Olympics: NHL participation in the 2022 Olympics

[rojac]

I'm still not convinced that going to the Olympics grows the NHL brand. People may watch and enjoy the Olympic hockey tournament, but unless they start watching NHL hockey games as a result, it's not much use. I know a lot of people who watch the Olympics and get caught up in all kinds of sports, but then pay zero attention to those sports until the next Olympics.

 

[1989]

I'm still not convinced that going to the Olympics grows the NHL brand. People may watch and enjoy the Olympic hockey tournament, but unless they start watching NHL hockey games as a result, it's not much use. I know a lot of people who watch the Olympics and get caught up in all kinds of sports, but then pay zero attention to those sports until the next Olympics.

Sure, but it's not really arguable that some exposure is better than no exposure. I can tell you as a sports fan of a varied specturm of sports that I am interested in and always engaged in watching the best of the best perform in their respective disciplines, not to watch subpar replacement-level athletes.

 

[rojac]

Sure, but it's not really arguable that some exposure is better than no exposure. I can tell you as a sports fan of a varied specturm of sports that I am interested in and always engaged in watching the best of the best perform in their respective disciplines, not to watch subpar replacement-level athletes.

Oh, Olympic hockey is better with the NHL players there. There is little doubt about that. And that benefits the IOC and the host. The big question is does it benefit the NHL enough to shut down their season for three weeks and risk injury to their star players? And from the point of a view of a NHL team fan, the Olympics can be looked as three weeks of exhibition games with made-up teams -- because after all, those games have nothing to do with the NHL team's pursuit of a championship.

Personally, I'd prefer the NHL to stay out of the Olympics. If individual players want to play in the Olympics, they can arrange their NHL deals in such a way that they are not under contract to an NHL team during an Olympic season.

I'm also not a big fan of international hockey. The Summit Series was fun in 1972 and it's been downhill since then. Now, it seems that there is some international tournament going on every couple of months.

 

[OskarOskarius]

Oh, Olympic hockey is better with the NHL players there. There is little doubt about that. And that benefits the IOC and the host. The big question is does it benefit the NHL enough to shut down their season for three weeks and risk injury to their star players? And from the point of a view of a NHL team fan, the Olympics can be looked as three weeks of exhibition games with made-up teams -- because after all, those games have nothing to do with the NHL team's pursuit of a championship.

Personally, I'd prefer the NHL to stay out of the Olympics. If individual players want to play in the Olympics, they can arrange their NHL deals in such a way that they are not under contract to an NHL team during an Olympic season.

I'm also not a big fan of international hockey. The Summit Series was fun in 1972 and it's been downhill since then. Now, it seems that there is some international tournament going on every couple of months.

Outside of the US/Canada the olympics is the biggest exposure hockey will ever get, so if NHL aims to grow outside of North America it is worth three weeks in my opinion.

 

[rojac]

Outside of the US/Canada the olympics is the biggest exposure hockey will ever get, so if NHL aims to grow outside of North America it is worth three weeks in my opinion.

But if that exposure does not turn into active NHL fans, it is not worth it. And from what I've heard, there are lots of doubts about whether it has. Once again, fans watching Olympic hockey does not necessarily mean they'll watch NHL games.

 

[JoeCool16]

I'm still not convinced that going to the Olympics grows the NHL brand. People may watch and enjoy the Olympic hockey tournament, but unless they start watching NHL hockey games as a result, it's not much use. I know a lot of people who watch the Olympics and get caught up in all kinds of sports, but then pay zero attention to those sports until the next Olympics.

I do think it maintains the brand. It's certainly part of my appetite for hockey and the World Cup did not sate it at all. I acknowledge that we never see true, competitive best-on-best in the NHL and accept it because we get it every four years at the Olympics. When that stopped in 2018, I did feel a bit less overall interested in the sport.

 

[member 305909]

Don't they actually start having to know whether to go there or not just for the sake of scheduling next season? After all, the olympics are eight months away.

 

[rojac]

Don't they actually start having to know whether to go there or not just for the sake of scheduling next season? After all, the olympics are eight months away.

Yes, it needs to get done soon. Although, scheduling shouldn't depend on whether or not the NHL players are going or not since the set of teams will be the same either way.

 

[member 305909]

I was thinking of scheduling the NHL-season whether they need a 3-week break or not.

 

[RC51]

I am not against nhl players going to the Olympics, each of these players are under contract and all contracts have INS policy attached to each contract. From what I understand a big sticking point is that the Olympic commity refuse to pay for the INS costs. So if my team player gets hurt all costs are on the nhl team. In the case of a carrier ending injury my ins has to pay out the entire contract worth maybe millions, so this INS is not cheap. This is not fair at all.

 

[ORRFForever]

Don't they actually start having to know whether to go there or not just for the sake of scheduling next season? After all, the olympics are eight months away.

Part of me is surprised the IIHF didn't tell the NHL to pound salt after they bowed out of the last Olympics.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Does it make anyone else following Euros or the World Cup Soccer sad to know Hockey doesn't have the same level of international play/depth/top tier of teams? It's just one team loaded with Hall of Famers, a couple other teams that are pretty good, and some other teams that are total crap. I wish I could love International Hockey but it's just not as exciting as Soccer.

 

[Djp]

But if that exposure does not turn into active NHL fans, it is not worth it. And from what I've heard, there are lots of doubts about whether it has. Once again, fans watching Olympic hockey does not necessarily mean they'll watch NHL games.

I think the big problem in the USA is weather and climate. It’s hard to convert fans in no winter ice climates.

South Korea does get winter weather so there was a market to try to develop where young kids seeing the sport starts playing.

I don’t know in China , how many experience winter.

given the large population of 1B, and if you can get 2% of the people become big sports fans , that gets you 20M fans. If the each pay $100 on things, that’s $2B in annual revenue. Thst coukd mean the nhl could get half on that which is $30M per team per year.

there in financial opportunity.

a sport like soccer/ football that is a basic sport the world plays has gotten growth because it’s a low cost sport to learn how to play. It’s growth in the USA took years to do. Early on fanswoukd struggle to see pre internet days. Now you can see it all over.

 

[rojac]

Part of me is surprised the IIHF didn't tell the NHL to pound salt after they bowed out of the last Olympics.

I think the IIHF may gain more than the NHL by having NHLers in the Olympics.

 

[ORRFForever]

I think the IIHF may gain more than the NHL by having NHLers in the Olympics.

That's true. It's too bad. I hate it when Bettman holds all the cards.

 

[rojac]

I was thinking of scheduling the NHL-season whether they need a 3-week break or not.

Good point.

 

[Summer Rose]

Sure, but it's not really arguable that some exposure is better than no exposure. I can tell you as a sports fan of a varied specturm of sports that I am interested in and always engaged in watching the best of the best perform in their respective disciplines, not to watch subpar replacement-level athletes.

I agree. I enjoyed the 2018 Olympics, even though the USA fizzled out. Would I have enjoyed it more if NHL players were there? Absolutely. However, I tuned in anyway, and that's all NBC cared about it. It's the fans who didn't bother watching because of the lack of NHL players they want to get back for 2022. I am not their target, because I'm a diehard who's going to watch anyway. My opinion doesn't matter to them.

 

[frisco]

After two abbreviated seasons of the NHL in a row and we finally have our chance for the first full season since 2018-19. I hope they don't shut down for 2.5 weeks just to go over and play a bunch of exhibitions at 4 AM in China. Plus, the travel is brutal, the first ten days or so are just meaningless games to see which one of Norway or Slovenia gets relegated and then it is crapshoot city for the last round. Give me the NHL anytime.

I know this is outside the scope of this forum but to go to Beijing also condones the record of the CCP, IMO. I won't get into specifics because of forum rules...

My Best-Carey

 

[lawrence]

I'm still not convinced that going to the Olympics grows the NHL brand. People may watch and enjoy the Olympic hockey tournament, but unless they start watching NHL hockey games as a result, it's not much use.

this is kind of true. Shortly after the 2002 Winter Olympics apparently ratings of NHL games shot up big time, but not a permanent enough boost. It is a great oppurtunity for the NHL to try to grow that product in a growing economic super power like China, however right now the main stream right now in China seems to be E sports. Euro Soccer, basketball and Korean Drama.

 

[garbageteam]

I think the big problem in the USA is weather and climate. It’s hard to convert fans in no winter ice climates.

South Korea does get winter weather so there was a market to try to develop where young kids seeing the sport starts playing.

I don’t know in China , how many experience winter.

given the large population of 1B, and if you can get 2% of the people become big sports fans , that gets you 20M fans. If the each pay $100 on things, that’s $2B in annual revenue. Thst coukd mean the nhl could get half on that which is $30M per team per year.

there in financial opportunity.

a sport like soccer/ football that is a basic sport the world plays has gotten growth because it’s a low cost sport to learn how to play. It’s growth in the USA took years to do. Early on fanswoukd struggle to see pre internet days. Now you can see it all over.

China has a fairly sizeable region with a cold winter climate. Beijing, Tianjin, Shenyang and Harbin immediately come to mind as big cities with winter at least as cold as Chicago - Shenyang and Harbin more like the Canadian Prairies really. That's already something like 40 million people. There are dozens of other major cities and rural towns in the northern part of China, totaling almost 300 million in population that experiences winter with snow. This is excluding the Xinjang region to the west which is also pretty cold, but may be less receptive to ice hockey for cultural reasons (totally speculating on my part).

In general, you can safely assume there is basically the entire US population of 330M in China that would experience a cold, snowy winter. That is a far more attractive proposition than playing in Korea, where even if all 51M of its population is exposed to winter (I think Jeju Island is fairly mild), it's a small fraction of China's population. And we're only using the winter metric as an indicator for interest in the sport - generally reliable across the world, but that doesn't mean anyone in a warmer part of the country wouldn't be interested.

I believe the opportunity is massive and the NHL would be wise to capitalize on it. I do think getting a slice of the viewership pie there - with a newer generation of people coming of age with disposable incomes and malleable interests - is totally worth 21 days. The NBA obviously, hugely values China having captured its market (without getting into the politics of it). Obviously as someone interested in international hockey, I would also think it's worthwhile, but it actually makes good financial sense from a business proposition. Certainly far more than South Korea did, or playing in almost any European country would. This is basically a new market with few fans exposed to the game.

 

[ORRFForever]

this is kind of true. Shortly after the 2002 Winter Olympics apparently ratings of NHL games shot up big time, but not a permanent enough boost. It is a great oppurtunity for the NHL to try to grow that product in a growing economic super power like China, however right now the main stream right now in China seems to be E sports. Euro Soccer, basketball and Korean Drama.

I'm not sure hockey has much upside. Yes, there are endless countries who could be interested, but soccer and basketball are far easier and cheaper to play so...

 

[Yakushev72]

I think it is unlikely that the NHL will participate, mainly because there is very little for any of the parties to an agreement (IOC, NHL, NHLPA) to gain. The NHL would want to structure an agreement that would tilt the revenue stream toward them, but there may not be much of a revenue stream to tilt. Canada looks like a solid bet to breeze through the tournament undefeated, and likely unchallenged, which doesn't exactly create a horde of breathless fans outside of Canada dying to see the matches. The IOC and IIHF won't be happy about sharing revenues if TV audiences around the world are focused on biathlon, slalom, bobsledding and figure skating instead. I think the NHL would like to break in again when and if the Olympics are held in North America. Going across the world to Beijing doesn't make sense for a lot of reasons.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

I think the NHL should go, their revenues have grown but their cultural footprint has been shrinking in America for years now. I think that's why they prioritized going back to ESPN for the exposure, and I think having their stars on the world stage matters in a ton of ways beyond tv ratings. There are iconic olympic hockey moments that create lifetime hockey fans (Miracle on ice, Forsberg goal, Crosby OT winner etc).

 

[snipes]

Does it make anyone else following Euros or the World Cup Soccer sad to know Hockey doesn't have the same level of international play/depth/top tier of teams? It's just one team loaded with Hall of Famers, a couple other teams that are pretty good, and some other teams that are total crap. I wish I could love International Hockey but it's just not as exciting as Soccer.

Best-on-best international hockey is literally the pinnacle and best of any sport to watch.

Lol at suggesting Euro diving soccer has anything on best-on-best hockey.

You’re telling me Albania v Poland beats the Canada v USA gold medal game at the 2010 Olympics?

 

[WarriorofTime]

Best-on-best international hockey is literally the pinnacle and best of any sport to watch.

Lol at suggesting Euro diving soccer has anything on best-on-best hockey.

You’re telling me Albania v Poland beats the Canada v USA gold medal game at the 2010 Olympics?

You cite a random game between two crap teams and compare it to the two best teams in a Championship Game (which is still a fairly lopsided talent gap)?