the futures of the NHL and NBA

[collins]

Interesting discussion found at OffWing, comparing attendance numbers between the two sports. As a league, the NHL isn't that far off.

http://www.ericmcerlain.com/offwingopinion/archives/006969.php#006969

[snip]

" * On Friday, December 29th, Chicago hosted Boston in front of 19,315 at the United Center, an increase of 49% over their average game attendance. That same night in Florida, a record setting crowd at Bank Atlantic Center watch the Panthers/ Canadiens. The sellout crowd of 19,772 is up 38% over the season average."

[snip]

"All is not good news at the gate. Far from it. Average NHL attendance this season (16,677) is off 1.6% from last (16,954). "

[snip]

"However, here's some context for you to consider: the average NBA audience last year was 17,558. "

Click to read more...

 

[Timmy]

I think that in order to match the NBA figures, the NHL needs a fresh start.

A map of North America, with arrows showing where I think some current franchises should move from and to, is displayed below:

View attachment 20113

 

[OG6ix]

But the TV numbers are big time apart (especially during playoffs and finals).

 

[Bixby Snyder]

The NBA is all about smoke and mirrors, the actual product is total crap.

Hockey is just a better game to watch, even the AHL is better than the NBA but the US media hate hockey and will never allow it to succeed.

 

[Wooty]

The NBA is all about smoke and mirrors, the actual product is total crap.

Hockey is just a better game to watch, even the AHL is better than the NBA but the US media hate hockey and will never allow it to succeed.

Do you really think some time ago a collective of the media giants got together secretly and agreed to supress the NHL. They all agreed to turn away money for some magical purpose?


The NHL is not popular because it is not on TV.
It is not on TV because you can barely figure out what is happening.
The NBA has a big giant ball and a smaller court.

 

[Stephen]

The NHL is not popular because it is not on TV.
It is not on TV because you can barely figure out what is happening.
The NBA has a big giant ball and a smaller court.

The NHL is not popular because a lot of people in the US don't grow up playing it and they don't play hockey in their spare time and there's no real tradition of it, just like the viewership of cricket is low in Canada because not a lot of people play it or grew up with it.

 

[Wooty]

The NHL is not popular because a lot of people in the US don't grow up playing it and they don't play hockey in their spare time and there's no real tradition of it, just like the viewership of cricket is low in Canada because not a lot of people play it or grew up with it.

You mean the media giants aren't out holding hockey down?

The point of this thread was NHL vs NBA. I am offering a reason why the NHL is lower then the NBA.

Hockey is a great sport that people would love - if they could see it on TV and figure it out. It won't be on TV until you can see it and see what the players are doing and then establish a reason for their actions.

HDTV will help hockey out far more then it will help the NBA.

 

[OG6ix]

The NBA is all about smoke and mirrors, the actual product is total crap.

Hockey is just a better game to watch, even the AHL is better than the NBA but the US media hate hockey and will never allow it to succeed.

That's just your opinion. A lot of people disagree with you. You may think that the NBA, or basketball, is boring but there are millions of people that think hockey is boring because it's soccer on ice. You see the hypocrisies? Both sports are fine in their own way. However, the NBA is more popular world wide than the NHL is and there is no way your opinion is going to make up for the stats.

By the way, if you actually watched basketball (which i'm sure you don't) you would see all the buzzer beaters and tightly contested games meaning the product isn't "total crap."

 

[Crazy_Ike]

Why watch the whole game? You can usually just tune in the last five minutes (which, with all the timeouts, usually takes half an hour to play anyways) and see the only important part of the game anyways.

Worldwide, basketball certainly isnt more popular than hockey anywhere that actually has any choice between the two (besides the US and possibly some southeastern European countries). Tough to get the chance to watch hockey in a country that doesn't get snow.

 

[OG6ix]

Why watch the whole game? You can usually just tune in the last five minutes (which, with all the timeouts, usually takes half an hour to play anyways) and see the only important part of the game anyways.

Worldwide, basketball certainly isnt more popular than hockey anywhere that actually has any choice between the two (besides the US and possibly some southeastern European countries). Tough to get the chance to watch hockey in a country that doesn't get snow.

LOL, well I love basketball, so I can say this... I can take a 15 minute **** break and come back the score probably won't be changed. You can watch the last 5 minutes in every sport if you want the outcome, this is such a BS statement made only by hockey fans. Wouldn't you want to know about the turning point of the games and pretty much what happened for the score to be what it is?

As for popularity of basketball internationally, go look at the last draft, there were literally players drafted from the four corners of the world. Not like the NHL where they come from North America or Scandinavian countries. Hockey is a pretty fun game, but it's far from being the best sport out there no matter what your media or people around you say. That's why it's a niche sport outside of Canada.

 

[EbencoyE]

LOL, well I love basketball, so I can say this... I can take a 15 minute **** break and come back the score probably won't be changed. You can watch the last 5 minutes in every sport if you want the outcome, this is such a BS statement made only by hockey fans. Wouldn't you want to know about the turning point of the games and pretty much what happened for the score to be what it is?

As for popularity of basketball internationally, go look at the last draft, there were literally players drafted from the four corners of the world. Not like the NHL where they come from North America or Scandinavian countries. Hockey is a pretty fun game, but it's far from being the best sport out there no matter what your media or people around you say. That's why it's a niche sport outside of Canada.

In a 3-2 hockey game, the goal that made it 2-1 can be pretty important. But in a 130-123 basketball game, does the basket that made it 94-87 really make that much of a difference? He has a point when he says only the last few minutes matter.

Basketball is like a NASCAR race. The leading driver might get passed in the middle of the race - big whoop. He'll probably get passed again 10+ more times before the race is over. Only the last few laps matter.

And the NBA draft is no basis to analyze the popularity of basketball. Basketball is a widely played sport because it is easy to play, simple, and cheap. Much like soccer. However, that doesn't mean basketball is popular in those countries. How many countries can you name where basketball is the most popular sport? The Philippines? Lithuania maybe? Not many.

For example, while I was watching the NBA draft, a player from Switzerland got drafted. But basketball is far from a popular sport in Switzerland. Soccer and Hockey both have it beat by far.

The difference is not much talent is required to be good at basketball. Hockey, though, is a different story because it requires great skill and usually must be taught from an early age to even be able to TRY and have a serious future in the sport, and that's why there isn't such a wide variety of nationalities in the NHL draft.

 

[OG6ix]

In a 3-2 hockey game, the goal that made it 2-1 can be pretty important. But in a 130-123 basketball game, does the basket that made it 94-87 really make that much of a difference? He has a point when he says only the last few minutes matter.

Basketball is like a NASCAR race. The leading driver might get passed in the middle of the race - big whoop. He'll probably get passed again 10+ more times before the race is over. Only the last few laps matter.

And the NBA draft is no basis to analyze the popularity of basketball. Basketball is a widely played sport because it is easy to play, simple, and cheap. Much like soccer. However, that doesn't mean basketball is popular in those countries. How many countries can you name where basketball is the most popular sport? The Philippines? Lithuania maybe? Not many.

For example, while I was watching the NBA draft, a player from Switzerland got drafted. But basketball is far from a popular sport in Switzerland. Soccer and Hockey both have it beat by far.

The difference is not much talent is required to be good at basketball. Hockey, though, is a different story because it requires great skill and usually must be taught from an early age to even be able to TRY and have a serious future in the sport, and that's why there isn't such a wide variety of nationalities in the NHL draft.

whoa whoa whoa... Basketball is like Nascar? How about when a team goes on a 10 - 2 run in the 3rd quarter? Yeah that doesn't effect the game until the last 5 minutes what so ever. Sorry I just stopped reading your post after that. This is useless really, a lot of people here don't like basketball and I have a hunch it's because basketball is a few steps a head of hockey right now and for some reason that pisses them off. It's cool though a lot of Major League Soccer fans don't like the NHL because of this same reason. A lot of Basketball fans don't like baseball because of this reason. It's my sport vs your sport and it's pretty childish but what can you do right?

 

[Timmy]

This is useless really, a lot of people here don't like basketball and I have a hunch it's because basketball is a few steps a head of hockey right now and for some reason that pisses them off.

I guess that's what you get from a hockey forum versus, say, a basketball forum.