Could NHL surpass NBA?

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Not a chance. Hockey is tremendously more expensive to play and will pretty much always have a more regional and niche appeal. Basketball is the second most popular sport in the world, I believe (after soccer) and I don't see that changing. That will pretty much always be reflected in the relative popularity of the NHL and NBA.
 
Not until there are more black players in hockey. A big reason why half the population doesn't watch is because there's nobody who looks like them.
Another one who has to bring race into the conversation. Care to explain the white people that are nba fans? Or the huge nba following in China?
 
It is at the very least an interesting question. I do follow the NBA, play their fantasy drafts etc. While I don't know that hockey will ever touch basketball, the NBA has a problem. Paying fans/sponsors/TV are taking note of the product. You simply have no idea what a team will throw on the floor any given night.

Almost no one plays through anything which would be bad enough, but clearly healthy players just do not take the floor.

So they have issues they need to fix.. overall, the game has some great young stars.
 
Nope. The culture of our game is too conservative to appeal to today’s youth urban culture.

Granted we’ve moved on from the Don Cherry’s of the sport, but that’s not nearly enough.
 
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Nope. The culture of our game is too conservative to appeal to today’s youth urban culture.

Granted we’ve moved on from the Don Cherry’s of the sport, but that’s not nearly enough.
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Not a chance. Hockey is tremendously more expensive to play and will pretty much always have a more regional and niche appeal. Basketball is the second most popular sport in the world, I believe (after soccer) and I don't see that changing. That will pretty much always be reflected in the relative popularity of the NHL and NBA.
That doesn't really say anything lmao. On a global scale, Basketball is not that much more relevant than hockey. It probably has a better growth platform though, just because of China.
 
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Not even close.

That doesn't really say anything lmao. On a global scale, Basketball is not that much more relevant than hockey. It probably has a better growth platform though, just because of China.
??? What? It's FAR more relevant. Hockey requires ice, and gear. Basketball requires a hoop.
 
That doesn't really say anything lmao. On a global scale, Basketball is not that much more relevant than hockey. It probably has a better growth platform though, just because of China.

...actually, it says a lot...it says that cheaper sports to play are more popular...it says that Branding matters...take China out and basketball is still probably more popular worldwide...
 
...actually, it says a lot...it says that cheaper sports to play are more popular...it says that Branding matters...take China out and basketball is still probably more popular worldwide...

You can reverse it as well. The most popular sport in the most populous country (India) is cricket, and cricket is still a niche sport worldwide.
 
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??? What? It's FAR more relevant. Hockey requires ice, and gear. Basketball requires a hoop.
So? Running requires nothing but your legs, but does that make it a popular sport in the way we are discussing it here?
...actually, it says a lot...it says that cheaper sports to play are more popular...it says that Branding matters...take China out and basketball is still probably more popular worldwide...
My point here was not to really argue about if basketball is bigger than hockey. My point was rather that it matters f*** all if basketball is #2 most popular sport in the world, it might as well be #99 because it's still so much smaller than soccer. It was merely making a wise ass remark on @Summer Rose 's earlier comment.
 
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My point here was not to really argue about if basketball is bigger than hockey. My point was rather that it matters f*** all if basketball is #2 most popular sport in the world, it might as well be #99 because it's still so much smaller than soccer. It was merely making a wise ass remark on @Summer Rose 's earlier comment.

...what @Summer Rose said was on topic and a valid assessment of the topic...so you just wanted to chirp??...picked the wrong issue then, I'd say... :biglaugh:
 
So? Running requires nothing but your legs, but does that make it a popular sport in the way we are discussing it here?

My point here was not to really argue about if basketball is bigger than hockey. My point was rather that it matters f*** all if basketball is #2 most popular sport in the world, it might as well be #99 because it's still so much smaller than soccer. It was merely making a wise ass remark on @Summer Rose 's earlier comment.

Fair enough. I’ll admit that the humor was lost on me. :P

That said, hockey could become the third most popular sport in the world (hypothetically speaking, I’m not saying this is realistic) and it would still be more than a few parsecs behind basketball.
 
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I could go around the office right now (you know, instead of working lol) and ask everyone who Connor McDavid is. Like, one of them would know. Wayne Gretzky is probably 30/70.

Every single one of them would know who LeBron James is.
 
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