Why did hockey lose it's position as the most popular sport in Sweden?

[Padan]

Growing up in the 90's, I remember how popular hockey was among Swedes. Everyone followed the World Championship every year and SHL pretty much owned Allsvenskan (soccer).
I got the feeling that hockey lost it's position as the no. 1 sport somewhere around 2002. Nowadays it's all about Champions League, Zlatan, Premier League bla bla bla. What happened?

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[PuckPoise]

I don't think it's that different from earlier in pure interest, but the increase in population have been partly from immigration and second-generation of immigrants, where the culture and income may have caused a shift more towards soccer. I would imagine the prizes have played a part as well as SHL teams have shifted focus from everyone towards middle and upper middle to finance their teams.

 

[Franck]

It never was the number one in the first place. Football has always been the more popular sport.

 

[ulvvf]

WC has lost little bit of it status in sweden, even if do not really make any sense since it is better this days thanks to KHL. But I think it is because many have more aggressively argu about not exactly all NHL-players (4 teams are still playing) are avaible and that argument has gone into peoples minds. In the 90´s hardly anyone cared about that.

 

[LiveeviL]

WC has lost little bit of it status in sweden, even if do not really make any sense since it is better this days thanks to KHL. But I think it is because many have more aggressively argu about not exactly all NHL-players (4 teams are still playing) are avaible and that argument has gone into peoples minds. In the 90´s hardly anyone cared about that.

Seriously, I do not understand what you write.

 

[ulvvf]

Seriously, I do not understand what you write.

What is it that you dont understand in that? I think it is pretty clear.

Is it "WC has not the same status anymore"

Is it " It is strange since KHL have done so more of the best is available now"

Is it "In the last years certain groups have started complaining more and more about WC do not have access to all players, and in the same time WC has pretty fast lost it´s status in sweden"

Is it "In the 90´s hardly anyone cared about that."

Please enlighten me in what you dont understand.

 

[Padan]

It never was the number one in the first place. Football has always been the more popular sport.

I might be wrong, but looking at the attendance numbers, Allsvenskan averaged about 4,000 spectators 1990-95. I can't find the average attendance numbers for Elitserien during that time span, but was it really lower than that?

 

[Garl]

Majority of young people in Stockholm, Malmo and Gotehnburg are immigrants from Middle East, Africa and Southern Europe and they are not intrested in hockey at all, while the media is mostly adressing what is popular among urban youth.
Another thing is that World is more globalised now than it was in 90's, even in USA soccer is growing rapidly, because now youngsters have internet and Tv channels to support their demand in soccer and it shows.

 

[Jonimaus]

I might be wrong, but looking at the attendance numbers, Allsvenskan averaged about 4,000 spectators 1990-95. I can't find the average attendance numbers for Elitserien during that time span, but was it really lower than that?

The international football leagues, Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, whatever league Zlatan is currently playing in, is much much more popular than both Allsvenskan and Elitserien.

The vast majority of hockey fans in Sweden follow their Swedish team, there a a TON of swedish football fans who could not care less about allsvenskan and dedicate themselves to their favourite team in one of the big leagues.

Allsvenskan and elitserien attendance is not a good indication of anything.

 

[Padan]

The international football leagues, Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, whatever league Zlatan is currently playing in, is much much more popular than both Allsvenskan and Elitserien.

The vast majority of hockey fans in Sweden follow their Swedish team, there a a TON of swedish football fans who could not care less about allsvenskan and dedicate themselves to their favourite team in one of the big leagues.

Allsvenskan and elitserien attendance is not a good indication of anything.

Agreed, but I was referring to the 90's. You could barely follow the european soccer leagues (other than "Tipsextra") or the NHL back then, and still the interest for Allsvenskan seemed to be REALLY low. The attendance was not even half of what it is today.

 

[Dosing]

In norrland it may very well have been number 1. I think you need to be more specific. There's no such thing as "national interest" in swedish sports. Hockey isn't even number 2 were i'm from.

 

[Riddarn]

It has never been #1, but the rivalry was closer in the past.

I agree, the demographic shift has something to do with it. However consider also the availability of rinks/ice time in the bigger cities (nobody seems to be practicing outdoors anymore) and the cost of the sport. It is no coincidence that the ones that play hockey in stockholm are mainly upper class, or wealthy middle class, kids of north european decent. Also, how easy is it to get young kids to play hockey when the real quality hockey is broadcasted on pay-per-view or exclusive cable networks, often in the middle of the night, compared to the massive availability of soccer on TV. And no, broadcasting a few crappy Tre Kronor tournaments once in a while does not compensate for the lack of exposure.. considering the really shoddy product those european national team tournaments present, it probably does more harm than good.

But the WC still gets decent ratings, and if you accept it for what it is, it is still entertaining (in my mind). People that are a bit more hockey geeky might get more out of the World Juniors, I think. At least I do.

 

[PuckPoise]

People go to hockey games a ton, though, moreso than soccer, no? 60+ games on average in a season for the SHL teams means twice as many home games as a soccer team and still fairly comparable attendances on average. I think the reason it feels so wide apart in interest is that the average person in the SHL crowd isn't as heavily invested in the overall sport as a soccer fan is, but that is just a theory.

I won't argue people are more interested in soccer here, and the people who are interested in soccer are more intellectual and take more information and analysis in, whereas a hockey fan goes to the game, knows nothing about any other team but their own and is not interested in hearing about anything but their own team. I think that's one major difference, and a reason why Worlds draw really well whenever Sweden's playing or World Juniors with all the hype.

And before anyone says I'm out of line with the generalizations, I know I am generalizing, sometimes you got to do that to make a point.

 

[Urbanskog]

In norrland it may very well have been number 1. I think you need to be more specific. There's no such thing as "national interest" in swedish sports. Hockey isn't even number 2 were i'm from.

I have understood it remains as the number one sport in the northern parts of the country?

 

[Dosing]

I have understood it remains as the number one sport in the northern parts of the country?

It's usually norrlänningar who believes hockey is the biggest sport in all of Sweden and since he said "used to be" I took it as that it isn't anymore up there either. Could be wrong though..

 

[Jonimaus]

It's usually norrlänningar who believes hockey is the biggest sport in all of Sweden and since he said "used to be" I took it as that it isn't anymore up there either. Could be wrong though..

Handball is the most popular sport in my town, confirmed biggest sport in Sweden?

 

[Dosing]

Handball is the most popular sport in my town, confirmed biggest sport in Sweden?

Well no, that was the point I was trying to make.. Sorry if there's a hidden joke in there somewhere I didn't get. She's half 2 and kudden kallar...

 

[Jonimaus]

Well no, that was the point I was trying to make.. Sorry if there's a hidden joke in there somewhere I didn't get. She's half 2 and kudden kallar...

Was ment as sarcasm enhancing your point.

 

[svartgul]

I have understood it remains as the number one sport in the northern parts of the country?

Generally yes I'd say so but it depends on the city. Sweden isn't dedicated to one sport in general and where in the country you are matters when talking about which sport is the biggest. Things like handball, basketball, floorball or martial arts are very big in some cities or can be quite small in others. In broad terms Hockey is #1 in the north and soccer #1 in the south but soccer is still very big in the north as well.

 

[LiveeviL]

Around here skiing in all forms are the top.

But hockey is doing rather well. Since the local football team advanced 3 tiers football is the prime sport. Basket-ball is pretty popular too, even more than hockey I would say. Local hockey need an advancement in the system to kick off, they at least got a new barn now (where one of the Melodifestival contest will be held).

 

[SurMartin]

Yeah it's number one in the north but it's slowly dying. It has been getting more and more difficult to find natural ice up here and the inland population (where practically everyone played hockey for leisure) is dwindling. In the hockeytowns near the coast the majority stops playing if they don't make the big team.

 

[habsrule4eva3089]

the cost of the sport. It is no coincidence that the ones that play hockey in stockholm are mainly upper class, or wealthy middle class, kids of north european decent.

Every other sport is working towards accessibility, Hockey is going backwards worldwide.

 

[Matte99]

The rights to broadcast WHC (which was a huge public affair in Sweden) was suddenly sold to a small commercial channel (TV3) and 80% of the people couldn't watch it anymore. In reality this was the deciding blow towards hockey in Sweden.

 

[Jonimaus]

The rights to broadcast WHC (which was a huge public affair in Sweden) was suddenly sold to a small commercial channel (TV3) and 80% of the people couldn't watch it anymore. In reality this was the deciding blow towards hockey in Sweden.

Since when, is TV3 a small channel, and since when does 80% of the people not have TV3?
It's no SVT, but come on.

 

[Linnarhult]

Supply and demand.
The media landscape is totally different today compared to ten years ago. With internet we've gotten so much more sport to watch.

I remember growing up watching shows like Tips-lördag, Veckans NHL and Sportspegeln. Rarely did they show any games with my favorite teams on TV. Today I watch it all on different streams. And I also picked up alot of new sports and teams that I follow, like the NFL and NBA. When I was younger all that was talked about amongst me and my friends were SHL and Allsvenskan.

And not only sports. People spend their money in a different way today.