If anyone is jealous of the NBA Playoffs, good for you. I couldnt care less honestly. I love playoff hockey.
The demographics of North America are changing as well. They don’t cater to Asian, Indo Asian, Middle Easter and African house holds.
But if you look at Canada as an example our society is changing fast. I see more immigrants now than ever. My parents are from India and my dad was/is a massive fan but he’s been here for 50 years. When he moved here he couldn’t watch cricket or keep up with other sports.
Now because of technology any immigrant who moves here can just watch their favourite sports teams back home on their smart phones . No need to get in to hockey. It will continue to dwindle.
Soccer does have a huge following in N.A., it's just that it doesn't show as much since all soccer superstars play in European leagues only and the MLS is a farmer's league. You can see just how popular soccer is during major events like the Euro or the World Cup.
If I go down the streets of Toronto right now and ask random strangers who recently moved to Canada if they know the names of soccer superstars, I would expect that they could name Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar or older retired superstars like Zidane or Pele.
If I ask them to name superstars that are still in the hunt for the Stanley Cup, I don't think they would name guys like Kucherov, Stone or Barzal. Aside from the local team superstars like Matthews or Marner, they may know Price because he plays for the Habs and they are a main rival of the Maple Leafs, but that's about it.
Ever since the Raptors won in 2019, and partly due to the monumental disappointment that the Leafs are, I've found that the Raptors have passed the Leafs in popularity around here. More people in my company follow the Raptors than people who follow the Leafs. On Facebook, the Raptors have twice as many followers as the Leafs.
As much as other sports aren't really exploding in popularity, I can see hockey losing popularity in the near future the way things are going.
I'll say it.
NHL stars aren't marketable because they're a bunch of boring knuckleheads who still need to abide by a 'code' in a sport that's, on the ice and in the stands, 99% white.
Who do you consider an exciting star in another sport? Most players end up in trouble over comments they make which ends up losing fans or will cost the league money.
Our society is rapidly evolving into a multicultural one; one with a different set of norms and values. A bunch of white dudes saying "well, uh, I give all credit to my teammates, eh" isn't gonna cut the mustard in today's urban youth culture.
What do you want them to say? Do you value a player's opinion on anything other than the game they play?
It doesn't matter how exciting our game is. There's nothing for many kids to grab on to in a cultural sense. Same reason NASCAR can't market itself beyond its existing base.
Oh who gives a shit
the NBA is full of divas who care more about their brand than winning games. Hockey players don’t care about the spotlight and that’s how it should be.
the whole “please watch our sport” crowd is so weird to me, as long as you love hockey then who really cares that it’s not popular all over the place.
If interest in the sport decreases as people are drawn to other sports, the talent pool will continue to shrink. We won't see the effect till its decades later.