Do you like the NHL being 4th in the 'Big 4' or do you wish it was more popular?

[ricky0034]

pretty happy with where it's at,honestly the whole in your face cultural aspect other sports have going on is just annoying to me

hockey is big enough that it's easy to engage with when I want to and small enough that it's also easy to avoid when I don't

 

[alko]

There is talk, that Esports will shortly jump above NHL. And nobody really knows, how high could they go.

 

[PuckThumper11]

I live in Tennessee and I've not been to a Predators game but I don't live close by either. I just now got into hockey in the past few months, too. So I plan on going to an actual game. Besides that, I've seen several games on live TV and some old classics on YT. So I'm getting there. Boxing was my main sport but it's so out of whack. I watched some baseball and got behind the Dodgers and I do enjoy it. I watched the series and I'm happy for the Nats winning it for the first time just like the Raptors did and the Blues of course. It's been a year for firsts. I'm not much of a basketball or football fan, though. Just never could get into either but hockey is perfect. It's the right pace and involves so much action. I love it. Lots of suspense as well. And unlike boxing, it's organized. And unlike baseball, it has a fast pace. It may be fourth for now, but I doubt it stays that way. The NBA is bowing to China to keep themselves going. A lot of the political stuff did hurt football for a while. The series coverage was down. Meanwhile, hockey is adding a franchise in Seattle. What other sport is adding a franchise? If you ask me, I think we're in great shape and this season is shaping up nicely. Plus, hockey has such great promotion with the heritage classic and other special games as well as the skills contest which I really enjoy watching along with the all star games. I feel great about the future. Hell, the league had six teams in '67. Look at it now. 31 fifty years later and about to be 32. We ain't going nowhere!

 

[Rigafan]

It's the same reason Soccer is so popular outside north america. They are so poor they can't even afford cement or basketball nets so they just play soccer.

Although its interesting that hockey is most popular in some of the poorest European countries

 

[Miri]

They dont find them slow and boring, probably.

They should, though

On serious note, i really dont care about how popular hockey is, i like it (about the same as soccer) and thats fine with me. If someone prefers basketball or NFL or cycling or boxing or darts, good for them. Not my business.

Only exception is NHL computer game. I hate how its not on PC, while even f***ing Madden is, despite the fact, NFL is mostly US thing, while hockey is liked and played in both Europe and America.

 

[North Cole]

They should, though

On serious note, i really dont care about how popular hockey is, i like it (about the same as soccer) and thats fine with me. If someone prefers basketball or NFL or cycling or boxing or darts, good for them. Not my business.

Only exception is NHL computer game. I hate how its not on PC, while even ****ing Madden is, despite the fact, NFL is mostly US thing, while hockey is liked and played in both Europe and America.

I'm the same way. Its popular enough for me, why does it matter to me if it's more popular for others. Not like we share in league revenue, I'm not an NHL stakeholder.

 

[PG Canuck]

NHL is terrible at marketing. I've seen NHL reaction videos on youtube from NBA/NFL fans and most of them mention they don't even know the NHL is going on. There is zero exposure to fans of the NBA/NFL.

 

[djpatm]

Yes I wish it was more popular. The more popular the sport, the more meaningful it is to win because more people care.

Same reason it's hard for me to watch something like the CFL. No one cares and cup win will be nothing more than a snippet in the paper outside of the two competing markets.

 

[ChompChomp]

NHL is terrible at marketing. I've seen NHL reaction videos on youtube from NBA/NFL fans and most of them mention they don't even know the NHL is going on. There is zero exposure to fans of the NBA/NFL.

This is really it. I'm in the camp of I wish it was more popular in the US. I wish teams out South and West were more loved in their markets, they deserve to be. I wish NBC didn't think Sharks / Kings at Caps (anytime since 2008) makes for a bad Winter Classic, or even ONE NBC Sunday National Game of the Week.

But it comes to marketing. Even when the Super Bowl is on NBC, the NHL is not using the most watched TV event of any given year to advertise its sport. I go to movie theaters and see advertisements for AEW Wrestling, where's the hockey ad?

I've said for YEARS that, for example, in the Bay Area (The entire Bay Area, not just SJ), just before a movie starts, a highlight reel should play, "If you missed Sharks hockey this week, you missed" and then you get this past week's highlights (Goals, saves, hits) played against hip hop and rock music. And end it with info for upcoming games and channel info.

Is that so hard to do? I think the NHL should be spending the money to do this in every US market, especially the non-traditional ones. When everyone that fits their target demographic for "new" fans is in the theater to see the next Star Wars or Marvel movie, show them something that hooks them in. Highlights on the big screen set to amped music would be just that.

But there's a million things to do that aren't being done. I think marketing should be squarely focused on the market level (except for Superbowl ads), and then once gains are seen there, go with a national campaign.

 

[Legionnaire]

I wish it were less popular.

 

[Yog S'loth]

Here in Southern California, we're not even remotely fourth.

We're behind soccer, college sports, minor-league basketball, badminton, bowling, and beer pong.

 

[Frank Drebin]

I wish it were less popular.

In a way, yeah

 

[Macbanan]

I wish it were more popular with friends and groups of people I hang out with in Sweden, cause I like talking about hockey. And I guess a general populatity would have increased the chances of that being true so in that sense I care about hockey being popular.

One big obstacle for the newest viewers has already been talked about, tracking the puck. I would imagine HD-tv and big screens have helped a lot with the first impression of the game.
In the past it would almost have been impossible to get someone completely new to the game to understand what's going on on those 20 inch screens with low resolution and grainy broadcasts...

 

[shello]

Yeah I've never really care about the growth of the game. With that said as a Canadian who's studying in Southern California it's nice that the game has grown to the point where attending a game every weekend in several leagues is completely possible.

But to contradict that, I like that it's the 4th of the major sports. It's niche. I find it enjoyable when I see a hockey player featured in some form of alternative media because of the obscurity of the sport. If it was thrown in my face like basketball or football was, I worry it would suffer from overexposure.

.....With that said having it featured on the ESPN app would be nice. Even if you only select hockey and every team in the league you'll see football and basketball news.

 

[Ridge1982]

I don't think that the pool of players would be that much bigger. Different people are attracted to different sports.

Huh? Blacks are 13% of the US population. If you wanna grow your sport it's better to market it exclusively to the white and hispanic population.

You do realize there are black hispanics here, yes ?

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Don't really care. It will always be #4 for a number of reasons.

 

[Ridge1982]

I’m not sure what it is with the human condition that needs others to like what a segment likes.

Let’s get more people to follow the NHL
Let’s go on a mission to another country and “convert” them to our religion.
Let’s tell everyone to be Vegan.

Ugh.

Maybe it’s my Gen X upbringing but I really don’t care who likes what or how many people like what I do.

I like it and that’s good enough for me.

That mentality isn’t limited to a specific generation.

 

[tom990]

Wanted to see what everyones thoughts are on this, it's no secret among the big 4 NA leagues that the NHL is dead last in popularity. I'm torn on the matter and I'll explain why.

Pros:
-The fans are generally knowledgable, that isn't to say there are not bandwagoners but the ones who are, are nowhere near as annoying as NBA bandwagon fans are. I don't love when opposing fans take up half of PNC Arena but at least most of those guys know the game, and their own teams history,

-The players are generally regular guys through and through. They can go out and about and not be recognized nor looking for recognition.

-I appreciate how the Hockey media doesn't try to turn into TMZ like I feel ESPN and FS1 does with the NBA and sometimes the NFL. The topics are straight-forward and focus on whats going on the ice and not off of it. I also appreciate there are no 'Crosby vs Gretzky' debates a la Jordan vs LeBron like what the NBA media tries to spin every week it seems.

Cons:
-It's disappointing how little Hockey gets covered in the States. It's never been great but nowadays it never gets talked about. Last years playoffs saw 3 game 7's go to overtime, all 4 of the wild-card teams advance past round 1, and the eventual Stanley Cup Champion who was dead-last in the league at the beginning of the calendar year. Yet, all I heard on national sports radio and TV was non-stop LeBron and Lakers nonsense (Lakers didn't even make the playoffs in the NBA) and the drama surrounding Kevin Durant and his Golden State teammates. I don't care how popular the NBA is, I refuse to believe that most people wanted to listen to that crap everyday during the NBA/NHL playoffs, ask Portland Trail Blazers or Toronto Raptors fans if they cared about the latest LeBron gossip this past spring, chances are good most of them didn't care. This goes back to my earlier point, the Hockey media tends to focus on the 'now' and whats playing on the ice and not off of it.

-I live in a state where Hockey is very much a 'niche' sport. People assume I'm from Michigan or Boston or Canada when they find out I'm a Hockey fan. Some of thats because the Canes were irrelevant up until last season but even during the playoff run, I personally heard some snide comments about how Hockey is not a "Southern" game and how the Canes are "Raleighs team and no one else cares". It wasn't as bad as when they won the Cup but I still figured with none of the college Basketball teams in the Final Four, and the Hornets/Panthers not making the playoffs that the 'Bunch of Jerks' would have captured some interest around here, not as much as I would have hoped. It's similar to how the national sports media tends to treat the sport.

So I guess to conclude, I like how players and fans tend to love the game for the game, but I wish it got more respect.

What say you?

can't believe NFL is so popular.... terrible gameplay, and very few minutes of actually play. in a 3 hour broadcast

and horrible people play the game as well, criminals and overall crap people.

it must be a tradition thing

 

[IceNeophyte]

At #4, tix in Vegas are already ridiculously expensive. I'm hoping the Raiders take some price pressure off Knights tix.

 

[IceNeophyte]

can't believe NFL is so popular.... terrible gameplay, and very few minutes of actually play. in a 3 hour broadcast

and horrible people play the game as well, criminals and overall crap people.

it must be a tradition thing

I stopped watching NFL when I figured out through the digested games that I was burning up 3 hours to watch 11 minutes of action.

 

[molon labe]

can't believe NFL is so popular.... terrible gameplay, and very few minutes of actually play. in a 3 hour broadcast

and horrible people play the game as well, criminals and overall crap people.

it must be a tradition thing

Popularity curve is misleading.

Football fans are entrenched - but mostly OLD. In my professional world: every football fan is over the age of 50, and even among them only about half watch regularly (they just check the stat line most of the time or occasionally flip a game on). Most younger people <50 either don't care for sports at all, only watch playoffs, enjoy college, or have a team or two they're interested in. The days of having a shop full of guys with flags on their cars and living/breathing sports talk has died down from what I can see.

To be frank- WFC if hockey is the 4th, or 10th most popular? That has nothing to do with the talent the sport generates - that's largely (and has always been) due to the difficulty of getting in to the sport. Soccer is the highest-enrolled youth sport in the United States right now. Followed by T ball. Not one friend of mine has their kid in pop warner football - nor will they consider it. The days of the NFL generating generational talent every couple years will come to a close abrubtly in the future. Hockey will always be a niche sport based on how difficult it is to sustain in a community...that's fine. The professionals are still making millions, you can still watch any team on TV, and frankly we've been fortunate that the social justice warriors have ignored us (though they won't forever) since the sport is largely off-air.

 

[Lt Dan]

Soccer has the image of being a foreign elite sport.

I don't agree with this at all nor I have ever met an American who thinks this way

Americans are very familiar with soccer. Large numbers of Americans played it as a kid or their kids play it. Most Americans just find it incredibly boring. It is slow , low scoring, almost no physical play , and has way too many divers.

 

[McDonald19]

It would be nice if hockey was occasionally mentioned on US national sports talk radio. But they barely even talk about baseball anymore.

It’s really the big two of NFL and NBA with a bit of NCAA football and NCAA basketball (in March only).

 

[McDonald19]

Popularity curve is misleading.

Football fans are entrenched - but mostly OLD. In my professional world: every football fan is over the age of 50, and even among them only about half watch regularly (they just check the stat line most of the time or occasionally flip a game on). Most younger people <50 either don't care for sports at all, only watch playoffs, enjoy college, or have a team or two they're interested in. The days of having a shop full of guys with flags on their cars and living/breathing sports talk has died down from what I can see.

NFL is still popular among 20-49 year olds due to Fantasy Football and gambling.

 

[McDonald19]

The sport has little interest from non-whites who comprise roughly 40% of the sports target market. Tough to compete with sports that garner interest from all demographics.

I’m starting to see more Hispanic and Asian fans at Ducks and Kings games. Wasn’t the case twenty years ago.