How popular is the NHL?

[BOS358]

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

And how does this prevent them from watching the game?

 

[DuckyGirard]

It is important for Americans that their professional sports league is by far the best in the world.

That's one reason why soccer can never become a truly popular sport in the USA as their soccer-league is rubbish and even if it gets better it is impossible that any one soccer-league would ever become absolutely dominant compared to others.

It's a constant competition between the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga.

You're missing the point. MLS isn't a league that gradually more popular. It was a league that didn't exist a generation ago. Comparing now to even early 2000s MLS is a joke.

MLS has built a mega league in just 15 years. They have done all the heavy lifting getting arenas and ownership groups. It amazes me how people can't see the forest for the trees. The fact the league fields 2nd tier athletes and is so radically successful is astounding. It's AHL level talent and it's competing with the NHL. MLS is about to explode in popularity. They've become successful without talent. Now as the league gets better positioned your gonna see big dollars being thrown at star players. The league will explode in popularity very very rapidly. MLS has a massive benefit compared to european soccer because of the Cap. European soccer is largely garbage because almost every league is incredibly lopsided. The success of the sport is largely because there isn't competition from anything else.

A lot of people talking about European soccer have never watched anything other than the EPL/UEFA etc. The Bundesligue/Laliga are garbage. It's 2-3 really good teams and a bunch of bottom feeders.

People who think MLS has failed to grow really don't know what they're talking about. They have some fantasy league understanding of how much work it takes to build a major league in 2021.

I'm not a soccer fan, but as a fan of the business of sports, it's clear they're radically successful.

 

[Maestro84]

Football/soccer is easily #1 (played/watched quite literally everywhere)

Basketball, tennis, swimming, track, and boxing (played/watched in countless regions of the world as well)

Cricket (super popular in South Asia, UK, Australia, and South Africa; very little traction anywhere else but that itself is A LOT of market consumers)

F1 (very popular in Europe and Asia, not so much in North America)

Volleyball (very popular in USA, Europe, and East Asia)

Baseball (very popular in USA, East Asia, and Latin America)

Golf (popular in post-industrialized regions such as North America, Western Europe, East Asia, Australia, and South Africa; it's far more economical than it once was though)

Ice hockey probably isn't on this list. Canada and Northern Europe simply aren't big/strong enough markets compared to the markets these other sports have entered

 

[DuckyGirard]

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.

Yah man serious insecurities afloat in this thread. Basketball and Football were given a massive head start thanks to the NCAA. Baseball is just so bloody old, and it worked real well on the radio. Hockey is entirely reliant on expansion teams to spread the sport.

In my opinion it is astounding how successful they are.

I also think the hockey's expensive to play nonsense is entirely baseless. Basketball/Baseball/Football are not spreading globally because they are cheap to play. These sports thrive because historically they was far easier to establish the sport in a given location. Note how real big basketball markets often end up being countries connected in the past or currently to communism. It's because it was a logical sport for those states to embrace.

The fact pro hockey is so incredibly elite is massive asset to the sport IMO. Vegas I think partially gets the idea that these guys are royal knights. They are smart wealthy educated people who goto war wearing armour and wielding war sticks. People like wealthy and power, there's no shame in it if you know how to translate it. The beautiful contrast with hockey is you have effective royals, who skate around and brawl like they are playing in a prison. It's the contrast because wealthy backgrounds and gritty play that makes the sport so appealing.

I'm not tall enough for basketball, I'm not tough enough for football. There's no need to translate the amateur game to the pro game.

Ball hockey was a great placeholder for ice hockey. It was a natural relationship and it is depressing that it the league has given up on it. The relationship between ball hockey-field hockey-ice hockey, needs far far more focus in my opinion.

In the same context we need to get more people skating, I'm certain that people who've skated 5-20 hours in their life are radically more likely to follow hockey.

I honestly think the ease of play is a detriment to the other sports.

 

[DuckyGirard]

And how does this prevent them from watching the game?

Seriously by their logic Nascar wouldn't exist.

Part of entertainment is the spectacle.

The biggest problem with the spread of hockey is this fixation of trying to emulate baseball etc and fabricate this notion it's some folksy "american past time". You don't want your sport to be something everyone can play. You want your sport to be the sport that everyone wishes they could play.

The sport needs to embrace it's elite status, it need to embrace it's an exotic "swiss sport". It needs to embrace the idea that it is a sport full of exotic Europeans driving super cars.

The other bit that is equally frustrating is their desire to circumvent the nature of bigger rosters. McDavid is more or less useless in the playoffs. This is a depth sport and that needs to be celebrated.

The narratives and stories that are most interesting are not the goat's getting 200 points a season. Just watch any sports movie, they are often ignored or even worst the villans. Hockey is entirely about the underdogs. The 35 years old fighting for that 4th line position so they can pay for their sisters cancer treatment. Or that bottom pairing who's lost his rookie season to a concussion. The bottom end of a teams roster needs way way more focus in my opinion. The first line is so incredibly easy to follow. It's the appreciation for the bottom end of the roster that I think sells people on the sport, if you can't follow the bottom end 2/3rds of the game becomes dull as dirt. It's team sport that is truly based on a team effort.

Personally the story that hooked me this year was Logan Stanley. He's a physical freak, he comes across as very likeable and super green. He's fun to watch obviously because he has a physical presence. But also because he has a wall of doubters and he has some obvious flaws in his game. Obviously if you're not a fan of the winnipeg jets, you have no idea who I'm talking about, and that is a good thing. The personal relationship between bottom end talent and teams is critical to the success of hockey IMO.

 

[seancolorado]

Globally it's just not that popular. Of the countries I've lived in, only China had any sort of ice hockey presence but even outside of that hockey bubble, nobody knew anything about the sport

We traveled from Beijing to Hong Kong for an All-Stars tourney and there were zero fans beyond family and friends in the stands

 

[Chef de Cuisine]

Sports in general are becoming less relevant with each passing year. Hockey is no different.

why is that?

 

[Iapyi]

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".

Yep, no one has ever been able to give me a good reason as to why I should care about "growing the game". I have heard a lot of parroted replies that do nothing for hockey.

The NHL should contract.

The focus on casual fans has already made the game worse.

[I'd like your post if I could]

 

[DuckyGirard]

Yep, no one has ever been able to give me a good reason as to why I should care about "growing the game". I have heard a lot of parroted replies that do nothing for hockey.

The NHL should contract.

The focus on casual fans has already made the game worse.

[I'd like your post if I could]

Because if it weren't for growing the game there'd be no cap, the leafs would just buy their way to the finals each and every single year. Without expansion there would be no cap full stop. The expansions are the only thing keeping this league from being a country club for the O6

 

[Iapyi]

Because if it weren't for growing the game there'd be no cap, the leafs would just buy their way to the finals each and every single year. Without expansion there would be no cap full stop. The expansions are the only thing keeping this league from being a country club for the O6

Nah, it wouldn't work that way.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

Meh, couldn't care less. I'll always like hockey and I know it's never going to die out in Canada in my lifetime so it means very little to me if it's not someone else's cup of tea. The NHL is terrible at promoting itself though.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Growing the game just seems to be a fool's errand, and I have no problem with it just being what it is.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

If they catered to skilled players and teams over those who want to slow it down with obstruction it would be more popular. Unfortunately, they just love allowing garbage teams hook and hold their way through the POs.

 

[patnyrnyg]

If they catered to skilled players and teams over those who want to slow it down with obstruction it would be more popular. Unfortunately, they just love allowing garbage teams hook and hold their way through the POs.

Yes, should make it like the NBA where the superstar gets all the calls and nobody else matters.

 

[patnyrnyg]

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

I started watching the NFL on tv before I started playing football at age 11. I started playing baseball at 7 years old in a league and was playing some form (wiffle ball, etc) since I was 3 in my backyard. I never played hockey formally aside from phys ed class deck hockey, occassional roller hockey in the street where we pulled our garbage cans out to make goals, and as an adult played a few seasons in a mens deck hockey league because my friends worked at the facility and the owner needed an extra team to make scheduling easier. I am a season ticket holder for an NHL and NFL team and baseball is the sport for which I care the least of the 3.

 

[SaltNPeca]

Many of those people couldn't point out their home state on a map. There are similar videos from Hollywood Blvd of Americans not being able to name 1 book.
Those people don't know or care about hockey (why would they?), same as most Europeans could care less about the majority of American sports.

I could easily make this video in Europe using whatever an American would say is the most popular NFL or MLB player is (let's say Eurozone 350M population). Definitely NBA stars have a chance to be known and somewhere well below that NHL... would be more likely known.

 

[Iapyi]

I started watching the NFL on tv before I started playing football at age 11. I started playing baseball at 7 years old in a league and was playing some form (wiffle ball, etc) since I was 3 in my backyard. I never played hockey formally aside from phys ed class deck hockey, occassional roller hockey in the street where we pulled our garbage cans out to make goals, and as an adult played a few seasons in a mens deck hockey league because my friends worked at the facility and the owner needed an extra team to make scheduling easier. I am a season ticket holder for an NHL and NFL team and baseball is the sport for which I care the least of the 3.

What is deck hockey?

 

[Golden_Jet]

What is deck hockey?

I’m thinking gym class where you had the plastic orange pucks, that was fun.

 

[Iapyi]

I’m thinking gym class where you had the plastic orange pucks, that was fun.

Ahhh. So what many would call floor hockey or ball hockey. No skates.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Ahhh. So what many would call floor hockey or ball hockey. No skates.

That’s my best guess ya.
Still weird to hear on NBC, the words “ice” hockey.

 

[Iapyi]

That’s my best guess ya.
Still weird to hear on NBC, the words “ice” hockey.

Hopefully the deck hockey poster, or someone, confirms. Your guess makes sense but it could be something else I suppose.

 

[DuckyGirard]

I started watching the NFL on tv before I started playing football at age 11. I started playing baseball at 7 years old in a league and was playing some form (wiffle ball, etc) since I was 3 in my backyard. I never played hockey formally aside from phys ed class deck hockey, occassional roller hockey in the street where we pulled our garbage cans out to make goals, and as an adult played a few seasons in a mens deck hockey league because my friends worked at the facility and the owner needed an extra team to make scheduling easier. I am a season ticket holder for an NHL and NFL team and baseball is the sport for which I care the least of the 3.

My dad played basketball when I was young, as a really tall kid it was the only thing I was moderately good at. I enjoy shooting hoops, own a basketball(no skates/no hockey stick).

When I think of Basketball I think of gymclass and driveways.

Basketball was always played by basically everyone and yet it took a really long time to become popular as it has.

Personally I think Basketball is a gymclass sport that somehow defied the odds, more comparable to european hand ball and volleyball.

For most of my adult life, I've heard that the popularity of baseball is on the decline, that football was so incredibly popular because it was an event, an elite sport that couldn't happen in regular everyday life.

Now people are acting like an elite sport with extreme speed is all of a sudden an underdog.

Hockey didn't have the NCAA developing its growth, its spread is through TV.

Seems like Hockey is about half as popular as Basketball which is a good footing if it continues to grow.

 

[patnyrnyg]

What is deck hockey?

Same as floor hockey. No ice, no skates (roller or ice skates). Lots of running. In phys ed as a kid, we used the orange mylec pucks. In the mens league, we used a ball. In the mens league we played on some sport-court surface. In phys ed, it was hardwood.

 

[3074326]

why is that?

I'm not sure what it even means. It's a way for us to pass time in an entertaining way. Unless there's something profound I'm missing.

 

[Iapyi]

Same as floor hockey. No ice, no skates (roller or ice skates). Lots of running. In phys ed as a kid, we used the orange mylec pucks. In the mens league, we used a ball. In the mens league we played on some sport-court surface. In phys ed, it was hardwood.

Thanks. I have never heard the term deck hockey. As far as I'm concerned any hockey is awesome and actually love love love playing floor hockey though hockey is my favourite [on ice variety].