Where is McDavid?

[Kranix]

Why on earth would the league send their most marketable player to Europe to play one game in a span of two weeks? The Leafs have already played 4 games with their 5th tonight. Not to mention this said game was against the Devils. Not to take anything away from the Devils but dont most leagues kick off their seasons with rivalries and other big matchups? I'm not a Oilers fan, but im definitely a fan of McDavid and to me if you're the smallest fry of the big fries (MLB, NBA, NFL NHL) you need to market your big name players especially during the gap between NHL and NBA kickoffs.

Someone in the marketing/PR department deserves to be fired.

Can you ever imagine a world where this happens in the NBA with Lebron James?

They're marketing him worldwide. Hence the game in Sweden.

 

[Ms Maggie]

This isn't nearly as much fun as Where's Waldo.

 

[Drytoast]

Found him

 

[BruinsBtn]

Well the schedule has been unusual. There is no reason that some team have played 3 more games than other other teams this early in the season.

Yeah, there's a very obvious reason the Oilers have played less

 

[strictlyrandy]

In Newmarket?

Should really read further down that page.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

True. Doesn't mean he has outside appeal and can bring casuals to the fold, hence the talk about marketability. You can sell "come and see Z play" to hockey/sports fans, not to the casual viewer. Trully marketable athletes draw in the casual viewer. You think Tiger Woods drew people in just because he is dominant? Hell, he is not dominant, but he still draws. He is a star, people care one way or another. He is a good looking guy with a personality. A fiery one that can rub people the wrong way, but he is interesting. Connor McDavid is not... and Sidney Crosby, my favourite athlete in the ****ing world is not either.

McDavid won't bring in casual fans, but he sure will keep them interested once they understand the game.

If you ask me what I would like, I'd say that I'd prefer guys like McDavid be enough to sell the sport as they are the product and, to me, the real appeal. If I put myself in a business person's shoes, I seek star power. McDavid doesn't have that outside of Canada. Unless the game itself already interest you. Mass appeal? Nah.

Wanna sell the game in non-hockey countries or in the USA? Put Ovechkin on a talkshow, put Subban on a gameshow. These guys have star power. It annoys me personally, but it is what it is.

Are we marketing them for a reality TV show? No, we’re marketing them for a hockey game. And, for the purpose of hockey, there is nobody more exciting than McDavid.

Exciting to watch isn't the same as marketable. The person you're quoting is 100% correct imo, McDavid isn't a marketable player. If people already watch the game, his skill is fascinating and will keep them interested, but as far as pulling people into the game prior to watching it, he's not marketable at all.

No they’re not, because we are marketing them for the purpose of hockey, and McDavid is so much more marketable as a hockey player than anybody else in the NHL that it completely overrides the fact that somebody like Subban sings Johnny Cash and goes on the Trevor Noah show.

 

[haveandare]

Are we marketing them for a reality TV show? No, we’re marketing them for a hockey game. And, for the purpose of hockey, there is nobody more exciting than McDavid.



No they’re not, because we are marketing them for the purpose of hockey, and McDavid is so much more marketable as a hockey player than anybody else in the NHL that it completely overrides the fact that somebody like Subban sings Johnny Cash and goes on the Trevor Noah show.

That's not how marketing works though. If you're trying to market to people who are not current customers, you need to appeal to them in terms of what they're interested in.

If someone isn't interested in hockey already, the fact that McDavid is great at hockey isn't going to appeal to them. If they're not interested in hockey, but for example like Johnny Cash, or like Trevor Noah, or like this or that thing a Subban/Ovechkin type do or wear or say on a media outlet that they follow, they may then be open to watching the sport and seeing how they like it.

This is why movie stars for example go on talk shows to pump up their movies. By your logic, if the movie is good it should win awards and make a ton of money just by virtue of it being good. But that's not what happens. These people go onto these shows to plug the movies and tell stories from their lives, etc to appeal to people's interests in hopes of them then checking out the movie.

If someone already watches the NHL and is already drawn to a hockey player by their on ice performance, the NHL likely doesn't need to market to them because they're already customers.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

McDavid is a fairly good-looking person. Extremely marketable for both his presentation and the fact that he's the most explosive and dominant player in the league.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

On the other hand, there's Auston Matthews....who's not very sharp. Or is that Zach Bogosian? Hmm......maybe Bogo's little brother?

 

[Paxon]

The Oilers are playing 82 games this season, so what does it matter that a bit longer goes by before they play? People love to throw their arms up in the air. It may suck for Oilers fans to wait, other than that I do not understand why anyone cares.

 

[McDavidCrushedLarkin]

Good god those nostrils are awful parachutes. Have the Leafs tried a wind tunnel to model his speed loss?

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

Good god those nostrils are awful parachutes. Have the Leafs tried a wind tunnel to model his speed loss?

Apparently, those aren't the only nostrils he has on his body.

 

[North Cole]

Be objective for a sec. Ask yourself what sells. My ugly mug certainly wouldn't sell either. We are talking about marketability, not what I like or who I am.

McDavid is not good looking and he doesn't have a larger than life personality. His talent sells in Canada and that's enough. In the US, people like stars more. Connor McDavid is a star on the ice, but outside of it, he is a dude. Ovechkin (ugly, but in a "OMG, that guy looks so funny kind of way) and Subban (handsome) have larger than life personalities that can sell outside of the ice. I dislike both dudes and they annoy me a great deal, but if I were a marketer for the NHL, I would market the hell out of BOTH!

Crosby is good looking, but he is boring as hell as well... and he is my favourite player and a guy I would call a very positive role model. You can use him to sell the game, but it won't work as well in the US when people tends to like STARS!

Peyton Manning for example. He is not a good looking guy, but he is very funny and personable. Brady is boring, but good looking and has an aura; he is a star. Lebron James, Aaron Judge, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, etc. These guys are marketable, Connor McDavid is not. Well, he IS marketable, but not him, his talents, they help sell the product. You cannot sell Connor McDavid like you could sell Ovechkin or Subban.

That's my point, not analyzing how anyone looks. But, yeah, maybe I am just a loud mouth

I agree to an extent, I just wanted to poke fun.

Those guys are all winners though. Brady is boring but he is the Goat QB, so there is a mystique associated with him. If McDavid started winning cups or won two or three more Art Ross then I think his marketability will continue to increase.

At some point with all of those guys, the awards began to pile up to match the skill they had in their respective sports. McDavid will never be as marketable as Jordan, Lebron, and Brady, but I think part of that is more about the sport he plays rather than his pimples Haha.

 

[socko]

Good god those nostrils are awful parachutes. Have the Leafs tried a wind tunnel to model his speed loss?

Those are the hood scoops. They make him go fast.

 

[McDrailers]

Apparently, those aren't the only nostrils he has on his body.

Matthews wears Ed Hardy confirmed. E5

 

[Paperbagofglory]

Gretzky looked like the kind of kid that you would beat up for his lunch money in junior high yet everyone knew who he was when he was playing in Nowheresville Alberta. He was that good that he was starring in American tv commercials and making late night appearances on talk shows during the 80's before the internet and before mass marketability became a thing.

If a skinny dweeb with a mullet from Edmonton can make a name for himself, then an above average or slightly above average looking player with the most entertaining looking game since Lemieux will do just fine. His team just can't keep sucking as bad as those 80's penguins teams.

Nobody wants to watch a loser unless they have their own reality show.

 

[Archangel]

Why on earth would the league send their most marketable player to Europe to play one game in a span of two weeks? The Leafs have already played 4 games with their 5th tonight. Not to mention this said game was against the Devils. Not to take anything away from the Devils but dont most leagues kick off their seasons with rivalries and other big matchups? I'm not a Oilers fan, but im definitely a fan of McDavid and to me if you're the smallest fry of the big fries (MLB, NBA, NFL NHL) you need to market your big name players especially during the gap between NHL and NBA kickoffs.

Someone in the marketing/PR department deserves to be fired.

Can you ever imagine a world where this happens in the NBA with Lebron James?

my stats maybe wrong. But he is on course for 160 pt season bases upon his current stats

 

[WilliamNylander]

Agree with most of the OP but McDavid is not the most marketable player in the NHL.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

my stats maybe wrong. But he is on course for 160 pt season bases upon his current stats

They are, its 164 points.

 

[Future GOAT]

its because Edmonton isn't marketable. I'm sure if he were a ranger things would be different

It was fine for Gretzky who was the best player in the world at the time. McDavid is in the same position. It's more like they're just not marketing him rather than him not being marketable.

 

[Kingsfan1]

In Matthews' shadow.

Matthews will never be as good as Mcdavid .

 

[GOilers88]

Everything will be normal alright.

The Oilers will be back at the basement of the NHL standings by mid November as usual and McDavid will be counting down the days till he can leave that dumpster fire of an organization he never wanted to play for in the first place.

Just signed on for another 8 years for shits and gigs, eh?

 

[WilliamNylander]

It was fine for Gretzky who was the best player in the world at the time. McDavid is in the same position. It's more like they're just not marketing him rather than him not being marketable.

They were good when Gretzky played.

Now its a combination of bad/bottom 10 hockey team and not marketable market.

 

[sabresEH]

The NHL literally cannot do anything right in some eyes.
"The NHL needs to be more global." "The NHL needs to market its stars."
NHL sends it's most high profile player over to Europe to help grow the game on a global scale.
"Why does the NHL send the best player overseas to start the season?"

 

[Future GOAT]

They were good when Gretzky played.

Now its a combination of bad/bottom 10 hockey team and not marketable market.

There is no attempt to market. Rather than him not being marketable. Maybe they're not attempting to because of the Oilers being a bottom team. If that changes this season and they still don't market him, that's on them.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Crosby went to Europe?