The NHL does a horrible job marketing itself

[PlayersLtd]

Not unless they can give where those numbers are from. The question in hand was about marketing themselves, mostly towards newer fans and to expand.
If the numbers are from expansion teams and lets say from teams who have been bad but become better and their original fans come back, and other reasons not related to new fans, isn't really getting much bigger is it.

Marketing is not exclusively to win over newer fans, it is to also get existing fans to spend more on your product. I drive a Ford and all the ads I see, including sponsorship at races I go to, definitely help me to stay loyal to Ford.

Also, I don't know if you're theorizing or basing on data. Are you telling me the revenue increase is just from expansion fans and old fans who have come back or is this just a hypothetical scenario you're drawing?

I have never dug into the data on that level. I saw a commercial that was clever enough and I assume some targeted ads on the TV broadcast is not a waste of money. But admittedly, I'm not privy to the very complex algorithm that would justify that 30 second segment or not.

 

[Soundwave]

People just need to let go of the fantasy that the NHL will/can be as popular as soccer (globally) or NFL football, college football, the NBA, MLB, etc. etc.

It's not happening, just give it up already and accept the product for what it is. If it was going to happen you'd have seen far bigger signs of it happening.

The NHL is a winter sport played on ice which automatically disqualifies it as a the no.1 sport for a lot of people, it's like asking someone in Winnipeg to give a crap about the pro beach volleyball circuit.

Secondly even without that, Americans like superstar oriented leagues and the NHL is the only major pro sport that actively goes out of its way to handicap its star players. Scrubs are allowed to hang off superstar players and only get called for it maybe 1/4 times.

That's not an appealing product to Americans who want to see Mahomes/Steph Curry/LeBron/Ohtani etc. etc. kick ass and take names. Hockey is a sport where the refs actively try to go out of their way to "manage" games and not even the odds between high skill and lower skilled players ("we can't make all the calls, that's not a penalty in the 3rd period, etc. etc.).

"TV commercials make a league popular!" is also an outdated thought process to begin with, maybe if it was the 1990s or 2000s still, but the impact of TV marketing is no where near the same any more.

The NHL, barring a miracle, will always been a no.4 kind of sport (really below that as college football and things like that are far more popular than the NHL in the US). Best to make your peace with that.

 

[SirKillalot]

Marketing is not exclusively to win over newer fans, it is to also get existing fans to spend more on your product. I drive a Ford and all the ads I see, including sponsorship at races I go to, definitely help me to stay loyal to Ford.

I would think you're experience with the car/brand gets you to stay loyal than any ad, the ad is just if you are looking for a new car. Would think you don't change car every year.

Also, I don't know if you're theorizing or basing on data. Are you telling me the revenue increase is just from expansion fans and old fans who have come back or is this just a hypothetical scenario you're drawing?

I was asking for what is the data showing. Just data of increased revenue isn't telling so much where it comes from other than increased. Was just asking about the reasoning behind the increase.

My point is as a European, NHL is absolutely terrible at marketing themselves. Of course I get Europe isn't their main target audience as we are far from the arenas and what not, but as a league wanting to expand and reach new areas/get bigger and better reputation, there isn't any valid evidence telling their doing a good job at that.

 

[Rorschach]

People love superstars and larger then life personalities. The NHL tries is best to squash any of that nonsense. Instead they throw out commercials with shy, awkward every day looking dudes that most non sports fans couldn't tell if that was their neighbor Bob or a professional athlete.

Problem is if people showboat like in other sports, they'll get punched in the face in hockey if they're lucky. If they're not, they'll get bladed, get clubbed to the head or gutted, or they will get knee on knee-ed or have someone do a flying charge to the head.

 

[Praetorian Caps]

By sheer coincidence, this popped up in my YT feed earlier.

To summarize it isn't an easy sport to play; it's expensive to get kids into it; it's only popular in cold weather climates and it's stars aren't marketed to the extent that NBA and football players are. But considering how NBA viewership has dropped maybe the basketball points don't apply in this argument?

 

[BB79]

I'm far from an expert on NBA viewership numbers but I think part of it being down is due to political burnout towards the players views.

That's part of it, but beyond that the game got lazy. 50 attempts at 3 pointers every game, etc. I really lost my love for the NBA in the mid-90s personally. The 1960s-1980s NBA was their golden age, especially the 80s.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Dana White is right in the case, but we must also aknowledge the fact that he's a f***ing moron, and he's on tape beating his wife

 

[PlayersLtd]

I would think you're experience with the car/brand gets you to stay loyal than any ad, the ad is just if you are looking for a new car. Would think you don't change car every year.

I don't change cars every year no. But marketing is about building on brand loyalty and the theory is that simply driving a car (and liking it) is not the only factor that builds brand loyalty. People want to see their brand held above others because it helps validates their purchase or values, interests etc...

Tag Heuer (the watch company) advertises extensively in Formula 1, the pinnacle of sports advertising. They don't only do this to win over new clients, they do it to reinforce to their old clients that they are wearing the creme de la creme on their wrist. In doing so, those clients get a little ego boost, they feel special and they are more inclined to stay loyal to that brand, and thus spend another $10,000.00 on a watch from them, perhaps one they don't even need. There was nothing new in terms of the experience with the product but they got that client to double down and spend $10k that they didn't need to.

Marketing is a very elaborate field, one that I won't pretend to have mastered because I didn't major in marketing. What I do know however, is that there is way more to it than just trying to attract new consumers.

I was asking for what is the data showing. Just data of increased revenue isn't telling so much where it comes from other than increased. Was just asking about the reasoning behind the increase.

My point is as a European, NHL is absolutely terrible at marketing themselves. Of course I get Europe isn't their main target audience as we are far from the arenas and what not, but as a league wanting to expand and reach new areas/get bigger and better reputation, there isn't any valid evidence telling their doing a good job at that.

What degree of NFL or NBA marketing is noticeable in Europe?