Is Las vegas a hockey city?

BattleBorn

50% to winning as many division titles as Toronto
Feb 6, 2015
12,069
6,017
Bellevue, WA
We're definitely not at Nashville levels yet, and the crowd really hasn't developed an identity since it's only been a few games. The Suuuuuub after Subban saves is pretty awesome, though.

Las Vegas was always a hockey city, though. The Thunder were supported well, the Wrangers did alright too. TV ratings have always been high.

I think people from outside the area kind of think this is a random choice to put a team in Las Vegas, but I think we're probably the strongest expansion city of the past few decades outside of MSP.
 

EC09

Cleveland Sports Fan
Jun 16, 2011
2,026
154
Youngstown, Ohio
I think hockey is going to do great in Vegas.

The real test will be the NFL with the Raiders. You can easily pack a hockey arena. A football stadium? Perhaps not so easily.
 

Edge

Kris King's Ghost
Mar 1, 2002
34,749
42,578
Amish Paradise
I think a lot of people who are unfamiliar with Las Vegas fail to take into account all the transplants from traditional hockey markets in the Northeast and Midwest.

While the risk is that those residents will have a hard time abandoning life-long allegiances, their kids are potentially in a prime position to become the bedrock of your permanent fan base. They'll be familiar enough with the sport to dive right in, but not necessarily die-hard loyal to a another location with which they have less and less of a connection.
 

Say Hey Kid

Gonna get some albums by The Status Quo
Dec 10, 2007
23,880
5,646
Bathory, ATL
The US is not a hockey country. Last season, the average SC playoff game was watched by less than 830K Americans. It's very sad.
 

derriko

Registered User
Mar 7, 2009
4,615
446
Las Vegas
I’ve noticed about a quarter of all fans at each game are opposite team fans.

I don’t think that’s a reflection on the fan base here, I think that’s just the nature of the city. Everyone is either a transplant, or here for the week / weekend partying their minds out and watching their respective team.

I think it’s great. While I’ve never been, I always loved watching the atmosphere at Sens - Habs / Leafs games where there’s competing fan bases in the arena at the same time. I think it makes everyone more passionate and the back and forth is fun.

The team winning is a great thing as well. It will encourage more people to become fans before football gets here.
 

Edge

Kris King's Ghost
Mar 1, 2002
34,749
42,578
Amish Paradise
The US is not a hockey country. Last season, the average SC playoff game was watched by less than 830K Americans. It's very sad.

Unfortunately, there are many barricades that have prevented hockey from truly becoming more mainstream - and I'll spare us the essay outlining those reasons.

But I will call attention to two big issues:

1. The NHL has often shot itself in the foot when it comes to hockey, between lockouts, poor marketing and other decisions. In a span of 20 years, the league had 4 labor stoppages that have wiped out the equivalent of two full seasons. One of those seasons came after the team in the largest media market in North America, ended a championship drought, at a time when hockey was the new "it girl" in pro sports in the states. They've never quite had an opportunity like that ever again, and those opportunities don't come around often.

2. Hockey is a sport that is significantly better live, especially if you're "new" to the sport. It's much easier to get someone interesting in hockey after taking them to a live game, than it is to show them a game on TV. Unfortunately, the cost of attending a hockey game in a lot of places isn't always family friendly (it's also not a cheap and easy sport to pick up and play). You have entire segments of the population who would love hockey, they just don't know it and they're not getting the opportunity to find out.
 
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derriko

Registered User
Mar 7, 2009
4,615
446
Las Vegas
I also think a HUGE factor in getting people to watch is to teach the casual fans the rules, and then eventually some basic strategies like dump and chase, trapping, pinching, forechecking, etc.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to people about hockey and to them, it looks like a bunch of people skating in circles really fast and they can’t even find the puck.

It certainly is organized chaos and it’s hard to pick up on the minute and creative things players do if you are trying to figure out where the puck is.

There should be a weekly show on NBC or something where they go over a couple of rules. Then, like I said...move on to more advanced ideas. Hmmm...anybody have a contact? $$$
 
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VanIslander

A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
Sep 4, 2004
35,261
6,476
South Korea
If you can follow football and to a lesser extent baseball, hockey is a cinch.
For sure.

I played soccer on league team for 9 years of grade school but it wasn't until early in my 3rd year of playing (4th grade elementary) that I understood what offside was! :laugh:

I cannot imagine anyone fully understanding how the NFL is played having any difficulty getting NHL rules. Now, NASCAR fans who only see left-hand turns from flag to flag, maybe.
 

Urbanskog

Platinum Member
Feb 8, 2014
3,551
765
Helsinki
As per USA Hockey, there are 1382 registered hockey players in Nevada so in relation to the population its closest equivalent among IIHF members would be Mongolia.
 
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