Marek on NHL in Europe

[LadyStanley]

Click to read more...

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

 

[Takuto Maruki]

People seem to once again believe that American sports leagues should fight god (in this case, time zones and time differences) in order to chase the dragon of more potential European or international fans, when it reality what we have now is probably going to be the best for at least three decades, until technology makes continental Europe flights from North America, especially the west coast, like, two hours max.

Guarantee that if the NHL tried the idea the QT of Marek's tweet suggests, this board, and the vast majority of the peanut gallery would lambast Bettman for making it.

 

[eojsmada]

Can't see the NHL owners, nor the PA being a fan of this. How many home games does each team lose out on? What I mean is that all of the staff, concessions, and building being dark creates a larger problem going forward. Two teams losing out on a home game a piece, for the regular season, seems already a bit too much.

Maybe have one division, every year, have their training camps and the all but one preseason game in Europe with the final ones being in their respective home arenas so the players and staff have a game to get ready and adjust back to North America.

 

[dalewood12]

I anticipate a lot of backlash from the local team's city government and business community. That's a lot of lost local revenue for bars, restaurants and hotels.

 

[GKJ]

An outdoor game in Europe seems like the natural next step.

 

[gstommylee]

An outdoor game in Europe seems like the natural next step.

and where is that suppose out door game suppose to happen especially in the middle of European football/soccer season.

 

[bleedblue94]

An outdoor game in Europe seems like the natural next step.

NHL would basically be printing money

 

[Albatros]

and where is that suppose out door game suppose to happen especially in the middle of European football/soccer season.

European teams play outdoor games too. And no, the NHL shouldn't get involved.

 

[Jumptheshark]

The IIHF head office is in Zurich. Due to Olympics and other things the nhl realized they needed more presence there. They had a satellite office in Sweden for a few years but it was just two secretaries doing stuff

 

[vorky]

An outdoor game in Europe seems like the natural next step.

Do not do this in Prague with these guys They managed to took money from fans for two (or three?) Winter Games events (2022, 2024), but the games have never happened

 

[Felonious Python]

NHL Europe doesn't make sense as an expansion to the league, or as an AHL style development league.

As pointed out, time zones are a killer here. A 7pm east coast start is 1am in Berlin. As a development league, what's the point? It's not NHL level, so it'd just be elbowing in on the existing IIHF ecosystem, and NHL teams can loan players to Europe already.


The Irish national team can't compete in IIHF events, and hasn't in more than a decade, because they don't have a suitable rink anywhere in the country. 5 million people.

Florida, the US's third most populated state, has 17 local rinks. Something like 1 rink per 1.35 million Floridians.


There's a financial issue with the high costs of hockey that has to really get cracked before the game (league revenue) can significantly grow.

 

[JMCx4]

Send Marek to Europe, and he can tweet when the League arrives.