Why is McDavid so little known outside of hockey?

[JackSlater]

Brady won 6 championships, Messi and Ronaldo won everything in the most popular sport in the world, Lebron James is litterally King Kong playing basketball and the media follows him everywhere...

You can't really compare any of them with McDavid. He has no presence anywhere outside of the hockey games he plays in and hasn't won anything. He's a super introverted kid that doesn't seem to care much about his own brand exposure and/or isn't willing to dance like a monkey in front of cameras or on social media like some other athletes.

I'm sure Connor is perfectly fine with the exposure he has and if he wanted more it would only take a little effort on his part with the tools of 2024.

... the whole point is that he's in a much less popular sport than those players are and that none of them are popular due to personality.

 

[Lshap]

There are built-in limitations that others have mentioned:

• Hockey is a niche sport
• No huge wins for McDavid (a Cup, a Gold Medal) that create great storylines
• McDavid's low-key, flat persona won't attract as many articles, covers, interviews, etc.
• No rival amongst his peers (Crosby/Ovechkin) - another opportunity for a storyline
• Social media saturation makes it harder to engineer fame

Can the NHL do more to market itself and its stars? Maybe, but it's a delicate balance between raising awareness and looking ridiculous. Manufacturing rivalries and controversies often backfire and appear bush league. Placing its stars in high-profile environments is great, provided the players come across as attractive, dynamic, informed. Not many hockey players thrive on-camera.

Here's another thing: Hockey doesn't have a storied American history. Most of its teams are American, but – outside of the 1980 'Miracle On Ice' – hockey has been seen as a Canadian sport played in the US. Same reason soccer isn't as popular there – no distinctly American moments featuring American players. The demographics are shifting, but in addition to being niche, hockey's also been perceived as foreign.

 

[Catscountry40]

Because he plays in Edmonton. No how hard old foggie sports writers and spitten chiclets try take down bigger southern markets. Edmonton is not a great place for nation anything.

 

[sr edler]

Him not participating in any international competitions, like the Olympics, certainly doesn't help.

Whatever NA people think about their precious billion dollar sports leagues (NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB, et cetera), from a world wide popularity point of view the Olympics still curb-stomps all of these leagues and it's not even close. Olympics even trumps the FIFA World Cup since it brings all types of phoney sports into its arms (I think even street dance, which is hardly even a sport) which resonates with normal people (meaning people who aren't obsessed with sports).

 

[JPT]

Why doesn't everyone love my sport as much as I do?

Summer is summering.

I'm not sure what this means.

Anyway, back to working on my thread about whether or not the Flying V from The Mighty Ducks would be an effective offensive zone entry strategy in the NHL.

 

[sinDer]

Maybe one of the reasons is that he's as charismatic as a rock.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Because he plays in Edmonton. No how hard old foggie sports writers and spitten chiclets try take down bigger southern markets. Edmonton is not a great place for nation anything.

weren't we always hearing that the reason Barkov is so underrated was because he plays for a small-market Panthers team? that's a southern market

 

[Timeless Winter]

The NHL is run by morons who don't know how to market.

This is the only answer needed.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Reputable media wont promote him due to the fact he shares a house with his gf, despite not being married (living in sin)

 

[ijuka]

Oh, forgot another thing.

No NHL in Olympics.

Because NHL thinks that not advertizing to millions of viewers is a good business decision.

Reputable media wont promote him due to the fact he shares a house with his gf, despite not being married (living in sin)

Good. Few things are more cringe than marriage enforcers.

 

[BTO]

There are built-in limitations that others have mentioned:

• Hockey is a niche sport
• No huge wins for McDavid (a Cup, a Gold Medal) that create great storylines
• McDavid's low-key, flat persona won't attract as many articles, covers, interviews, etc.
• No rival amongst his peers (Crosby/Ovechkin) - another opportunity for a storyline
• Social media saturation makes it harder to engineer fame

Can the NHL do more to market itself and its stars? Maybe, but it's a delicate balance between raising awareness and looking ridiculous. Manufacturing rivalries and controversies often backfire and appear bush league. Placing its stars in high-profile environments is great, provided the players come across as attractive, dynamic, informed. Not many hockey players thrive on-camera.

Here's another thing: Hockey doesn't have a storied American history. Most of its teams are American, but – outside of the 1980 'Miracle On Ice' – hockey has been seen as a Canadian sport played in the US. Same reason soccer isn't as popular there – no distinctly American moments featuring American players. The demographics are shifting, but in addition to being niche, hockey's also been perceived as foreign.

Hockey isn’t a “niche sport”. Hockey is a niche sport in America. Soccer is a niche sport in America. Does that make soccer a niche sport full stop?

 

[Juxta Position]

I'm not sure what this means.

Anyway, back to working on my thread about whether or not the Flying V from The Mighty Ducks would be an effective offensive zone entry strategy in the NHL.

As a lifelong Oilers fan, and this picture being taken during the Decade of Darkness, I can say with full confidence that no, no it is not.

 

[StumpyTown]

He's a very unassuming fellow out in public. I've had the pleasure of running into him a couple of times when I was doing some work in Edmonton. Both times he was very quiet, driving a very normal car, dressed normally so as not to attract attention (i.e. "normal" clothes, not super expensive shoes, jackets, etc.) I got the impression that he values his privacy, which I think is a very good thing for professional athletes as it allows for a much more tolerable work/life balance. He was super polite to everyone although I did need to intervene with a couple of very excited fans and ask them to give him his space to do what he was doing.

 

[King In The North]

NHL and marketing lmao

 

[MoneyManny]

... the whole point is that he's in a much less popular sport than those players are and that none of them are popular due to personality.

All of them are completely uncomparable to McDavid personallity/charisma sise though.

 

[JackSlater]

All of them are completely uncomparable to McDavid personallity/charisma sise though.

Not especially, there are no sparkling personalities in that group that I listed. There are certainly no brain surgeons there, James is a nice guy but quite immature, Brady is weird yet dull, Messi seems to have no discernible characteristics at all, and Ronaldo is a douche. Make them hockey stars and their personalities move the needle exactly 0.

 

[ottawa]

The NHL is run by morons who don't know how to market. Outside factors like video games and movies have marketed hockey better than the NHL ever has

Look at what Dana White has done with a fringe sport.

UFC is a more global sport than hockey, you can host events in different countries any weekend and they also don't oversaturate their game like hockey does with 82 regular season games a year. Also they have that oil money and gambling empire supporting them.

 

[Lshap]

Hockey isn’t a “niche sport”. Hockey is a niche sport in America. Soccer is a niche sport in America. Does that make soccer a niche sport full stop?

The NHL is a North American league so, yes, it's a niche sport based on where it ranks within its target market. Hockey is big elsewhere, but I don't see McDavid being marketed in Russia or Sweden. Marketing hockey in North American remains a challenge as long as the sport is perceived as distinctly Canadian. The US isn't likely to embrace it like they do with American-born sports like football, baseball, and basketball, all of which have generations of history and culture behind them. There's no American hockey culture.

Soccer's target market is Europe and parts of South America. Obviously it's not a niche sport there.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Hockey isn’t a “niche sport”. Hockey is a niche sport in America. Soccer is a niche sport in America. Does that make soccer a niche sport full stop?

there's only like 6 or 7 "good" hockey countries in the world

yes, it's niche on a global scale

 

[Soundwave]

A Gatorade commercial is for the absolute most famous household names. He's known by most sports fans for sure. If you ask anyone under 40 to name a hockey player it's likely Crosby or Ovechkin

It's actually still Gretzky. Most Americans can't name a hockey player outside of Gretzky.

 

[thegazelle]

At first I didn't buy the McDavid personality thing, but as I think about it, it does make sense. If you are introverted, even keeled and perhaps even somewhat expressionless, it will be hard for the media to grab a soundbite out of you. Without media complicity in marketing, an athlete's prominence and exposure is an uphill climb.

Would McDavid be well known if he put his foot in his mouth once in a while, said stupid things, maybe say politically incorrect things? Maybe - but even then it depends on what media outlets are willing to cover him. During the hockey season, hockey has to compete with basketball, which tends to have more colourful (personality) characters, as well as off-season news in other sports. Media outlets also realize that the Canadian sports landscape is not as homogenous as it once was, and they area almost obligated to cover other sports just for variety's sake and to keep the interest of a diverse viewership base. For me if I see any soccer news, I just turn the channel but for many, they tune in to soccer news.

Perhaps hockey has a reputation as a pretty sportsmanlike (for the most part compared to other sports) sport where athletes go in front of cameras in interviews wearing suits and such. These traditions may not have the marketing drawing potential as "bad boy" or "bad girl" athletes and sports where the participants can mouth off about this or that or do this or that and get the gossip news coverage, all over it. Look at the amount of NFL players (and their families) who seem to get coverage for their views on social and political issues, even though I don't know if anyone actually cares what they think. When was the last time an NHL player talked about what was going on in the world. That's just not how the hockey climate is, and that's a good thing, but it also reduces the press coverage.

 

[Soundwave]

As I've said though there aren't really that many star athletes 28 or under who are breaking out. Most of the "star" athletes people are bringing up are like 32+ (Messi, Steph Curry), almost 40 years old (LeBron) in some cases.

Is Luka Doncic a household name? Not really I'd say, there's probably a lot of people on this board who don't even know who that is. Looking at the TV ratings for the last NBA Finals, he isn't yet a draw and he has his own Nike/Jordan shoe line. We'll see how Victor Wembanyama tracks.

Anyone young in golf even half as big as Tiger? Nope. Anyone in tennis like the Williams sisters?

The NFL has Mahomes, but really I couldn't name another NFL player under 28 as a very heavy casual.

I can't name any baseball players under 28 either the only two I know as mainly a hockey/basketball fan are Ohtani and Judge.

It's not just a hockey specific issue, lots of sports are having problems finding successors to their most popular players.

Caitlyn Clark is basically the biggest new thing to happen in sports in a while.

 

[Lt Dan]

UFC is a more global sport than hockey, you can host events in different countries any weekend and they also don't oversaturate their game like hockey does with 82 regular season games a year. Also they have that oil money and gambling empire supporting them.

Because the UFC did an exponentially better job of growing it's sport.....
Hockey had a gigantic head start.
Ironically hockey was peaking in popularity when the UFC started in 1993, Bettman just blew it

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

He plays for a Canadian team. He is not American. His team has not won the cup or had consistent deep playoff success. The more mainstream TV deals with TNT only started this year. He also has the charisma of an unplugged iMac.

Purely guessing, Matthew Tkachuk is probably more well known to Americans.

If you were to do what is best for the league, he would leave Edmonton and go to a major American market.

 

[Soundwave]

He plays for a Canadian team. He is not American. His team has not won the cup or had consistent deep playoff success. The more mainstream TV deals with TNT only started this year. He also has the charisma of an unplugged iMac.

Purely guessing, Matthew Tkachuk is probably more well known to Americans.

If you were to do what is best for the league, he would leave Edmonton and go to a major American market.

Americans don't give a f*** about NHL hockey to the level of knowing players outside of maybe their local team (and even then most of them don't even know their local team players).

If this whole theory was going to be true, Patrick Kane should have been a huge marketing star.

American born superstar? Check.

Pretty good/funny personality? Check.

Flashy style of play? Check.

Multiple Cup wins? Check.

Plays in a major US TV market? Chicago? Check.

Patrick Kane was a fart in the wind in US athletic marketing. Good luck to anyone else.