you're right, but boxing def didn't help itself with all the promoter/judge scandals (anyone remember GGGvsCanelo?)
Max Kellerman believes “ nobody cares about hockey in the US”
- Thread starter SI90
- Start date
you're right, but boxing def didn't help itself with all the promoter/judge scandals (anyone remember GGGvsCanelo?)
Say Hey Kid
Bathory
TV exposure and revenues in the U.S.
(Leagues ranked in order of TV ratings)
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[TBODY] [/TBODY]Generalizations are never true, but (excluding the MLS) it's relatively true to say that about US NHL viewership compared to the other 3 major league sports. Many large US cities such as Houston, Atlanta, New Orleans, San Francisco, and San Diego don't even have a team.
(Leagues ranked in order of TV ratings)
| League | Ratings / Viewers | US TV Rev |
|---|---|---|
| NFL | 10 / 16.6m (aggregate) | $7.2 bn |
| NBA | 2.3 / 3.9m (ABC, 16 games)[22] 1.1 / 1.7m (TNT, 52 games)[22] 1.1 / 1.7m (ESPN, 76 games)[22] | $2.7 bn |
| MLB | 1.4 / 2.1m (Fox, 12 games)[23] 0.8 / 1.1m (ESPN, 16 games)[24] 0.3 / 0.4m (FS1, 40 games)[25] 0.2 / 0.3m (TBS, 13 games)[24] | $1.5 bn |
| NHL | 1.3m (NBC, 12 games)[26] 0.3m (NBCSN, 100 games) | $200 m |
| MLS | 1.0m (FOX, 5 games)[27] 0.3m (ESPN, 34 games) 0.2m (FS1, 29 games) 0.3m (Univ, 34 games)[27] | $90 m |
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Lol I'd challenge anyone to go to any Sam's Club or Costco in Vegas and successfully avoid seeing at least two different people wearing Golden Knights merch.
JungleBeat
Registered User
BKIslandersFan
F*** off
I agree but thats not saying much. I think basketball is the third most popular sport in the world. Behind only soccer and cricket (only because they have huge fan base in India and Pakistan).
Kimota
ROY DU NORD!!!
He is right. I mean it's a viable business but it will never be big in the US and we have to accept it. But who cares really, it's a cool sport, it's an OK league, let's continue to enjoy it.
Legionnaire
Help On The Way
That's how I've always thought of it. It's different. Like me.
Dicky113
Registered User
- Oct 30, 2007
- 4,407
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NHL needs to capitalize off the controversy this has caused. Definitely need young players like MacKinnon, McDavid, Matthews, and Aho to have big playoff runs and to actually promote them. Crosby and Ovechkin cannot continue to be the only modern stars that NHL promote on a mainstream media.
Walmart is much more "popular" than whole foods based on number of customers.
Tiny condos are more popular than high end castles based on sales.
NBA is more popular than NHL. Does not mean it is a better product.
l
Tiny condos are more popular than high end castles based on sales.
NBA is more popular than NHL. Does not mean it is a better product.
l
JungleBeat
Registered User
Haha, even Cowherd is on this now. Next up needs to be Skip Bayless.
Has the NHL put up anything like the 2016 NBA finals in the last five years?
Pookie
Wear a mask
- Oct 23, 2013
- 16,172
- 6,684
People relate to sports they play.
Hockey just isn’t an accessible sport.
In Canada, it’s dropped behind soccer in terms of participation.
And the only reason for a bump in participation is that more girls are playing now. Hockey participation for boys has dropped.
If the NHL really wanted to grow it’s fan base, it would stop trying to get NASCAR fans to understand the game and instead make it accessible for a female demographic.
It's probably not how we wanted it to happen, but hockey is finally getting the attention from the hot take industry we all desperately crave!!! Validation has never tasted so sweet!!!
JianYang
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- Sep 29, 2017
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He doing a national show, and in that context, he's not wrong, although he's purposely exaggerating the point by saying "nobody cares". Obviously the interest is more than zero but still absolutely dwarfed by the most popular sports on a national scale. The national TV ratings have been telling this story in the US forever.
Where the nhl seems to make their mark is on a regional level in the US, and that's fine too. Ultimately, a game played on ice has created its niche space to thrive in a crowded US sporting market. That's not an easy feat.
Where the nhl seems to make their mark is on a regional level in the US, and that's fine too. Ultimately, a game played on ice has created its niche space to thrive in a crowded US sporting market. That's not an easy feat.
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Coinneach
Registered User
HisIceness
This is Hurricanes Hockey
For what it's worth, Charles Barkley has stated on a few occasions that he'd rather be watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs than the NBA Playoffs. Phil Jackson too.
Phil Jackson prefers NHL playoffs to NBA: 'More fun, much more action'
The NBA and NFL get more attention but that doesn't mean either a better product. The NBA and their pundits spent the off-season talking about what great parity was about to come from this season and what do we have? It's very likely we're going to have Bucks vs Lakers in the Finals, maybe the Clippers have an argument but the other 27 teams have next to no shot. It's gotten to the point where we can predict the Finals on the first day of free agency.
And I say this as someone who watches both playoffs, but the only time I can say I truly more entertained by the NBA Playoffs than the NHL was 2005 when there was no Stanley Cup. Maybe 2011 since I was rooting hard for Dirk to get his championship. But even in years where the Stanley Cup Playoffs were not great, the NBA Playoffs were just as bad. With Hockey, you don't know when a goal is coming. NBA takes forever with replays to see who touched the ball last, whether the shooter had his foot on the line, was that a flagrant foul?, did the ball leave the hand before or after the shot clock went off, etc. It takes forever to play the last two minutes of a close game and it becomes unwatchable, NCAA is the same way now.
Football is becoming harder to watch too, way too many replays/challenges/ticky-tacky penalties, it takes forever to play out the last few minutes of a close game, there's TV timeouts after every punt, challenge, score, replay, etc. On top of this, I sometimes get burned out by the constant Football coverage that dominates the news media, it gets to be too much for me, especially during the off-season.
And, honestly for my money attending Hockey games is just more fun than either Football or Basketball. Baseball is okay live, TV not so much. Hockey fans generally are knowledgable and don't hop around from team to team like NBA fans do. NFL attendees are kind of half knowledgeable/passionate and half idiotic know-nothings/drunken fools.
But, this is all just my opinion. I don't mind the NHL not being as popular as the other sports but I do get tired of the "Hurr-durr no one cares/lol not a Southern sport" that I personally deal with. It is what it is I guess.
Phil Jackson prefers NHL playoffs to NBA: 'More fun, much more action'
The NBA and NFL get more attention but that doesn't mean either a better product. The NBA and their pundits spent the off-season talking about what great parity was about to come from this season and what do we have? It's very likely we're going to have Bucks vs Lakers in the Finals, maybe the Clippers have an argument but the other 27 teams have next to no shot. It's gotten to the point where we can predict the Finals on the first day of free agency.
And I say this as someone who watches both playoffs, but the only time I can say I truly more entertained by the NBA Playoffs than the NHL was 2005 when there was no Stanley Cup. Maybe 2011 since I was rooting hard for Dirk to get his championship. But even in years where the Stanley Cup Playoffs were not great, the NBA Playoffs were just as bad. With Hockey, you don't know when a goal is coming. NBA takes forever with replays to see who touched the ball last, whether the shooter had his foot on the line, was that a flagrant foul?, did the ball leave the hand before or after the shot clock went off, etc. It takes forever to play the last two minutes of a close game and it becomes unwatchable, NCAA is the same way now.
Football is becoming harder to watch too, way too many replays/challenges/ticky-tacky penalties, it takes forever to play out the last few minutes of a close game, there's TV timeouts after every punt, challenge, score, replay, etc. On top of this, I sometimes get burned out by the constant Football coverage that dominates the news media, it gets to be too much for me, especially during the off-season.
And, honestly for my money attending Hockey games is just more fun than either Football or Basketball. Baseball is okay live, TV not so much. Hockey fans generally are knowledgable and don't hop around from team to team like NBA fans do. NFL attendees are kind of half knowledgeable/passionate and half idiotic know-nothings/drunken fools.
But, this is all just my opinion. I don't mind the NHL not being as popular as the other sports but I do get tired of the "Hurr-durr no one cares/lol not a Southern sport" that I personally deal with. It is what it is I guess.
JianYang
Registered User
- Sep 29, 2017
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I live in the Vancouver area, and I definitely see the nba making gains here.
The younger generation here prefers to talk about basketball before any other sport. When I was growing up, we talked about the nhl first and foremost, and that was during Jordan's reign.
In terms of the product, I feel like the games are kind of running in parallel. Both leagues are emphasizing pace and skill, while the rough and tumble tactics have been pushed aside for the most part.
I still find the nba watchable, although I'd prefer a bit more parity, but I think in places like Toronto, and Vancouver, the younger crowd definitely connects with the nba, and the nhl needs to do something to reach these fans too.
HfBoards: Who is Max Kellerman
Also HFBoards: 16 page thread about Max Kellerman
Also HFBoards: 16 page thread about Max Kellerman
Can I ask which neighbourhoods you are in when you hear this? I don't see the demographics in Scarborough or Brampton being keen on hockey, but I have to imagine the nicer neighbourhoods feel different.
Look at the search trends.
The heavy populated GTA regions for the most part have more search results about the Raptors the past 5 years according to Google Trends.
| City | Leafs: (6/6/15 - 6/6/20) | Raptors: (6/6/15 - 6/6/20) | |
| Ajax | 36% | 64% | |
| Pickering | 41% | 59% | |
| Innisfil | |||
| Whitchurch-Stouffville | |||
| Markham | 31% | 69% | |
| Courtice | |||
| Kawartha Lakes | 72% | 28% | |
| Wasaga Beach | |||
| Gravenhurst | |||
| Port Hope | |||
| Brampton | 29% | 71% | |
| New Tecumseth | |||
| Vaughan | 39% | 61% | |
| East Gwillimbury | |||
| Bowmanville | |||
| Midland | |||
| Huntsville | |||
| Cobourg | |||
| Orangeville | |||
| Georgina | |||
| Richmond Hill | 35% | 65% | |
| Milton | 40% | 60% | |
| Toronto | 38% | 62% | |
| Bracebridge | |||
| Orillia | |||
| Collingwood | |||
| Mississauga | 36% | 64% | |
| Halton Hills | 57% | 43% | |
| Bradford West Gwillimbury | |||
| Whitby | 50% | 50% | |
| Brant | |||
| Aurora | 48% | 52% | |
| Caledon | 51% | 49% | |
| Oakville | 44% | 56% | |
| Oshawa | 54% | 46% | |
| Peterborough | 64% | 36% | |
| Barrie | 62% | 38% | |
| Newmarket | 51% | 49% | |
| Woodstock | |||
| Quinte West | |||
| Prince Edward | |||
| Cambridge | 57% | 43% | |
| Burlington | 50% | 50% | |
| Saint Thomas | |||
| Grimsby | |||
| Fort Erie | |||
| Thorold | |||
| Stratford | |||
| Belleville | 67% | 33% | |
| Owen Sound | |||
| Brantford | 59% | 41% | |
| Chatham-Kent | 73% | 27% | |
| Welland | |||
| Niagara Falls | 58% | 42% | |
| Sarnia | 71% | 29% | |
| Guelph | 54% | 46% | |
| Hamilton | 52% | 48% | |
| Saint Catharines | 57% | 43% | |
| North Bay | 71% | 29% | |
| Mount Pearl | |||
| London | 58% | 42% | |
| Sudbury | 65% | 35% | |
| Timmins | |||
| Kitchener | 50% | 50% | |
| Waterloo | 49% | 51% | |
| Kingston | 56% | 44% | |
| Sault Ste. Marie | 70% | 30% | |
| St. John's | 67% | 33% | |
| Thunder Bay | 66% | 34% | |
| Windsor | 62% | 38% | |
| Cornwall | |||
| Saint John | |||
| Charlottetown | |||
| Halifax | 55% | 45% | |
| Dartmouth | |||
| Fort McMurray | |||
| Moncton | |||
| Ottawa | 42% | 58% | |
| Fredericton | |||
| Saskatoon | 41% | 59% | |
| Calgary | 36% | 64% | |
| Vancouver | 30% | 70% | |
| Regina | 45% | 55% | |
| Victoria | |||
| Edmonton | 32% | 68% | |
| Winnipeg | 34% | 66% | |
| Surrey | |||
| Burnaby | |||
| Gatineau | |||
| Montreal | 39% | 61% | |
| Laval |
Any business that generates billions out of the U.S. probably can't be described as being something that "nobody cares about."
Sure, it is not as popular as other sports, but it is not that far off from the likes of soccer or baseball. It doesn't help that the NHL has had lame television contracts for a while now. If they went back to ESPN and such they'd probably generate a larger viewership.
In the end, most American markets have good attendance, tv viewership, and merchandise sales. So I don't think you can really question the sustainability of the sport, the only question is growth.
Sure, it is not as popular as other sports, but it is not that far off from the likes of soccer or baseball. It doesn't help that the NHL has had lame television contracts for a while now. If they went back to ESPN and such they'd probably generate a larger viewership.
In the end, most American markets have good attendance, tv viewership, and merchandise sales. So I don't think you can really question the sustainability of the sport, the only question is growth.
No, Cowherd and Kellerman was enough, besides Skip has made it known how much he hates hockey throughout the years.
