KoozNetsOff 92
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How popular is the NHL?
- Thread starter JungleBeat
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NorCalhockey
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At the moment, there is no competition among the big European soccer leagues. Hands down, the most popular globally and the league that generates the most revenue is the English Premier League (EPL). That's why Juve, the two Milans, Barca, Real and Atletico wanted a European Super League with the Top 6 in the EPL. IOW, Continental footie needed the top EPL teams - but the top EPL teams didn't need the top La Liga/Serie A teams.
Who knows which soccer league will be top dog 10, 15, 20 years from now? But at the moment, it's the EPL.
KoozNetsOff 92
Hala Madrid
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EPL has always generated the most revenue and been the most popular, but la liga was clearly the best league for the 2010s decade.
Real and barca are more valuable and generate more revenue than every EPL club, only man utd is comparable. They do that despite the EPL having a way bigger tv deal than la liga. Perez in particular has been pushing for an ESL for a long time, well before the EPLs tv deals exploded and City got their oil money. Even when la liga was dominant, he was pushing for a super league. They didn't "need" the EPL clubs then and they don't now either. It's just for more $$$.
Is it common in America to follow all the major leagues?
I would imagine that it is common that if you watch hockey and know a lot about it but you don't watch basketball at all and know nothing about it.
Or vice versa of course.
I would imagine that it is common that if you watch hockey and know a lot about it but you don't watch basketball at all and know nothing about it.
Or vice versa of course.
NorCalhockey
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From what I understand, Barca and Real needed the English clubs to join the ESL because JP Morgan wouldn’t have funded the ESL without them. Barca and Real mismanaged their finances so badly, they’re in debt about 1 billion dollars. The money they would have gotten from the ESL would have exceeded what they’d get from the Uefa Champions League.
ThisIsMyAlibi
Fantilli&Werenski&Gaudreau&Laine&Johnson&Jiricek
I doubt NHL and Hockey in general is that popular in USA.
I have met an American from Atlanta 10 years ago. I asked if he knows Kovalchuk or anyone from Atlanta Trashers. He answered: 'WTF is Kovalchuk'?, then I asked if he knows or follows NHL he said he he doesn't know what NHL is and doesn't know anything about it.
Then I realised that NHL or hockey isn't that popular in USA or in Atlanta at least.
I have met an American from Atlanta 10 years ago. I asked if he knows Kovalchuk or anyone from Atlanta Trashers. He answered: 'WTF is Kovalchuk'?, then I asked if he knows or follows NHL he said he he doesn't know what NHL is and doesn't know anything about it.
Then I realised that NHL or hockey isn't that popular in USA or in Atlanta at least.
Not really. A lot of people have their sports they actively follow and jump on the bandwagon when a team does well out of civic pride, but that's about it. My office has a lot of Red Sox and Patriots fans. There are some Bruins and Celtics fans as well, but not as many. Regardless, if we have a relaxed dress code day to celebrate one of the local sports teams, you'll see a lot of obviously brand-new clothing worn by people who just get caught up in the hype.
This pretty much nails it.
It really isn't. And it was even less popular prior to 1980. If HF Boards existed back then, people would be downplaying 1980 because it wasn't "best on best."
Atlanta has plenty more like this person. Hence why people now call the team "Winnipeg Jets."
This will not change, even if the NHL "markets their stars," not that anyone here can explain how the other leagues do it. Nor will it change if the league gets loaded up with people from every "alphabet group" like some posters claim.
DonM
The Industrial Revolution and its consequences
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Too popular if you ask me. The best thing that could happen to hockey is to make it as unpalatable as possible to the southern US, the majority of whom don't give a f*** about hockey's traditions and are more than happy to push to change them to suit their whims when they become "fans".
Lolonegoal
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He's making a trade offer thread for your teams best prospect right... about... now
NHL Review
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Going to have to elaborate here
Change can be good, certainly are major issues with this league that need to be addressed
DonM
The Industrial Revolution and its consequences
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I was perhaps a bit harsh on Americans, as social media is a larger driving factor in fan whining for unnecessary changes and the removal of physicality than they are. The combination of the two in untenable, however.
Change can certainly be good. Modifying goaltender equipment has been a huge positive, however that was mostly a response to improving materials technology allowing more efficient goaltending than is good for the game. It is much more the outrage over every big hit or scrum and the push for all manner of silly social issues into the game that bother me. Maybe I'm just online too much or I'm just a dinosaur who hates new things. I could buy either theory.
End on a Hinote
Registered Abuser
Disagree, the politics behind it overshadowed the game itself. If the victory happened against any other nation aside from the USSR or Canada (simply because of our border rivalry), the game may be much more forgotten, similar to the USA 1950 World Cup victory over England.
Wouldn't have mattered if it wasn't best on best.
I agree with you to a pretty major extent. After all, it is erroneously assumed that that was the Gold Medal Game, which technically didn't exist and it guaranteed nothing. The timing of the game with respect to what was happening in the US and around the world certainly played into it, but I've heard anecdotes about how the hype had built after the opening game against Sweden (good luck injecting any political significance into that one.) But prior to 1980, outside of a few regions, hockey was something that was ignored in non-Olympic years.
This was a dig at many of the creatures in the international forum who blather on and on about "Best on Best" and how they think that Mike Eruzione has been largely forgotten because the tournament was "best on best."
DrewGl
Registered User
Hockey will never be huge in the USA. NFL rules all...mainly b/c it normally happens during the days on Sundays when most people don't work and can eat a bunch of food/drink booze and go to bed at 8pm. It's more of the party atmosphere than the game.
The EPL may be the best soccer-league right now, perhaps even undisputedly, but it is not the best in the way the American professional leagues are in relation to the leagues of the same sport elsewhere in the world.
Namely, is the worst team in the EPL better than the best team in La Liga, Serie A or Bundesliga? Definitely not!
Having said all this, do you think Buffalo is better than the KHL-champions?
983 others
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It’s not, because nobody plays (not literally).
It’s anecdotal, but where I grew up in New Jersey/Pennsylvania there were zero teams or leagues or even rinks anywhere near me. My school/town didn’t have a team, but every town and school had at least one baseball/basketball/football team.
I’m guessing it’s a similar story in a majority of the country.
It’s anecdotal, but where I grew up in New Jersey/Pennsylvania there were zero teams or leagues or even rinks anywhere near me. My school/town didn’t have a team, but every town and school had at least one baseball/basketball/football team.
I’m guessing it’s a similar story in a majority of the country.
CupInSIX
My cap runneth over
The Gr8 Dane
L'harceleur
Its really hard to pick up hockey at a young age. Even people who show interest and want to don't necessarily have access to the sport easily, can be financial or region based reasons
habsrule4eva3089
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If we can go back in time to the 20's and if the NHL remained a Canada only league would have been best.
Sports in general are becoming less relevant with each passing year. Hockey is no different.
Like I have mentioned in previous posts the NHL is #4 domestic product. If you look at expansion they were pretty late to the game expanding their footprint in the states. Think about a place like Arizona who got the Jets in the 90s it's still only a couple of decades barely multiple generations of ppl at this point when compared to a Boston or Detroit. I absolutely dislike Canadian fans that want teams in the states to fail. Without the US this league would be in CFL territory where you wouldn't know if they would playing next year or not. The salaries would be low to the point where players would elect to potentially play other sports. Overall, expansion has been good for the NHL. Look at a market like Nashville where grass roots have taken into effect. They have their celebrity fans, promoted local play by play guys, and youth hockey is growing. It been barely 2 decades since they got a team.
It's extremely anecdotal.
Did you play? If not, how did you become a hockey fan? If so, what percentage of people do you think who go to Flyers games played at any time, let alone the current year?
I saw a few pages back that hockey took a back seat to volleyball and swimming because of low participation numbers and the latter two are more popular among spectators due to this. That must by why there hasn't been a professional volleyball league in the US since 1980 and nobody cares about swimming outside of the Olympics.
