How can the NHL grow the sport of hockey?

[Mainehockey33]

This seems like a relevant topic since Nashville, a non typical hockey market, is in the finals. I'm not into country music but you have all these country stars going to games to watch, sing the anthem, and get interviewed. Charles Barkley was just at a game. This has to be good for the sport. Why doesn't the NHL do more of this? Kevin Smith is a huge fan, why not have him promoting the game, I'm sure he'd love to. Have legends like Gretzky, Yzerman and Orr on national broadcasts as guest hosts.

Besides getting kids into hockey which I know is huge, what else can the NHL do to grow the sport? Go back to ESPN (no glowing puck this time)?

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[NDiesel]

Expansion into Vegas will certainly help - play games in non-traditional markets the next several years. More specifically South Korea and China who now have an invested interest in the sport.

As much as another team in Canada would probably do well financially, the game is pretty much grown as much as possible here - focus on another big area in USA for the next team in an nontraditional market. As for where? Not sure.

 

[Therick67]

I don't know how much having guest hosts will grow the game, you'd have to be watching in the first place to see those people.

The sport is thriving in places it never did, Texas, California, Florida.

Not to be over simplistic, but exposing young people to the sport by either playing or attending a game is what's going to get it done..

 

[Mainehockey33]

Oh I agree, youth hockey in these new markets is huge. If you grow up playing and watching it you'll be a fan for life. I'm also optimistic about Vegas.

Growing the game in Asia is interesting. I hope it works but I haven't really taken it seriously yet. I wish they had more games on basic cable since I don't get NBCSN. Put more games on other NBC channels or move to ESPN.

 

[PB37]

The sport is growing. It's much bigger now then it was 15 years ago.

The problem is that they are still terrible with marketing the players. They want to prop up the good ole, respectable, humble guy but ostracize the ones with actual charisma and personality off the ice.

 

[NSBruinFan]

Keep finding ways to make the game more affordable. The number of kids registering for hockey is down in some communities because of the price to play hockey. Registration, gear, and travel expenses add up quickly.
Former Bruin, Aaron Johnson, is from the town where my child plays hockey. Johnson gave gear through the player’s association. First year players here have access to this gear if they need it. Great way to help and cut the cost early on.

 

[Mainehockey33]

The sport is growing. It's much bigger now then it was 15 years ago.

The problem is that they are still terrible with marketing the players. They want to prop up the good ole, respectable, humble guy but ostracize the ones with actual charisma and personality off the ice.

I can't stand that. That's why they have to get rid of guys like Mulberry. The dumbest criticism of PK I've ever heard was about him dancing around during warmups. Personally I don't care, if that's how you stay lose before a game, great. Subban is way easier to market then a guy like Bergeron. You're absolutely right, the NHL needs to promote guys with personality. Crosby has the personality of oatmeal.

 

[Mainehockey33]

Keep finding ways to make the game more affordable. The number of kids registering for hockey is down in some communities because of the price to play hockey. Registration, gear, and travel expenses add up quickly.
Former Bruin, Aaron Johnson, is from the town where my child plays hockey. Johnson gave gear through the player’s association. First year players here have access to this gear if they need it. Great way to help and cut the cost early on.

I would think the NHL would put a lot of money back into youth hockey, they'd be crazy not to. Having ex-nhlers involved in youth hockey is also great.

 

[Lobster57]

Keep finding ways to make the game more affordable. The number of kids registering for hockey is down in some communities because of the price to play hockey. Registration, gear, and travel expenses add up quickly.
Former Bruin, Aaron Johnson, is from the town where my child plays hockey. Johnson gave gear through the player’s association. First year players here have access to this gear if they need it. Great way to help and cut the cost early on.

Yeah, the price of equipment was the reason i never played as a kid. my parents simply couldn't afford it. and it's only gotten worse, and 8 year doesn't need a composite stick.

 

[JRull86]

Yeah, the price of equipment was the reason i never played as a kid. my parents simply couldn't afford it. and it's only gotten worse, and 8 year doesn't need a composite stick.

Yeah the cost is definitely prohibitive.

Skates were always something I got second hand when I played while growing. Play-It-Again Sports was great for that.

 

[NDiesel]

The sport is growing. It's much bigger now then it was 15 years ago.

The problem is that they are still terrible with marketing the players. They want to prop up the good ole, respectable, humble guy but ostracize the ones with actual charisma and personality off the ice.

Great point. People hate the generic answers players give it seems, but as soon as they stray too much from it people also pile on for being too arrogant, cocky, rude, etc.

We need more guys who bring excitement and creativity to the game, not less.

 

[NDiesel]

Yeah, the price of equipment was the reason i never played as a kid. my parents simply couldn't afford it. and it's only gotten worse, and 8 year doesn't need a composite stick.

You can get composite sticks for fairly cheap now...things like skates, helmets and the protective gear are probably the biggest expenses, especially since you don't want to skimp on protection when it comes to your child.

 

[JAD]

There are a number of various ways to improve the marketability of the NHL.
I would probably start with a better standard of consistency of the officiating from game to game with accountability of the officials. Consistency is vital to the credibility of the league and the sport.

Also, better marketing of local team players in local markets; and perhaps the NHL itself should focus on national marketing of players across both Canada and the US. Sadly where I live now I almost hardly ever hear anything about the local NHL team and its players.


Maybe something like a Tuesday night game of the week that is broadcast nationwide, regional broadcasts to small markets on a Sunday afternoon just aren't cutting it. They could still keep the regional broadcasts on Sundays but a national game would draw more attention marketing wise.

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

Apparently the current answer is: Charles Barkley

When an NBA Hall-of-famer and broadcaster is panning his own league and talking up another sport that is not Baseball/Football on air, people take notice.

The star power at Nashville home games getting a lot of TV and press is also opening the sport up to a wider crowd.

The fanbase hype is real:

Knoxville, TN was 4th in Finals tune in ratings for game 4.

People in 90% of Tennessee dont even know what hockey is, yet alone they have a team in Nashville. For Knoxville to have that high a TV viewership for anything other than college football is unprecedented.

The sport is exploding in that state in a very short amount of time. I've never seen anything like it.

This is a finals that has a lot of "Perfect Storm" press stuff all happening at once. Gary Bettman all of a sudden looks like a genius, which is something I never thought I would say.

 

[JAD]

Apparently the current answer is: Charles Barkley

When an NBA Hall-of-famer and broadcaster is panning his own league and talking up another sport that is not Baseball/Football on air, people take notice.

The star power at Nashville home games getting a lot of TV and press is also opening the sport up to a wider crowd.

The fanbase hype is real:

Knoxville, TN was 4th in Finals tune in ratings for game 4.

People in 90% of Tennessee dont even know what hockey is, yet alone they have a team in Nashville. For Knoxville to have that high a TV viewership for anything other than college football is unprecedented.

The sport is exploding in that state in a very short amount of time. I've never seen anything like it.

This is a finals that has a lot of "Perfect Storm" press stuff all happening at once. Gary Bettman all of a sudden looks like a genius, which is something I never thought I would say.

Not to take anything away from Nashville's accomplishments; the same thing happened when Carolina won the cup ... everybody loves a winner.

 

[OmNomNom]

there's a reason why soccer is the biggest sport in the world - you can play it anywhere, on the cheap.

hockey is less so. especially ice hockey. rinks are not in abundance, or are an inconvenient drive away for some, and you'll need to book ice time and gather people, nets, equipment, etc. even a pick up game of floor hockey, you still need sticks and nets and boundaries (?)

that being said, you can tell its growing. i think as the generations get older, you'll have lightly used/donated equipment that can help fund communities, as well as people who legitimately love the game, funding their communities as well.

it's funny, i was thinking of nashville growing as a market as well

 

[s3antana5757]

Call this a radical idea, but cut a deal with ESPN to televise the games. I think someone said that 1/3 of the country doesn't even get NBSCN, and for the 10 games a year that are on NBC, doesn't seem worth it. ESPN has tons of networks that most people get, and have a great streaming service. Plus, they do a great job marketing their products.

Second, stop having lock outs and moving teams. People go away when you go away. I live in CT, and I can't tell you how many people stopped watching the NHL when the Whalers moved. Tough to jump ship and root for the B's or one of the NY teams after the rivalries that were built. I also think having quite a few teams in very warm markets where it's tough to play hockey isn't ideal. Arizona, Florida, Texas are certainly growing, but I don't think they'll ever be able to compete with football and baseball in those areas. I don't think Las Vegas is the ideal spot for a team, but I could be wrong. The meca that is LV may have more of an effect than I'm giving it credit for.

 

[Urbanskog]

What a silly question, the NHL doesn't want to grow the sport.

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

Not to take anything away from Nashville's accomplishments; the same thing happened when Carolina won the cup ... everybody loves a winner.

Ouch. You might have a point there. Will be interesting to see how rabid the fan base is next season for Nashville.

I would love the NHL to go international. Japan has a growing interest in hockey and China had a KHL team there for a bit. England has a league and Ireland has a growing NHL fanbase. I think these are markets that can be tapped into and grown. But the logistic may be prohibitive. How are you gonna do a 84 game season with teams in such drastically different timezones?

Canadian expansion is next up on the league list. Though the west needs a team and Seattle has both a fanbase and money, just not local government support and a playable arena. However that could change fast if the NBA decides on reviving the Supersonics. Seattlites are still very salty over that whole mess.

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

Call this a radical idea, but cut a deal with ESPN to televise the games.

Second, stop having lock outs and moving teams.

The second contributed to the end of the first. Hockey was getting a lot of TV time on Fox(glowpuck anyone?) and ESPN before the lockout mess. It really killed all the momentum they had going. The Rangers winning the cup in the 90s was a huge boost to the sport fanbase because it got a lot of prime TV time. Once ESPN dropped the NHL like a bad habit after the lockout I think Bettman got salty over it. It really hurt the league in the US losing ESPN. Hockey came back to main TV in the mid 2000s on some alternative sports network(what was its name?). The channel exploded from all the new hockey viewership and was then bought by NBC who turned it into NBCSN. I don't see another ESPN deal while Gary is in office, I think he is still salty.

 

[Therick67]

While equipment is expensive, the cost to play on a team is even more expensive.

My son plays on a Pee Wee team and a Middle school team, cost me just under 2K. That's not including equipment, tournaments, USA hockey number...etc..

Unfortunately it's an expensive sport to play..

 

[OmNomNom]

Not to take anything away from Nashville's accomplishments; the same thing happened when Carolina won the cup ... everybody loves a winner.

it's actually interesting. their attendance stayed boosted for like 7 years

http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph.php?tmi=5154

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

While equipment is expensive, the cost to play on a team is even more expensive.

My son plays on a Pee Wee team and a Middle school team, cost me just under 2K. That's not including equipment, tournaments, USA hockey number...etc..

Unfortunately it's an expensive sport to play..

WOW, that is too expensive for most people.

I know Canada has a few charity foundations just for getting hockey equipment into kids hands.
http://hockeygods.com/charities

But not really anything like this in the US for hockey.

Someone start some charities!

 

[LouJersey]

Eight games in the division vs each team.

Drop the instigator.

Outlaw the trap.

Get rid of offsides review where in zone possession is greater than eight seconds. Also make the skate in the air over the blue line legal instead of having to be touching.

Drop the game misconduct for starting a fight in the last five minutes.

Would be a huge fan of contraction and or relocation.

Use NHL NETWORK ffs. They should show every preseason game. They should have more AHL games on. They should have more original programming instead of those God awful top 10 shows.

Reg wins 3 pts.

Ot ten minutes 3 on 3

Have the 8th and 9th seed play a one game playoff for the last seed.

Re-seed after each playoff round.

 

[JAD]

it's actually interesting. their attendance stayed boosted for like 7 years

http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph.php?tmi=5154

Well, what I was implying was that if a team is competitive makes a run at a championship,possibly wins a championship, the fans will come. If they can stay competitive for a number of years the attendance will be there.
But ultimately being in the finals does a lot for a city and the fan interest in a team ... more so then just being competitive ... it develops a sense of fan pride in their team.