Why hasn't the NHL marketed Matthews Latino side?

[garnetpalmetto]

As I've had to do some cleanup here, just a fair reminder to all of our rules on Offensive Posts:

"We have members from different countries, religions, and cultural backgrounds. Even if you express a point of view that is very popular in your culture, it may generate a negative reaction from members in another part of the world so please exercise tact."

Offensive ethnic/racial stereotyping falls under this and isn't acceptable.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

What even is the difference between Latino and White? To me it seems that American racial landscape is kinda odd, where races are made up and biology doesn't matter. I guess it's a cultural thing, but Matthews seems 100% culturally American.

Arent most Latino's mixed with spanish and the indigenous population of central and south america?

 

[Burke the Legend]

Good for the NHL for not resorting to crude racial pandering in their marketing.

 

[triggrman]

I guess we need to define some things .

First, a Latino is a person from Latin America, which includes Mexico, and South America.

Hispanic and Latino are not the same thing. Hispanic means people from Spanish speaking parts of Latin America.

Central America is a region, not a continent, it's part of N. America and does not include Mexico.

continental North America S of Mexico, usu. considered as comprising Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama

 

[Nathaniel]

Why doesn't the league market the fact price is half native Canadian? That's a much bigger importance in NA than Mexicans.

 

[Apollo Leaf]

How many people even know he is Latino? Serious question

I honestly had no idea until I stumbled onto this thread.

 

[Stigma]

What even is the difference between Latino and White? To me it seems that American racial landscape is kinda odd, where races are made up and biology doesn't matter. I guess it's a cultural thing, but Matthews seems 100% culturally American.

I agree. The American racial landscape is very odd. Latino/Hispanic is not even a race. Every race and mixture of races can be classified as "Latino". For all we know, Auston Matthews is 100% Euro (Anglo + Spaniard). Or maybe he has a bit of Amerindian blood. Who knows? It's all kinda dumb.

That said, the OP does bring up a good point about marketing.

 

[Kamiccolo]

19 year old kid goes to the biggest, at time most hostile hockey market in the world, slotted into being their franchise player and #1 C, and somehow that isn't enough pressure?

You want to market him and have people look up to him?

This MIGHT happen in a decade when he has a resume to point too and Latino community have a reason to use him as a role model.

 

[Sam Spade]

I honestly had no idea until I stumbled onto this thread.

I only figured it out when I heard his mothers accent two days ago.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Why doesn't the league market the fact price is half native Canadian? That's a much bigger importance in NA than Mexicans.

All depends on where you are.

 

[NotYou]

Absolutely agreed, but people are pretty much idiots and need famous stars to look up to.


Mexico is part of Central America. Furthermore, not really talking about Mexico per se, but start with the Latino American population and eventually expand into south of the border (as the NFL has done). True that Brasil speaks Portuguese, but I said "countries". There are more countries in South America than Brasil, one in particular is Chile and they have snow and cold climates due to the Andes (currently have an international inline team).

Additionally Brazil is part of Latin America so people of Brazilian ancestry are Latino but not Hispanic (in which people of Spanish ancestry are included)

(To others) Latino/hispanic is an ethnic term. People of those groups tend to be white, indigenous, or black but one could be any and Latino. The US census specifically looks at white Hispanic and white non Hispanic.

 

[57special]

For now, the last thing Mathews needs is the pressure of representing Latinos in the NHL. He's got his mitts full being the savior of the Leafs. Maybe in a year or two. He also might not be comfortable representing himself as Latin symbol. I know my son( obvious mixed race) gets enough flak for his look when he plays sports( once or twice a year there is an " incident")...last thing he wants is to have it pointed out even more how different he is.

 

[BayStreetBully]

Because of his last name. Flip the genders of his parents and you can talk about marketing him.

Everyone forgets that Ted Williams was part Mexican.

Ted Williams was part Mexican? I learned something new.

 

[bottomofthefoodchain]

That's why Matthews was eligible for Team NA.

What?

 

[Hoek]

You know what marketed hockey for me as a minority? I just stumbled across the highlights on TV. Goals, highlights, and visibility market hockey. The game looks cool to so many people its hits and goals, it can market itself if people see the good stuff.

If they wanna market it to a Latino audience then start doing hockey broadcasts on that Latino ESPN or Univision or Telumondo and get your highlights across as many networks as possible because the more companies cover your game, the more people are working on it and promoting it.

Ah wait they can't do any of that, they signed an exclusive deal with NBCSN.

Comcast/NBCUniversal owns Telemundo, so you would think they could put some games there if they wanted to try.

As for his name, maybe he could change it to Auston Mateos.

But I agree with the folks who say it's all way too early for this.

 

[ThatGuy22]

What?

It's true. He was eligable for Team NA because his Mother is from Mexico, which is in North America. Not because he was born and raised in Arizona, a state in America...

 

[triggrman]

That's why Matthews was eligible for Team NA.

I mean, I'd say the reason was he was born in San Ramon, California, and raised in Scottsdale.

But what do I know?

His dad is from Cali, his mom from Mexico. So he, like most of us, is pretty much Heinz 57, an American, etc..

 

[THall4]

Maybe the NHL should market McDavid's Irish side? Eichel's jewish side? or yak being a Muslim? or Simmonds being African Canadian?

 

[LeSandvich]

Because Matthews he's no Scott Gomez

This. Goals win games but assists win championships. Lets wait until he's got 4 seasons with 50+ assists until we crown him the champion of the latinos. As for now he got 0 assists I'm not impressed.

 

[S E P H]

I honestly had no idea until I stumbled onto this thread.

That's my point, a lot of people didn't know he was half Mexican until this thread or until the segment about himself where his family talks.

Also for the other posters, this isn't to exploit his heritage or his background, but to grow the sport into an untapped market for the NHL, with Matthews being the ambassador.

Maybe the NHL should market McDavid's Irish side? Eichel's jewish side? or yak being a Muslim? or Simmonds being African Canadian?

Just because McDavid's last name is Irish and has Irish ancestry doesn't mean he has the "Irish" culture. Remember, the time we're living in doesn't really involve race relations since DNA proves everyone is the same. It's more of a cultural aspect and rooted traditions which are separating ethnicity. A black man born in Colombia and a black man born in Georgia might have the same origin in the past, but MUCH different personalities and cultural distinctness in the present and future. What separates Matthews and McDavid is that, McDavid is 100% Canadian, while Matthews is also 100% America, but has a bonus 50% Mexican culture and traditions. Culture and traditions that could appeal to not only the Latino population, but the Hispanic additionally.

And since a great deal of the population throughout the world are not exposed to hockey, conducting stories, articles, and interviews to showcase him as an influential person is only a benefit to grow the game of hockey.

 

[TheStroker]

I don't see why the NHL should market (whatever that means) a player simply because of their race or culture. Should they market Mike Cammalleri because his is a Jew? What about Yakupov because he is Muslim?

Market Matthews because he's a good young player and the potential to be a great ambassador for the game like Crosby or Iginla are. Don't make it a race or cultural issue.

 

[Dr Black]

The term Latino is not a very descriptive in terms of race since a Hispanic or Latino can be of several different races or racial combinations.

For instance, Austin Mathews and Scott Gomez are both considered "Hispanic" but their racial composition differs. Austin Mathews has a fully White European father and a predominately European mother who is about 75 to 95% Spanish, 5 to 25% Amerindian. Since I don't subscribe to the one drop rule, Austin Mathews is a White European, period. On the other hand Scott Gomez is about 60 to 80% Spanish and 20 to 40% Amerindian. Commonly referred to as a Mestizo or Castizo. More typical of what you will find among the Mexican population.

( I am making educated guesses as to the ancestry composition these 2 players)

 

[FishMonger]

To those wondering about marketing to players' ethnicity, the Kings in the past have had Russian Heritage, Armenian Heritage, and Latino Heritage nights. Not sure about this year, though it would be smart to do the latter when the Leafs come to LA March 2nd, given the circumstances.

Also, apparently Alec Martinez does not speak Spanish (a buddy of mine asked Kopi at an event), though he did once wear a sombrero on Cinco de Mayo during practice:

More on topic: Why not use it to market him to a wider audience? People respond to that which relates to them, whether it be ethnicity, values, or anything else.

That being said, I wouldn't expect to see any pictures of him wrapped in a Spanish flag, just mentioned.

 

[Choralone]

Also, apparently Alec Martinez does not speak Spanish (a buddy of mine asked Kopi at an event), though he did once wear a sombrero on Cinco de Mayo during practice:

He's also rocking los tres colores de la Bandera de México - but it was done as a joke. He's not Mexican-American: his grandfather was a Spaniard.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

the same league that let paul kariya hold out and let the ducks let him hold out in the fall of 1997, just months before the nagano olympics... while the ducks were playing freakin' pre-season games in freakin' tokyo.

david stern would have put kariya, don baizley, and jack ferreira in an abandoned grain silo, waited outside with a spike puckin' bat, and locked them in there until they came to a mutually-agreeable contract.

but it's like bettman has a magic eight ball that tells him the exact opposite of what stern would do every time.