The Success of Hockey in the US
I'm not at all surprised that the WSOP outrated USA/Russia. I was in Montana during the 2002 Olympic Gold Medal game, en-route to Salt Lake City for the closing ceremonies. I watched the game in a sports bar with a friend, and we had to watch the game on a small TV in the corner of the pub, because everybody in there was watching NASCAR on the big screen. How's that for a culture shock?
When you think about it, and think about what makes sport appealing, it's no longer so surprising. Automobiles are a major part of American culture, while hockey has never really been in he mainstream of recreational sport in the US. In Canada, hockey is one of the biggest elements of our culture. Generally speaking, American children don't grow up playing pond hockey in the winter, or grow up watching their countrymen dominate their sport on the World's stage. The hockey environment in Canada, as well as Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and even Finland and Slovakia, is MUCH different from that of the United States.
I don't think the success of hockey in the US market is something that can be drastically improved with something so simple as a great marketing scheme. I think that, if it becomes popular at all, it will be a much more gradual process, and it has to start at the ground level, with the development of minor hockey, and the continued success of US national teams. It's still doubtful it will ever be a major draw of TV ratings though, as much of the US doesn't experience the same sort of winter climate that these other countries enjoy, which allows for the outdoor recreational hockey.
One last thing I'd like to touch on is the medium of television. For someone not well versed in hockey, the sport is extremely difficult to watch on TV. Television cameras only capture the activity on approximately 1/4 of the ice at any given time. When a team is starting a rush out of their own end, it's hard to recognize scoring opportunities, and see plays develop. For example, if you see forwards streaking out of their end leading the rush up ice, they appear to be in the clear leaving the zone until they reach the far blueline, where the defensemen suddenly enter the picture to protect their zone. If you don't know the game well, and are not able to recognize when a defenseman has been caught pinching and a 3-on-1 is heading up the ice, the scoring opportunity isn't recognizeable. I may be way off base on this one, but I just don't see it as being a viewer-friendly game for the layperson. Most Canadians have played the game at some level, or seen enough games live, whether it be junior, minor, or whatever, to recognize the basic system of the game.