenue or breaking even, solid talent pool and the league is competitive and exciting. Go back to playing the flute or something Finlad dude. But as I was saying, I have no problem with soccer being the most played and watched sport. It's boring, and like I said if a bunch of poor kids from China and Africa enjoy it, thats fine. Life is good here and I'll continue to watch my hockey football baseball and basketball games. Kthnxbye.

Nobody cares about american football outside North America. Football = soccer. When wrote football I mean soccer.

Almost nobody cares about hockey in Russia. It's number 3 sports in Russia. Check out how pathetic RSL average attendance is. Kazakhstan are you kidding me? In Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden football is number one.

Football is number one in Europe too, not just some poor countries. Some of those European countries are richer than Canada.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Congratulations - I'm now firmly convinced that you're trolling.

 

[statistics]

Congratulations - I'm now firmly convinced that you're trolling.

Why? Are my facts wrong? Go check out RSL average attendance, if you don't believe me.

 

[duckyman]

It's obvious the Beckham thing will die down and we won't hear about soccer for another 5 years. Kids usually play soccer tell there about 10, and then they discover real sports like golf hockey baseball football whatever. MLS has no real future. I only see the NHL progressing.

Hockey dying is the most ignorant thing I've heard in a while.

so soccer is not a sport but GOLF is.......***

 

[South Florida Canuck]

MLS is garbage. It was a contrived effort by FIFA to shove soccer down our throats after the '94 World Cup. It is up there with the WNBA in terms of sports with absolutely NO fanbase whatsoever, yet is promoted throughout the media. I think all this talk of hockey dying is ludicrous. Even here in South Florida, which isn't a hockey hotbed, I know tons of hockey fans, and I have yet to meet a fan of such third tier sports like MLS, WNBA, Arena Football, etc... Soccer will NEVER be over here in the US for the simple fact that there is not enough offense generated and it moves at too slow of a pace. Watching MLS is like watching paint dry

 

[OG6ix]

You don't know much about the sports culture in America.

A few more tickets will sell for a couple of years. Then the game will have to sell people - which it will not in America. Beckham will go home and nobody will care about soccer in the US.

Just like every other time.

Says the Canadian.

 

[espo*]

Says the Canadian.

I don't think anyone has to be American to know that david beckham and a pop star wife isn't going to make soccer big time popular in the U.S. it'll have a small boost for a few years and after he's gone it will go back to what it always has been in the U.S,a foreign sport that has no roots in the U.S and the average American fan can't identify with or get into aside from the world cup.

Then what will they do,hope that beyonce marries up with Ronaldhino? Hockey has as much chance at staying on the U.S sports scene as soccer does,don't kid yourself.

 

[OG6ix]

I don't think anyone has to be American to know that david beckham and a pop star wife isn't going to make soccer big time popular in the U.S. it'll have a small boost for a few years and after he's gone it will go back to what it always has been in the U.S,a foreign sport that has no roots in the U.S and the average American fan can't identify with or get into aside from the world cup.

Then what will they do,hope that beyonce marries up with Ronaldhino? Hockey has as much chance at staying on the U.S sports scene as soccer does,don't kid yourself.

Hockey, the NHL, has been in the US for 80+ years, and it's still a fringe sport. It will always be a fringe sport in this country, and in the NASL days with Pele there is no way you can say that Soccer didn't own hockey. They had 70,000+ people for games at Giant Stadium at one time. The NASL just made some seriously bad decisions. I think from the average person's viewpoint, if the US dominates in soccer or has the best league that will mean something, but Hockey is just a winter sport that isn't even close to the "world's game" so it's like "meh."

 

[espo*]

Hockey, the NHL, has been in the US for 80+ years, and it's still a fringe sport. It will always be a fringe sport in this country, and in the NASL days with Pele there is no way you can say that Soccer didn't own hockey. They had 70,000+ people for games at Giant Stadium at one time. The NASL just made some seriously bad decisions. I think from the average person's viewpoint, if the US dominates in soccer or has the best league that will mean something, but Hockey is just a winter sport that isn't even close to the "world's game" so it's like "meh."

It may have always been a fringe sport in the U.S but it's still got 5 times the roots in the U.S that soccer does. What mistakes did the MLS make?...............have Pele retire?

a "beautiful couple" may increase interest in the U.S like a star such as Pele did way back but i doubt there is much lasting momentum in that.If there proves to be from this after 15 years i'll come back and admit i was wrong but i'm very confident it won't. It's soccer.........Americans simply have a hard time relating to it because they have zero history with it and find it painfully slow.David and Posh Beckham won't change that.

Even hockey has "the miracle" in the U.S. (which by the way seemed to mean something).What is it gonna take for U.S to really break in soccer?......probably a world cup win and that is going to be one damn hard challenge no question.And even with that i don't think soccer would become a major sport in the U.S.

I don't think it's impossible but highly unlikely.It's a foreign sport and one that most Americans don't think is all that great to begin with.They've been saying soccer is going to take off in the U.S for decades now and it just has'nt.

our grandchildren will probably be here in 40 years debating just when the "inevitable" will happen and soccer becomes big in the U.S.

Good luck soccer.

 

[Transported Upstater]

Oh ya it's about -15 here. Global warning isn't that serious of a issue, as people we can fix it. It won't effect this generation either.

Dude, in 20 years global warming will be afterthought. I'm not even worried about it.

Wow. I'm not going to go too much into this, because it's off topic.

However...I feel I'm qualified to speak here, seeing as I get paid to study weather and atmospheric science. That's what I do. That's my field.

Bottom line: I think you need to stop now before you keep digging yourself into a hole the size of a meteoric impact crater, because you're spouting complete nonsense.

 

[Rocket]

Sad but true - even less Americans care about soccer then Hockey.

It does seem that way but I don't believe that for a second. Did you know that the average first round World Cup game last year had higher TV ratings in America than the Stanley Cup playoffs? And, the World Cup final game between Italy and France had 4 times the audience the Stanley Cup final Game 7 had?

The reason MLS don't do that well is because they have kept their business small. They spend less than $2 million per team on salaries and close to 0 on marketing. Imagine how many Americans would care about hockey if each NHL team had a $2 million payroll. God knows NHL TV ratings are horrible NOW, with a $40 million budget per team and good media coverage (compared to the coverage MLS gets).

That said, I understand MLS' reasoning behind this ultra-conservative approach. It's smart to focus on building stadiums, setting up good player development systems, and expanding into all the major markets first before going 'big'. It may take upto 10 more years for MLS to accomplish those tasks. After that, even you will start to see what Americans like more, soccer or hockey.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

They spend less than $2 million per team on salaries and close to 0 on marketing. Imagine how many Americans would care about hockey if each NHL team had a $2 million payroll. God knows NHL TV ratings are horrible NOW, with a $40 million budget per team and good media coverage (compared to the coverage MLS gets).

How much Beckham got money again?

 

[Sotnos]

It does seem that way but I don't believe that for a second. Did you know that the average first round World Cup game last year had higher TV ratings in America than the Stanley Cup playoffs? And, the World Cup final game between Italy and France had 4 times the audience the Stanley Cup final Game 7 had?

Link for those ratings please? And you're not talking about the MLS there, the World Cup is a bit different. If I had to guess, I'd bet that a rather large portion (if not majority) of people who watch the World Cup in the US are people who picked up their love of soccer elsewhere and are either immigrants or children of immigrants.

 

[mr gib]

How much Beckham got money again?

so far with his present endorsement's and after he start's with the galaxy -

about 1.2 mil - a week

 

[Bear of Bad News]

It does seem that way but I don't believe that for a second. Did you know that the average first round World Cup game last year had higher TV ratings in America than the Stanley Cup playoffs? And, the World Cup final game between Italy and France had 4 times the audience the Stanley Cup final Game 7 had?

Knowing as much about the World Cup as you do, you probably know that

1. The World Cup is an international competition, whereas the Stanley Cup playoffs are not. Americans will watch just about anything if it's an international competition. Or are you advocating professional track and field? Professional gymnastics? Professional luge? They all get pretty good ratings in the Olympics.
   
2. The World Cup is not an annual event, wheras the Stanley Cup playoffs are. The rarer an event is, the more likely people are to watch.

A more apt comparison to the Stanley Cup playoffs would be the MLS playoffs.

 

[Rocket]

How much Beckham got money again?

About $10 mil a year. The rest doesn't come from the league or it's owners. Up until now the average salary has been less than $2 million per team. With Beckham's salary it will increase to about $3M per team. That is still a small fraction of the average NHL team's payroll. MLS owners are very smart and patient. I don't think they will sign too many players like Beckham until they are done laying a solid foundation for the league.

 

[Rocket]

Link for those ratings please?

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=238&num=5873

After a wildly successful month, Sunday’s World Cup final drew 17 million American viewers, more people than watched Tiger Woods’ most recent major win, a non-figure skating night of the Winter Olympics, or the season finale of “The Apprentice.”

The final between France and Italy averaged nearly 12 million viewers on ABC and 5 million on Univision [Spanish language channel], according to early numbers released yesterday by Nielsen.

ABC’s 8.6 overnight Nielsen rating and 19 share among households for Sunday's final game, which aired at 2 p.m., was 110 percent higher than 2002's final, which aired in an unfortunate 7 a.m. timeslot from Korea. Italy won the game.

More significantly, it was also up 25 percent from 1998, when the France vs. Brazil final, the most recent one held in Europe, earned a 6.9/17. That should help prove that ratings for the tournament weren’t merely boosted by better timeslots but by a growing interest in soccer.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2006-07-11-tv-ratings_x.htm

(As of June 27, which means before the Quarterfinals began)

http://online.wsj.com/public/articl...AeHQhPCU50_20060803.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

Visit BigSoccer's World Cup TV Ratings thread for more.

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=367262&page=2

 

[Rocket]

Knowing as much about the World Cup as you do, you probably know that

1. The World Cup is an international competition, whereas the Stanley Cup playoffs are not. Americans will watch just about anything if it's an international competition. Or are you advocating professional track and field? Professional gymnastics? Professional luge? They all get pretty good ratings in the Olympics.
   
2. The World Cup is not an annual event, wheras the Stanley Cup playoffs are. The rarer an event is, the more likely people are to watch.

I disagree. Americans will not watch just any international competition unless it's part of a much bigger event, like the Olympics, if they don't have at least some interest in the sport itself. I would not make much of the World Cup numbers if only the final game drew huge ratings. That could be discounted for the curiosity factor, but the whole event (64 games) drew very respectable numbers which proves to me that Americans (mostly young Americans who grew up with soccer) are becoming increasingly interested in the sport. I also remember seeing an informative article supporting that fact but can't seem to find it at the moment.

By the way, what were the numbers like for World Hockey Championship, World Basketball Championship and World Baseball Classic?

A more apt comparison to the Stanley Cup playoffs would be the MLS playoffs.

I'm not gonna argue that NHL playoffs don't get better numbers than the MLS playoffs, but I've already explained that it's not fair to compare them when the amount of $ they spend getting those numbers is nowhere near identical. MLS is only 11 years old. Just give it few more years to finish building a solid foundation and expand it's footprint to the point where it can start to spend big. We will come back and compare the numbers after that.

 

[Transported Upstater]

Link for those ratings please? And you're not talking about the MLS there, the World Cup is a bit different. If I had to guess, I'd bet that a rather large portion (if not majority) of people who watch the World Cup in the US are people who picked up their love of soccer elsewhere and are either immigrants or children of immigrants.

I may be able to shed some light here through some personal experiences...

I watched every possible World Cup game. I do every time. I'm a big Italy fan, and the Italian fans and I were handsomely rewarded last year.

I'm an American, born in New York, of primarily Italian heritage who has never even been to Europe. I will NEVER cheer for the Americans over the Italians in soccer. NEVER. Wouldn't dream of it. My heritage takes precedence over my nationality when it comes to soccer, and will do so forever.

I'm one of the countless American citizens that follows a different national team. Maybe that "melting pot" diversity of our country is the thing that makes it more difficult for the country to rally around one national team?