Is the NHL back to being one of the "4 Major Sports" in the US

[uncleben]

If you want to talk about a regional "sport", look no further than NASCAR.

In another thread recently, some soccer enthusiasts mistook me and thought I was disparaging their fine sport. I was not. It isn't exactly my cup of tea, but I know enough to give it the respect it deserves.

I will gladly disparage NASCAR, however. A bunch of rednecks driving around in a circle 200 times is not a sport.

If driving a car is an athletic endeavor, then why aren't I in better shape?

In THIS region, hockey is arguably more popular than basketball, and NASCAR isn't even in the conversation.

i wouldnt say a lot of them are NOT in shape.
sure some have slight guts and face chub
but the Gs they experience, they HAVE to be able to handle, and the strength to keep the steering wheel under control is immense too (at least it used to be w out all the assistive technology they have now...). where they really are strong thoough is stamina and endurance, mental strength, and concentration.

and really, think about the size of a lot of football players, some baseball players are as agile as a bag of oranges and quite a few (veteran) NHL players carry the old gut themselves.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Taking college sports separately, I'd say:

NFL
College football
MLB (but only on a limited, localized basis)
College basketball
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
MMA
PGA
MLS
Any number of other sports or quasi-sports like tennis, boxing, F1, etc

 

[tarheelhockey]

Revenue is a good prize $$$$

NHL revenue is way up... apparently they have a toe on the podium or something.

 

[Ari91]

MLB, NFL, NBA...what's the other sport that would be preventing NHL from the 4th spot?

 

[mrCoffea*]

It never left the top 4, but it went from competing closely for third to being completely off on its own island

Now it's closer to third than ever, and if the NBA has a lockout, things will get interesting. Would have been better for the NHL to negotiate a tv deal DURING a NBA lockout, I think ESPN would have bid higher in those circumstances

 

[Owenay]

The definition of the term "sport" disagrees with you.

An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others

an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sport

So by these definitions are the following activities sports now?

Tag

Capture the Flag

Paintball

Boardwalk/Fairground games (ring toss, whack-a-mole, etc)

Interactive Arcade and Video Games like Top Sk8tr, Rock Band, DDR or anything for the Wii

Rodeo Events

 

[syc]

No and it will never be. Heck even the so called hockey hotbeds in America have issues when their team stinks. The Rangers and Philadelphia are the ONLY US teams who have always had loyal fans.

The NHL knows this hence the new 10 year US TV deal.

 

[The Grinder]

Just the fact this thread is here says something.

The NHL is getting a little more respect recently, cool. I think hockey fans can soon relinquish their complex that nobody cares about hockey, a sentiment I heard many a time after the lockout. Not so much anymore.

Hopefully the NHL continues its trend up with the newly signed TV deal, along with NBC and the soon to be renamed VS. Let espn devolve into the sensational, pushing their own agenda as they do. In comparison NBC sports net could become a rival to espn within the 10 years of the contract. Don't expect espn to pull any punches. They will continue to disrespect us hockey fans, and thusly we have become disenfranchised with them.

**** espn and **** the haters.

 

[TimmytheTank]

If we are judging fan interest by league revenue, which seems fair considering it incorporates the market value of ticket prices, advertising, merchandise, etc, then the order is as follows:

NFL - 7.8 Billion US Dollars
MLB - 6.8 Billion US Dollars
NBA - 4.0 Billion US Dollars
NHL - 3.0 Billion US Dollars

The source also states that "Racetracks" took in more than 8 Billion US Dollars in 2010, but it doesn't specify that as revenue for NASCAR, so I assume that NASCAR generates a portion of that money but not all of it, and it may not necessarily include NASCAR merchandise, etc.

In short, It falls pretty much the way you'd expect it to. And for personal revelations, all I can say is this: if you type the word "billion" enough, you become very sure it is not a word.

http://www.plunkettresearch.com/sports recreation leisure market research/industry statistics

 

[WingsFan95]

US "big 4" are - MLB, NBA, NFL, and NASCAR.

I doubt I'll ever be able to sit through an entire Nascar race.

Formula 1>Nascar

And NHL never fell off, it's better than MLB, always will be for me.

 

[David Suzuki]

Formula 1>Nascar

AINEC.

 

[kodoshin]

Because your fat ass doesn't do it at 200 MPH for 3 hours wearing a flame suit without A/C at multiple Gs.

Ever seen a fat NASCAR driver? That's why.

Jimmy Spencer was quite fat when he drove. I remember he was so much heavier than other drivers that he once proposed adding weights into other drivers cars to balance out the weight difference with himself (seriously).

 

[Duke749]

It would be interesting to see where these sports would rank at the moment. Part of the reason I think NASCAR has fallen off is because of the economy. The sport thrives off sponsorships and it's very hard to get one nowadays.

Also, at people that don't see it as a sport. Auto racing in any form is a sport. It ain't easy to drive a racecar of any sort.

I think the NHL is definitely on the rise.

 

[The Note]

It never stopped being one of the top 4 IMO

 

[End of Line]

In terms of fan interest:

NFL
NCAAF
MLB
NCAAB
NHL
NBA

NASCAR
MMA
PGA

 

[useless]

Not sure where this thread came from.. Last I heard espn's coverage of College Women's Basketball crushed the NHL in viewership.

The NHL isn't even remotely close lol

 

[useless]

In terms of fan interest:

NFL
NCAAF
MLB
NCAAB
NHL
NBA

NASCAR
MMA
PGA

You honestly believe it's ahead of Nascar and NBA? I'm pretty sure PGA is ahead too.

 

[Rydgar]

I think popularity in the UFC is going to catch up to hockey soon. The one thing going against it is its lack of history.

 

[Brent Burns]

The idea that it ever fell off was mainly due to ESPN pushing its hot new replacement programming. Since then, those "sports" (NASCAR, WNBA, card games) have fallen much farther off the map than the NHL ever did.

The NHL remains one of the 4 major pro team sports in North America.

This. Though, how ridiculous are you for including WNBA with NASCAR and card games?
NHL never left the big 4 of sports. I think a LOT of Canadians on these boards have a skewed view of sports in the US. NASCAR has never been as big as hockey, nowhere near. It's probably been equivalent to golf in the past (but now golf is experiencing a surgence and NASCAR is declining)

 

[ScaredStreit]

NFL
NCAAF
MLB
NCAABB
NBA
NHL/PGA (they're about even I'd say)
NASCAR
UFC

 

[TrappedInFullerton]

You can say this: NHL is the only sport that's strong in both the US and Canada (of the sports that are shared, MLB, NBA).

MLB and NBA survive solely off of US. NHL survives off both US and Canada. MLB and NBA really seem dumb and insulting to Canada with their teams. 'Here's your ONE team for each sport... you're a part of this, Canada!' . . .

 

[Machinehead]

I think the NHL is more popular than NASCAR pretty much everywhere but backwoods mudsville where the real rednecks live. The NHL is #4, has been #4 for quite some time, and never stopped being #4. And it's inching closer and closer to basketball for the 3 spot.

In all fairness to hockey the media coverage in the US is slim and none. For a sport that people basically have to find on their own, while the NBA and NFL are stuffed down their throats, the NHL has done phenomenal. With more media coverage hockey would overtake basketball very quickly.

 

[slimkay]

When it comes to racing being a "sport", F1 drivers are a hell of a lot better than NASCAR drivers.

If that was the case, then F1 drivers would have OWNED everyone when they made the switch.

Jacques Villeneuve, former F1 champ, has 0 wins in NASCAR and can't even find a seat in the Sprint Cup.

Juan Montoya, former F1 runner-up, has 2 wins (road courses only, no oval wins) and is getting better... in his FIFTH season.

Stock car racing, MOTO GP, F1 and rallying are different discipline. Believe me, stock car racing is MUCH, MUCH harder than it looks. Just like F1 is very hard, despite the cars being the best there is on the planet. You just need different skill sets to succeed in different motorsport series.

It's really insulting to see all those cliches about NASCAR and "rednecks"...

As for NASCAR's popularity... well the problem is twofold:
1- TV ratings are down because of :
-- races are too long (upwards of 2h30min)
-- same dude is winning the championship (5 years in a row)
-- the current format makes the first 26 races useless (there's playoff-like format for the last 10 races)
-- too many ads
-- different broadcasters (ESPN, FOX, TNT, etc.) so it's hard to follow

2- Attendance is down because of the increasing ticket price and also because of some of the factors above (same dude winning, first 26 races mostly irrelevant).

Finally.. nearly all the studies show that NASCAR followers are the most brand-loyal people out there so there will still be much more money pumped into NASCAR than in the entire NHL for the foreseeable future. Since NASCAR rely so much on sponsorship money, they had difficulty during the recession but now everything's fine.

 

[slimkay]

MLB has lost quite a bit of popularity in Canada
I'd say it goes

1)NHL AINEC




2)CFL
3)NFL
4)MLS
5)MLB
6)CHL
7)NBA

MLS before MLB. Yeah, no. Not really. Not in Montreal at least. Maybe not even in Toronto. It's not because you can sellout a 20,000 seat stadium that the MLS is more popular than the MLB.

People know who Pujols or A.Rod are. People on the street couldn't even name you one guy on their own ********* team or another team's name.

 

[slimkay]

I think the NHL is more popular than NASCAR pretty much everywhere but backwoods mudsville where the real rednecks live. The NHL is #4, has been #4 for quite some time, and never stopped being #4. And it's inching closer and closer to basketball for the 3 spot.

In all fairness to hockey the media coverage in the US is slim and none. For a sport that people basically have to find on their own, while the NBA and NFL are stuffed down their throats, the NHL has done phenomenal. With more media coverage hockey would overtake basketball very quickly.

The answer's obvious, though. LeBron James/Kobe Bryant and Peyton Manning/Brady/Favre/Brees/etc. are AMERICAN. The GOATs are AMERICAN.

Hockey is the one sport where Americans are not the best at (they're getting there though). LeBron and Kobe are replaced by Tim Horton's Sidney Crosby and Russia's Ovechkin. Had one or both of those guys been American, the media coverage would have been far better.