NHL Lacks National Identity Teams Like Other Big 3 Leagues
The NFL, MLB and NBA all have teams that are well-known at the national level. Unfortunately, the NHL does not and struggles with viewership.
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NHL Lacks National Identity Teams Like Other Big 3 Leagues
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sawchuk1971
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AtlantaWhaler
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I'm not so sure that there are tons of sports fans really watching from other markets when it comes to the WS or NBA Finals.
Honestly, it's really the NFL's world and the other leagues are barely a blip. What did I see today....that the MNF game between SF and the Vikings drew 3 times the viewership as Game 7 of the ALCS? That's crazy.
Honestly, it's really the NFL's world and the other leagues are barely a blip. What did I see today....that the MNF game between SF and the Vikings drew 3 times the viewership as Game 7 of the ALCS? That's crazy.
Yukon Joe
Registered User
Such a weird article.
So the basic thesis is that the other leagues have teams with national reach while the NHL does not.
First of all I'm not sure that's true. Now first recognize that the NHL is the only league with a major Canadian presence. But if the Leafs or Habs are playing another Canadian team the interest is intense. And in the US teams like the Rangers, Bruins, Blackhawks and Penguins also have significant national exposure.
And it's not like the other leagues don't struggle as well. The World Series this year is Arizona and Texas. Neither are particularly popular teams. You can bet that MLB would prefer some other teams, at least for TV viewership. NBA had the Nuggets vs the Heat, again not exactly a barn-burner. Even the NFL didn't do too badly with KC vs Philly, but you know they would've preferred a Dallas vs New England matchup (just in terms of viewership, not that that was a likely outcome).
Then it goes off on a weirder tangent about how hockey is hard to follow if you don't start skating at age 3. I mean - no. Most hockey fans never played the game.
So the basic thesis is that the other leagues have teams with national reach while the NHL does not.
First of all I'm not sure that's true. Now first recognize that the NHL is the only league with a major Canadian presence. But if the Leafs or Habs are playing another Canadian team the interest is intense. And in the US teams like the Rangers, Bruins, Blackhawks and Penguins also have significant national exposure.
And it's not like the other leagues don't struggle as well. The World Series this year is Arizona and Texas. Neither are particularly popular teams. You can bet that MLB would prefer some other teams, at least for TV viewership. NBA had the Nuggets vs the Heat, again not exactly a barn-burner. Even the NFL didn't do too badly with KC vs Philly, but you know they would've preferred a Dallas vs New England matchup (just in terms of viewership, not that that was a likely outcome).
Then it goes off on a weirder tangent about how hockey is hard to follow if you don't start skating at age 3. I mean - no. Most hockey fans never played the game.
The NBA definitely has the national pull. MLB could, but they have marketing issues too.
No Fun Shogun
34-38-61-10-13-15
Football's the only sport that's must watch every week and in the playoffs for fans of the sport. There are obviously plenty of diehard basketball, baseball, and, yes, hockey fans that exist that watch even when their teams aren't in it but I'd be willing to bet that, aside from a game here and there, most fans of the latter three don't watch when their teams aren't playing or stop watching when their teams are eliminated.
The NHL is really only notable in that regard as it's overall got a smaller fanbase in the US than MLB and NBA.
The only caveat that I'd give is that basketball is more built to be able to root for a single star player over a team. So there are plenty of LeBron fans that religiously followed his Cavs, Heat, and Lakers teams, and the same's the case for other star players that have been on multiple teams with other subsets of fans. So if Giannis or Steph left their teams, there'd assuredly be a load of fans that like them more than the Bucks and Warriors that'd see no issue following them in a different uniform. That subgroup of fandom doesn't seem to be as prevelent to me in other sports.
The NHL is really only notable in that regard as it's overall got a smaller fanbase in the US than MLB and NBA.
The only caveat that I'd give is that basketball is more built to be able to root for a single star player over a team. So there are plenty of LeBron fans that religiously followed his Cavs, Heat, and Lakers teams, and the same's the case for other star players that have been on multiple teams with other subsets of fans. So if Giannis or Steph left their teams, there'd assuredly be a load of fans that like them more than the Bucks and Warriors that'd see no issue following them in a different uniform. That subgroup of fandom doesn't seem to be as prevelent to me in other sports.
I always like articles that don't offer solutions.
'NHL has regional broadcast partners but the NFL doesn't' as if that means anything. Leaves out that NBA/MLB have a similar broadcasting model as the NHL and that the NFL doesn't need regional broadcasters because it's once a week and doesn't have the inventory that the NHL, NBA and MLB has.
Everything before that is saying why baseball was popular when it was, saying the NFL is popular (no kidding) and that the NBA got popular from Celtics-Lakers (Bird-Magic) into and through Jordan.
Absolutely meaningless article that offers no solutions or ideas and doesn't even do a good job of telling us what we already know.
The only thing notable is the headline, but even that isn't all there. Tons of ignoring that the NHL is a two-country league, also.
'NHL has regional broadcast partners but the NFL doesn't' as if that means anything. Leaves out that NBA/MLB have a similar broadcasting model as the NHL and that the NFL doesn't need regional broadcasters because it's once a week and doesn't have the inventory that the NHL, NBA and MLB has.
Everything before that is saying why baseball was popular when it was, saying the NFL is popular (no kidding) and that the NBA got popular from Celtics-Lakers (Bird-Magic) into and through Jordan.
Absolutely meaningless article that offers no solutions or ideas and doesn't even do a good job of telling us what we already know.
The only thing notable is the headline, but even that isn't all there. Tons of ignoring that the NHL is a two-country league, also.
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
I see THW hasn't improved their journalistic product quality for many years. It's comforting to know that some things never change.
varsaku
Registered User
NBA is player driven since the league marketed their stars and made them the center of attraction. The players themselves did their own part to market themselves and grow their status in addition to the league trying to hype them up. This has paid dividends since star players are a huge draw no matter where they play.
People here constantly harp on NHL to market its players. I feel players that is useless if players themselves don't do some leg work to gain that popularity.
No Fun Shogun
34-38-61-10-13-15
Sure, but basketball is also more built for individual stars and individualism. Star NBAers play significantly more, score much more, have way more highlights, and don't have any headgear blocking them from crowds.
Boil it all down, and basketball inherently endears itself to self-promotion versus a sport like hockey, where the best player in the world's on the bench for close to two-thirds of the time.
But I would admit that the average (non-goalie) hockey player is about as personally interesting and charismatic as a half-peeled potato.
Yukon Joe
Registered User
Basketball and hockey are just different sports though.
The best player in hockey, Connor McDavid, averages 18-20 minutes of ice time per game. That means he's on the ice for one third of the time.
Who is the best player in the NBA? I don't really follow the sport, but the first hit I found on google says it is Nikola Jokic. He averaged 33-34 minutes per game out of a total of 48 minutes, so he's playing for more than two thirds of the game.
It's a lot easier to market your stars in basketball because their effectiveness is so much more obvious.
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A lot of nhlers like the anonymity of being able to go about their business away from the rink. If the trade off is more money but more attention outside the rink, players so far seem to be fine with less exposure and less money.
Also the stars in basketball constantly have the ball in their hands when they are in court. Even for the 20 minutes in hockey that a star is on they have the puck on their stick a fraction of the time. It’s hard to spot when players are on the ice if you are casually watching the game (which is why networks have tried the star clock thing).
Even in baseball which has a similar Star impact on the game as hockey, a star hitter still has 4-5 individual 1 on 1 matchups with the pitcher where they are highlighted.
Voight
#winning
This + they are much more ingrained in pop culture.
Bixby Snyder
IBTFAD
It's not that surprising since the 2 teams with the most championships are both in Canada, plus the fact the NHL had only 4 US based teams until 1967 while the other leagues had at least12.
jetsmooseice
Let Chevy Cook
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Hockey is a Canadian sport where you can put a team almost any where weather it's NHL. , AHL. or CHL.(OHL. ,LMHJQ. , WHL.) hockey will sell in Canada in the USA. hockey is a niche game mainly seen as an elitist sport because its so expensive to play & that's why the NHL. has so much trouble trying sell the game down there especially in the south where is in the north it's not so bad because the north tends to be little bit richer than south & a little bit more money to spend on hockey just take a look where the vast majority NHL. players from the USA. come from mainly the New England states & the great lake states rarely see anyone come from any where else .
The NFL is in a universe that no other league can even dream of.
The NBA is a players league and casual fans reflect that.
MLB has become a regional sport, your team is eliminated you don't care anymore and that applies to hockey as well.
The NBA is a players league and casual fans reflect that.
MLB has become a regional sport, your team is eliminated you don't care anymore and that applies to hockey as well.
Headshot77
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The NHL does have one, it's the Toronto Maple Leafs. Getting America to care about a Canadian team is hard though.
Voight
#winning
To be fair they've won 7 of the last 13 cups (albeit none since 2018) with Boston making the finals in 2019. NHL markets them more than any other US team.
Speaking from a Blackhawks fan perspective people and to choice but to see Chicago play all the time. The league really forced the team down peoples throats during the 2010-2015 run, even I'll admit we played WAY to many outdoor games. Like it got to a point where were facing complete non rivals like Boston and Washington. What a waste of a game.
AtlantaWhaler
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If the NHL ever wants to "hang" with the other professional sports, it's first priority has to be figuring out how to make the sport more affordable at the youth level. Outside of a frozen pond (no, I'm not going to include roller hockey) it's impossible to have a pick-up game. On the organized league level, the cost is out of reach for far too many to get their children involved in the sport.
My youngest plays basketball year-round. He's currently in two leagues which are really well-run. Each league has 15-26 teams, lasts about 3-4 months, keeps track of stats, gets jerseys, end of the season tournaments, middle school/high school courts...Combined, I paid $425 for BOTH leagues. Can that even buy a good pair of youth skates (that they'll probably grow out of after a season)?
I'm not sure how the NHL will ultimately solve that, but until they do, it will always be a niche sport.
My youngest plays basketball year-round. He's currently in two leagues which are really well-run. Each league has 15-26 teams, lasts about 3-4 months, keeps track of stats, gets jerseys, end of the season tournaments, middle school/high school courts...Combined, I paid $425 for BOTH leagues. Can that even buy a good pair of youth skates (that they'll probably grow out of after a season)?
I'm not sure how the NHL will ultimately solve that, but until they do, it will always be a niche sport.
The NHL has national teams. They just haven't really been competing for cups recently. Both the Pens and Blackhawks had pretty big bandwagons (as well as the resulting haters) during their runs. The Oilers were supposed to take over for the Penguins, but haven't been good enough.
Did the Bucks/Suns NBA finals a few years back break any ratings records? I feel like all sports are going to see a dip when certain teams make the Finals.
Did the Bucks/Suns NBA finals a few years back break any ratings records? I feel like all sports are going to see a dip when certain teams make the Finals.
