Why is McDavid so little known outside of hockey?

[Soundwave]

Crosby was more famous in 2007-2014 ish than McDavid has ever been.

Playing in a US market that would track, he's still virtually unknown to most sports fans in the US. As I said, Gatorade actively cuts him out of their commercials in the US because no one will know who he is. In Canada we get the same commercials but with Crosby re-spliced into them because he's known here.

There is no hockey player that's ever broken out as a mainstream marketing draw in the US, Gretzky is about as good as it got and Gretzky was a tiny fraction of the popularity of a Jordan or Magic or Bird or Tiger or Tyson.

At the end of the day, it’s Edmonton.

Yes Gretzky was the biggest star in the 80s. He was the biggest star of all time. He was probably the only guy who could have become a true mainstream star in that city.

McDavid is not a Gretzky tier star. Put him in NYC or Chicago or even Pittsburgh and he would be on a different level in the media. But he doesn’t have that GOAT quality that could make him a mainstream star out of Edmonton.

No hockey player does. Gretzky as good as it gets for hockey in that regard and he was like a B/C-list level of popularity in the US at his peak, no where close to a Jordan or even Magic/Bird. Shaq was like 1000x more popular than Gretzky at his peak, shit a Penny Hardaway was more popular in his hey day than Gretzky or any hockey player ever has been.

Caitlyn Clark probably already is more famous in the US than any hockey player that has ever lived.

 

[Svencouver]

Im skeptical that Edmonton in particular is this huge blow to McDavids popularity. The Oilers are a fairly highly valued market in terms of revenue and global popularity. Hockey isn't so popular that teams in large markets have their own cultural cache - the LA Kings being less popular than the Pittsburgh Penguins being a pretty strong example. You don't have those larger-than-the-sport franchises like the Lakers, Dodgers, Celtics, Yankees, etc. in Hockey. If anything, wouldn't the Oilers, being the franchise most associated with the great one, be the strongest candidate for a franchise that transcends the sport itself in the cultural consciousness? McDavid, "the next one", by divine miracle, playing for the same franchise as "the great one" should be a boon to his narrative and fame, if anything.

People are compelled by winning and if the Oilers were a dynasty that had won 3 cups already in McDavids tenure I don't think being Canadian would be all that of a big loss in his relative popularity, especially not in a more global, social-media mode of fame and entertainment.

 

[Golden_Jet]

No

Appears so

 

[Soundwave]

Im skeptical that Edmonton in particular is this huge blow to McDavids popularity. The Oilers are a fairly highly valued market in terms of revenue and global popularity. Hockey isn't so popular that teams in large markets have their own cultural cache - the LA Kings being less popular than the Pittsburgh Penguins being a pretty strong example. You don't have those larger-than-the-sport franchises like the Lakers, Dodgers, Celtics, Yankees, etc. in Hockey. If anything, wouldn't the Oilers, being the franchise most associated with the great one, be the strongest candidate for a franchise that transcends the sport itself in the cultural consciousness? McDavid, "the next one", by divine miracle, playing for the same franchise as "the great one" should be a boon to his narrative and fame, if anything.

People are compelled by winning and if the Oilers were a dynasty that had won 3 cups already in McDavids tenure I don't think being Canadian would be all that of a big loss in his relative popularity, especially not in a more global, social-media mode of fame and entertainment.

It doesn't make that huge of a difference. Gretzky was known in the US even prior to coming to LA.

If the market thesis was going to hold true, then it should have turned Patrick Kane in a US sports superstar. He's American, he's flashy on the ice, won Cups, plays in a huge market in Chicago.

He couldn't break through and become a marketing star in the US, that's pretty damning for anyone else's chances.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

He plays in Edmonton, if he was in a big city like New York, Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, or Los Angeles he'd be way more known.

He also hasn't won the cup, and that's really most non-hockey fans can pay attention to. I don't really follow football, but every year I know who's playing in the Super Bowl. Hardcore hockey fans can talk about points and Art Ross trophies all they want, but what really cements any athlete's legacy is winning championships. That's what the masses care about.

And also Crosby had his moment on the global stage in 2010. McDavid hasn't even had an opportunity to compete in the Olympics, so really only people who follow the NHL know who he is.

 

[Soundwave]

He plays in Edmonton, if he was in a big city like New York, Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, or Los Angeles he'd be way more known.

And also Crosby had his moment on the global stage in 2010. McDavid hasn't even had an opportunity to compete in the Olympics, so really only people who follow the NHL know who he is.

I don't think it makes much difference.

Patrick Kane played in Chicago, and outside of the Chicago-land area no in the US knows or gives a crap about him.

The NHL not having a Nike sponsorship I think hurt them a lot too, if Nike had been the equipment provider for the NHL through the 2000s-2020 they probably would have run more commercial campaigns with NHL players. But now Nike itself is losing popularity as we enter a new era.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Im skeptical that Edmonton in particular is this huge blow to McDavids popularity. The Oilers are a fairly highly valued market in terms of revenue and global popularity. Hockey isn't so popular that teams in large markets have their own cultural cache - the LA Kings being less popular than the Pittsburgh Penguins being a pretty strong example. You don't have those larger-than-the-sport franchises like the Lakers, Dodgers, Celtics, Yankees, etc. in Hockey. If anything, wouldn't the Oilers, being the franchise most associated with the great one, be the strongest candidate for a franchise that transcends the sport itself in the cultural consciousness? McDavid, "the next one", by divine miracle, playing for the same franchise as "the great one" should be a boon to his narrative and fame, if anything.

People are compelled by winning and if the Oilers were a dynasty that had won 3 cups already in McDavids tenure I don't think being Canadian would be all that of a big loss in his relative popularity, especially not in a more global, social-media mode of fame and entertainment.

If McDavid won 3 cups back to back nobody in the world would know outside of hockey fans

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

I don't think it makes much difference.

Patrick Kane played in Chicago, and outside of the Chicago-land area no in the US knows or gives a crap about him.

The NHL not having a Nike sponsorship I think hurt them a lot too, if Nike had been the equipment provider for the NHL through the 2000s-2020 they probably would have run more commercial campaigns with NHL players. But now Nike itself is losing popularity as we enter a new era.

Kane is nowhere close to a McDavid level talent. McDavid is in that LeBron, Brady, Messi category of athlete, the only athletes that are known globally outside of their sport are the ones who dominate and win a lot.

 

[Svencouver]

If McDavid won 3 cups back to back nobody in the world would know outside of hockey fans

Thats an insane belief. You really think sports media, let alone social media, wouldn't know or care about a generational talent making an active case for being the greatest of all time while winning three cups in a row? People care about completely irrelevant shit like Swimming and Gymnastics when someone is making a case for being the GOAT. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have grown F1 considerably just through their presence alone. McDavid would be a huge name in sports if he three-peated in Edmonton.

 

[Golden_Jet]

shit a Penny Hardaway was more popular in his hey day than Gretzky or any hockey player ever has been.

Caitlyn Clark probably already is more famous in the US than any hockey player that has ever lived.

Thanks for the laughs

 

[Soundwave]

Celebrities in general aren't as famous as they used to be.

It's been much lamented but there's not many new movie stars, studios are still leaning on Tom Cruise damn near 60 to sell films.

Taylor Swift is famous sure, but is she more famous than Michael Jackson's hey day in his 80s/90s? I don't think so.

Is anyone in the current Royal Family as famous as Princess Diana? Nope.

The NBA has the greatest marketing machine in sports, but they have not been able to make LeBron or Kobe or anyone else as popular as Michael Jordan was.

Tiger Woods 20 years versus anyone today in popularity? Forget about it.

In the 90s, a nothing start up TV show like Beverly Hills 90210 could go from a very small audience to within a year being so demanded in pop culture that the cast of the show had to be taken out of mall appearances in laundry baskets to prevent a riot of teenagers in the mall, lol.

Any TV show on network TV with anywhere near that kind of clout? Social media has watered down any single person's individual popularity, the 80s/90s/2000s was really the hey day of all that.

 

[Terry Yake]

edmonton

zero personality or character

hockey just doesn't have nearly as strong of a following worldwide as soccer or basketball, nor does it get the same amount of media attention

also, while the league is shit at marketing its talent, how are you supposed to market guys like mcdavid and crosby who have the personality of a rock?

and what's funny is that on the rare occasion that a star player actually is marketable (think ovechkin or subban,) they get called out by hockey fans for not sticking to hockey or whatever

 

[Soundwave]

Thanks for the laughs

That's just objective truth, Penny Hardaway was hugely popular in the mid-90s, you couldn't go to a mall just about anywhere in mainstream USA without seeing kids/teenagers wearing his Orlando Magic jersey, huge Nike marketing campaign, Lil Penny with Chris Rock and Tyra Banks.

Wayne Gretzky? Good luck seeing a Wayne Gretzky jersey that commonly even in LA, it's not even close.

Dennis Rodman is more famous than any hockey player in the US, that's not even close either.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I don't think it makes much difference.

Patrick Kane played in Chicago, and outside of the Chicago-land area no in the US knows or gives a crap about him.

The NHL not having a Nike sponsorship I think hurt them a lot too, if Nike had been the equipment provider for the NHL through the 2000s-2020 they probably would have run more commercial campaigns with NHL players. But now Nike itself is losing popularity as we enter a new era.

Thankfully not NIke their equipment was near the bottom of NHL gear.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Thats an insane belief. You really think sports media, let alone social media, wouldn't know or care about a generational talent making an active case for being the greatest of all time while winning three cups in a row? People care about completely irrelevant shit like Swimming and Gymnastics when someone is making a case for being the GOAT. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have grown F1 considerably just through their presence alone. McDavid would be a huge name in sports if he three-peated in Edmonton.

Sorry I don't see it , people from around the world would know about swimming or gymnastics athletes breaking records and winning golds like phelps.

We are talking about Ice Hockey here , how can you call gymnastics and swimming irrelevant when more people participate in those sports worldwide than hockey. Do you think McDavid winning 3 cups is making its way to Australian or Asian twitter ??


Hockey is a niche sport that is not respected or understood world wide , it has very little reach

 

[tarheelhockey]

No hockey player does. Gretzky as good as it gets for hockey in that regard and he was like a B/C-list level of popularity in the US at his peak, no where close to a Jordan or even Magic/Bird. Shaq was like 1000x more popular than Gretzky at his peak, shit a Penny Hardaway was more popular in his hey day than Gretzky or any hockey player ever has been.

Caitlyn Clark probably already is more famous in the US than any hockey player that has ever lived.

I don’t think that’s true. Everyone in that era knew Gretzky, he was a household name.

Even in smaller sports, guys like Tiger Woods and Tony Hawk are known to everyone including today’s kids. Gretzky is one of those guys.

Unless you’re counting this in terms of people being actual fans. I don’t know how many people were full-blown Gretzky fans at the time. He was just very very famous to the point that any random person on the street, anywhere in the States, had at least heard of him.

Taylor Swift is famous sure, but is she more famous than Michael Jackson's hey day in his 80s/90s? I don't think so.

In North America, she absolutely is.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

He's boring. Zero personality. Mr Cardboard.

 

[Soundwave]

I don’t think that’s true. Everyone in that era knew Gretzky, he was a household name.

Even in smaller sports, guys like Tiger Woods and Tony Hawk are known to everyone including today’s kids. Gretzky is one of those guys.

Unless you’re counting this in terms of people being actual fans. I don’t know how many people were full-blown Gretzky fans at the time. He was just very very famous to the point that any random person on the street, anywhere in the States, had at least heard of him.

They knew his name maybe, but in terms of like "I'm a fan of this athlete" ... Gretzky's popularity is vastly overstated in the US by hockey fans.

A Dennis Rodman would destroy Gretzky's jersey sales in the US, it wouldn't even be close and Rodman was a fraction of the popularity of a Jordan.

Wayne Gretzky at his peak likely was not even as famous as like a Ken Griffey Jr, Troy Aikman, or Anfernee Hardaway at their peaks in the US let alone thinking he was in the Jordan/Tiger territory. Not even close to Shaq/Kobe territory.

 

[wickedwitch]

Crosby and Ovechkin were helped by the fact that marketing could play them off each other. There are different (BS) media narratives that could be created with two stars as opposed to 1.

As a Caps fan, I was irritated that Ovechkin's narriative was so often Crosby centered, but considering hockey as a sport and not just the Caps, in hindsight, it was the smartest thing NHL marketing has done in years.

 

[joelef]

The NHL marketing team is a farce, it’s sorta comedic that we can name a backup quarterback of an NFL team than the NHL markets Connor McDavid.

It’s embarrassing, the NHL should be ashamed.

We got freaking wnba players who are household names and more popular then mcdavid . Embarrassing doesn’t even describe it.

 

[Soundwave]

We got freaking wnba players who are household names and more popular then mcdavid . Embarrassing doesn’t even describe it.

Caitlyn Clark will be far more popular than any hockey player ever, she already in the US arguably is. She's going to leave Gretzky in the dust.

 

[joelef]

Caitlyn Clark will be far more popular than any hockey player ever, she already in the US arguably is. She's going to leave Gretzky in the dust.

Exactly . Hell even global soccer stars are slowly burning into the consciousness of North America. I don’t understand the disconnect with the nhl and hockey in general

 

[Soundwave]

I don’t think that’s true. Everyone in that era knew Gretzky, he was a household name.

Even in smaller sports, guys like Tiger Woods and Tony Hawk are known to everyone including today’s kids. Gretzky is one of those guys.

Unless you’re counting this in terms of people being actual fans. I don’t know how many people were full-blown Gretzky fans at the time. He was just very very famous to the point that any random person on the street, anywhere in the States, had at least heard of him.



In North America, she absolutely is.

Eh, debatable, Michael Jackson at some point transcended from being famous into being like almost a "walking god" like figure where people would just faint on sight of him and he'd only meet like heads of state and things like that. And OK, Taylor Swift is one big star, but where are the others?

In the past it wasn't just him but Madonna, Prince, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, shit even Eminen etc. etc. etc. The music industry no longer can create and market superstars in the same way they used to. Neither can Hollywood.

Not a big surprise sports can't either, least of all the piddly little NHL.

 

[EpochLink]

We got freaking wnba players who are household names and more popular then mcdavid . Embarrassing doesn’t even describe it.

Case in point, former New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson, whom by the way:

- Can't read defenses
- Can't recognize the pocket is collapsing
- Can't find his 1st, 2nd and 3 read options on passing
- Has bad accuracy
- Over throws receivers, under throws receivers
- Holds onto the ball too long
- Can't find the open receiver downfield, does a 5 yard out to whomever is open

Yet the only thing he's famous for is having a sexual affair with his former teammates mom and some NFL fans online calling him 'The MILF QB' FFS.

Guy sucks and yet, he's getting more marketing and exposure than McDavid.

 

[GordonGraham]

Bland boring No personality No charisma and in this day and age more and more people are only exposed to whats in their bubble

Just a few days ago i was watching something about the NBA and i had never even heard the name of who they called the best player in the league, its gets zero coverage in the paper tv news where i live