NHL possibly getting bumped for a WNBA game

[spintheblackcircle]

• NFL bogus late call against Saints -vs- LA that allowed to reach Superbowl their 1st year moving to LA's new stadium. Nothing to see here

Here is the issue with conspiracy theories......people actually think that a game was fixed because of a bad call in the last minute of a game. As if the refs waited 59 minutes to "fix" the game. If any league wanted a game fixed, they wouldn't wait until 1 minute was left. It would have been settled in the first half.

Bad calls happen. Conspiracies don't.

 

[SomeDude]

It'd help if you know...NHL actually markets their stars, instead of pretending that people care only about the team.

Like 80% of the National televised games that Crosby played in his career had a moron like Mike Milbury picking apart every little thing he could about him instead of propping him up. “He got cross checked in the teeth but he needs to shut up and go play.”

 

[snag]

Could you imagine if Gretzky, the epitome of boring, had the personality of Magic Johnson and if Magic had the personality of Joe Dumars?

Casual fans don't want to watch stars. They want to watch personalities and the best players, with few exceptions, are boring as hell.

And that is why if I wanted that crap I would watch wrastlin'

 

[tarheelhockey]

Clark's popularity, new expansion franchises, TV ratings, money, flavor of the moment, and other things dictate sports these days. Sorry NHL fans, this sport isn't high on today's pushed agenda's list to receive love. NHL signing on with ESPN was huge mistake and NHL will be treated like dirt no matter what NHL, players, or anyone else does. Cornball gets ESPN prime time slots over NHL games. ESPN and other monopolies have to much skin in the game now, and controls what gets seen by public. Then it's a question of what came first? Chicken or egg, does TV/Media promote a sport enough to help it or does one have to get popular first? No matter, TV/Media controls the kitchen, sets the table, and does it really matter what public wants or doesn't then? Probably not.

Love sports, but sports has come off looking bad lately with refs, media, etc. being to involved with outcomes. Since this is women basketball thread lets start with.....

• Iowa's favorable late call in final-4 that assured huge rating draw during finals.
• Women sports are being pushed: women sports are cool but ask LSU women basketball players how they feel today about rating agenda's. Was pulling for Iowa by the way, but bunk timing is bunk timing no matter who it is.
• NFL bogus late call against Saints -vs- LA that allowed to reach Superbowl their 1st year moving to LA's new stadium. Nothing to see here.
• Even NHL wanted hockey to succeed so bad in Vegas: they gave them every advantage in-the-book to do succeed. Bet many franchise who haven't won in awhile love this one. Sorta reminds me of how huge companies now treat existing customers like dirt, while treating brand new customers like royalty. Monopolies and huge money has a way of tainting stuff sometimes, doesn't it?
• Michigan's/Boston organizations being investigated relentlessly because who leads teams (Yeah, unfortunately politics as enter sport arena's to much now)
• Change happens, and nothing great last forever. There's nothing I or anyone else can do about that.. Come to terms sports is changing into is a lesser product because of many reasons. Money, ratings, gambling, etc being biggest.
• There so many more example of fingers-on-scales throughout sports world to list but they exist.
• And who even knows if numbers they tell us all are even true: wouldn't be first time false shadows have been cast within modern world's Plato's Cave. Internet has made Plato's Cave bigger than it's ever been historically.
• Stinks but NHL is in the backseat of the bus for many reasons.

Huge TV draw, right story-line, being wanted market, media's agenda list, correct beliefs, etc. can get one far in sports today. Unfortunately, humans doing what humans do when we make things about...... "The Who" more so than...."The What"

She just set the all-time NCAA scoring record, while being an electrifying player to watch and damn near dragging her team to a national championship they had no business winning.

Fans have every reason to want to watch her, no different than a young LeBron or a young Tiger Woods. You’re bending over backwards to portray this as being “pushed”, but that’s not what the market is saying. People simply want to see star players doing star player things.

The cheapest seat in the building for Clark’s road-game debut game is $250 on StubHub, and rising fast. That’s pure consumer demand.

 

[EpochLink]

Here is the issue with conspiracy theories......people actually think that a game was fixed because of a bad call in the last minute of a game. As if the refs waited 59 minutes to "fix" the game. If any league wanted a game fixed, they wouldn't wait until 1 minute was left. It would have been settled in the first half.

Bad calls happen. Conspiracies don't.

But let’s ignore that horrible Drew Brees interception in overtime though, cause that bad ref call costs the Saints a trip to the Super Bowl.

Conspiracy I tell ya!

 

[Ezekial]

I also remember those preseason rankings and predictions that Vegas was about to go on a miraculous first season run because the league gave them every advantage possible.

No one or their mother thought they would be a dogshit tank organization before their inaugural season.

 

[MrLouniverse]

Literally who?

 

[pedis]

Lmfaoooo wnba is a joke league. Surprised they even thought this was a good idea

 

[NorthStar4Canes]

I think a certain someone(s) in this thread has seriously underestimated the star power of Clark. She’s one of the biggest draws in the country right now, literally twice as popular as any male NCAA player according to this study. That would have been unheard of in past years.

And there’s a strong demographic component to this as well. Younger people are more interested in women’s sports than older people. Racial minorities are something like 2x-3x as interested in the WNBA as white consumers. So an older white guy complaining on the internet that women’s basketball doesn’t have an audience… well, he’s kind of tipping his hand about the demographic bubble he lives in.

And to put her star power in perspective, my mom and her brother, both in their 90's and of Viking ancestry, are NCAA men's and women's basketball fans and are well-aware of what a phenom Clark is without any help of social media or Internet forums. That's how I first heard of Clark before this year.

People in their 90's don't impress very easily or often. Clarke's popularity among the young must be massive.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

They are on ESPN. That’s all that matters. Which specific channel, between 1 and 2 doesn’t matter. And the games on ABC is the same thing as on NBC.

Plus there’s also the TNT coverage.

What they have now, including ESPN+, is miles ahead of just NBC and having to pay for NHL TV.

While all accurate, working backwards:

* You also have to pay for ESPN+.
* The feed from ESPN+ - or at least the feed I and my friends get - is at times complete garbage. It may be "miles ahead" of NHL TV, but something about the feed jumping forward/backward 5-10 seconds at times before it collapses and having to reload the fee is ... more than annoying.
* TNT coverage is ... OK. What NBCSN had was (far) better, IMO. Oh, and there were considerably more OTA games on NBCSN + NBC.

Which really gets down to it's on ESPN, so that's better - doesn't matter which specific channel. Which, ... ESPN doesn't care, either, to be honest. All it cares is that no one else has the NHL (without its consent) so it doesn't have a competitor - which is why we get the shitty ESPN coverage we've seen since the big fanfare broadcast a couple years ago. But, who cares if we're treated 6th tier, 7th tier, 8th tier, or worse - we're back on ESPN, hurray everyone!

 

[Osakahaus]

My biggest issue with ESPN hockey is that they have some of the worst commentators and we might be subjected to more McDonough this finals. He is so bland that I would rather hear Jack Edwards have a stroke on air instead of hearing him. I'd rather have CHRIS KING do the calls because at least he shows enthusiasm for gods sake.

 

[tarheelhockey]

And to put her star power in perspective, my mom and her brother, both in their 90's and of Viking ancestry, are NCAA men's and women's basketball fans and are well-aware of what a phenom Clark is without any help of social media or Internet forums. That's how I first heard of Clark before this year.

People in their 90's don't impress very easily or often. Clarke's popularity among the young must be massive.

I have teenage boys who follow Clark’s career. Imagine teenage boys following Sue Bird the way they followed Kobe and Jeter, or following Rebecca Lobo the way they followed Jordan and Gretzky. Never would have happened in those eras. Those women were a footnote coming back from commercial on Sportscenter. Clark is the main show.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Clark's popularity, new expansion franchises, TV ratings, money, flavor of the moment, and other things dictate sports these days. Sorry NHL fans, this sport isn't high on today's pushed agenda's list to receive love. NHL signing on with ESPN was huge mistake and NHL will be treated like dirt no matter what NHL, players, or anyone else does. Cornball gets ESPN prime time slots over NHL games. ESPN and other monopolies have to much skin in the game now, and controls what gets seen by public. Then it's a question of what came first? Chicken or egg, does TV/Media promote a sport enough to help it or does one have to get popular first? No matter, TV/Media controls the kitchen, sets the table, and does it really matter what public wants or doesn't then? Probably not.

Love sports, but sports has come off looking bad lately with refs, media, etc. being to involved with outcomes. Since this is women basketball thread lets start with.....

• Iowa's favorable late call in final-4 that assured huge rating draw during finals.
• Women sports are being pushed: women sports are cool but ask LSU women basketball players how they feel today about rating agenda's. Was pulling for Iowa by the way, but bunk timing is bunk timing no matter who it is.
• NFL bogus late call against Saints -vs- LA that allowed to reach Superbowl their 1st year moving to LA's new stadium. Nothing to see here.
• Even NHL wanted hockey to succeed so bad in Vegas: they gave them every advantage in-the-book to do succeed. Bet many franchise who haven't won in awhile love this one. Sorta reminds me of how huge companies now treat existing customers like dirt, while treating brand new customers like royalty. Monopolies and huge money has a way of tainting stuff sometimes, doesn't it?
• Michigan's/Boston organizations being investigated relentlessly because who leads teams (Yeah, unfortunately politics as enter sport arena's to much now)
• Change happens, and nothing great last forever. There's nothing I or anyone else can do about that.. Come to terms sports is changing into is a lesser product because of many reasons. Money, ratings, gambling, etc being biggest.
• There so many more example of fingers-on-scales throughout sports world to list but they exist.
• And who even knows if numbers they tell us all are even true: wouldn't be first time false shadows have been cast within modern world's Plato's Cave. Internet has made Plato's Cave bigger than it's ever been historically.
• Stinks but NHL is in the backseat of the bus for many reasons.

Huge TV draw, right story-line, being wanted market, media's agenda list, correct beliefs, etc. can get one far in sports today. Unfortunately, humans doing what humans do when we make things about...... "The Who" more so than...."The What"

If you honestly believe this, then why in the world would you continue to watch?

 

[TheTotalPackage]

TBH, I don't care about what they are like off the ice.

I like seeing the human element of these guys away from the rink some times. They're people too, and it's interesting to see what they're like in every day life, or what their upbringing may have been. If anything, that's where I find capturing these guys away from the rink in a more laid back setting makes them more personable.

That being said, I find the whole personality thing to be overrated in terms of holding the sport back. If McDavid had the charisma/personality of a PK Subban as opposed to squash soup, I still highly doubt the league would have people watching in droves. If people cannot appreciate the greatness of these players on the ice, then nothing will.

 

[These Are The Days]

Who the f*** cares? You legitimately can't just be happy for the WNBA succeeding? My God

 

[DaveG]

Like yea that's usually how growth works.

assuming it's actual growth. Soccer fans in the US have seen similar play out before (Beckham, Zlatan, currently Messi) and it hasn't meant shit for the actual state of the game.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

NHL stars are less charismatic than squash soup.

"We want stars who have more personality than squash soup."

[Guy celebrates scoring a goal by doing the Griddy]
[Guy rips a slapshot into an empty net from 5 feet out]
[Guy does the Michigan to score goals]

"... but not like that."

 

[flying squirrel]

Here is the issue with conspiracy theories......people actually think that a game was fixed because of a bad call in the last minute of a game. As if the refs waited 59 minutes to "fix" the game. If any league wanted a game fixed, they wouldn't wait until 1 minute was left. It would have been settled in the first half.

Bad calls happen. Conspiracies don't.

Yeah, bad calls happen but both events can exist within same world. Saying bad calls happen is not proof or argument against sport not putting fingers-on-scales today (Some call it game managing). Never thought of this as a conspiracy, but something that was hard not to notice when watching sports. Use to call folks out even after I started to notice, that said this kind of stuff, but to much possible evidence exist now to not at least think it's a possibility. Plus, throughout history, many conspiracies are proven true as more info comes to light later. Love studying human history, and one could write a lengthy paper on conspiracies that have been proven true in due-time. Really wish this wasn't a possibility within sports world, wish for ignorance that was had before noticing, but after witnessing to much legit possibility lately. Can't stay with head completely in the sand anymore. Gotta keep the real possibility open until proven otherwise. Really hope I'm wrong, so much I do....

But afraid there's to much money, livelihoods, ratings, jobs, and other things at stake to belief this isn't at least a possibility. Humanities track record with power, money, monopolies, etc. is sadly leaning towards not being on the up & up. To many questionable occurrence across sports world: for one not to at least question those events with an open mind. Curious, do you also believe there's no chance Dodgers pitcher didn't make gambling bets? Like MLB baseball and some media is trying to sell?

Have a great day everyone, gotta go get some Planet Zoo on.

 

[snag]

I like seeing the human element of these guys away from the rink some times. They're people too, and it's interesting to see what they're like in every day life, or what their upbringing may have been. If anything, that's where I find capturing these guys away from the rink in a more laid back setting makes them more personable.

That being said, I find the whole personality thing to be overrated in terms of holding the sport back. If McDavid had the charisma/personality of a PK Subban as opposed to squash soup, I still highly doubt the league would have people watching in droves. If people cannot appreciate the greatness of these players on the ice, then nothing will.

Yes.... Human interest is great. It's natural. But some aren't asking for that...they want prima donnas.

I mean, part of what makes Draisaitl Skip commercials funny is how dry he is.

 

[joelef]

assuming it's actual growth. Soccer fans in the US have seen similar play out before (Beckham, Zlatan, currently Messi) and it hasn't meant shit for the actual state of the game.

MLS has grown leaps and bounds since Beckham except for there tv ratings

 

[DaveG]

MLS has grown leaps and bounds since Beckham except for there tv ratings

That's my point. The league is significantly bigger mostly due to expansion, but the TV ratings are still the same outside of the games with the big name players (Beckham, Zlatan, Messi). The big names will still be TV draws, but the game itself is what has to grow organically.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Good. The NHL is a trash league so if other major sports leagues can surpass it in popularity…go ahead.

 

[blundluntman]

A bunch of people I know that wouldn't be caught dead talking about the WNBA were watching March Madness this year and talking about Caitlin Clark. When someone's good enough to make a basketball league with even less prestige than the WNBA the talk of the town, they're clearly a big deal. I don't see any issue with her debut pushing a playoff game to ESPN2. More people are gonna watch it, it's just common sense.

 

[bossram]

Just accept that women’s basketball is getting more popular. NCAA women’s final did 14 mil in viewers. The NHL could only dream of touching that.

ESPN would be foolish not to do that.

It may be depressing to all of us, but Caitlin Clark is a much bigger sports star than Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, or any other hockey player.

Many more Americans know who Caitlin Clark is.

Yep. This is the correct answer. Caitlin Clark is a way bigger draw than an NHL playoff game and will do bigger viewership numbers. It's obvious why ESPN would prioritize her.

 

[joelef]

Yep. This is the correct answer. Caitlin Clark is a way bigger draw than an NHL playoff game and will do bigger viewership numbers. It's obvious why ESPN would prioritize her.

The fact that she a bigger draw then ta 100 year old “ 4th major sport” is a problem