Why is McDavid so little known outside of hockey?
- Thread starter Montreal Shadow
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CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
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Trade him to a big media market and if he wanted to, he could be a household name in the US in no time. He could earn a lot more endorsements in NY or LA, be on the nationally carried daytime shows, movies, TV, etc….and be that guy….if he wanted to….it’s naive to suggest that this is because nobody knows what hockey is…
Edmonton
ESPN or lack there of
Edmonton
No personality
Edmonton
No Olympics
Edmonton
Lets not kid ourselves. If he was lighting up MSG nightly winning Cups and/or mingling with NBA/NFL stars, he'd be all over the place.
ESPN or lack there of
Edmonton
No personality
Edmonton
No Olympics
Edmonton
Lets not kid ourselves. If he was lighting up MSG nightly winning Cups and/or mingling with NBA/NFL stars, he'd be all over the place.
BackToTheBrierePatch
Eff Cancer
Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and Patrick Kane are not household names in the US, how many more years is it going to take for this magical break through to occur?
A B-tier NBA "star" like Klay Thompson would be more well known than all three of them combined in the US.
No he wouldn't. If that was the case, why is Patrick Kane not a huge star in the US.
He played in a massive TV market and is even American born on top of that which should be a huge boon to his popularity in the US as American's tend to not care for non-American athletes.
NFL/NBA players don't care to "mingle" with NHL players, how many NFL/NBA players hang out with Crosby?
The irony of this Edmonton stuff is the most famous NHL player literally made his name in Edmonton, lol. There's no NHL player today who is as famous as Gretzky was WHEN he was in Edmonton.
Fun fact: Gretzky had more Sports Illustrated covers as an Edmonton Oiler than he did playing in LA, New York, etc.
cowboy82nd
Registered User
I don't think that is true. McDavid is just awkward around people. I don't think he would do well in television, movies, or daytime shows. JMO
NickyFotiu
NYR 2024 Cup Champs!
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CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
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Klay Thompson (himself a star in his own right for several years)was on an NBA dynasty with at least one all-time great (or 2) and neither of those comes along often in our lifetimes….and even though you’re moving goalposts from the thread title….I think it’s highly debatable that Ovechkin and Crosby are not well known as you’re suggesting.
Kane just isn’t in the same tier…
I mean you name any number of NBA players who are more popular than any NHL player.
How many dynasties has James Harden been on? James Harden is way more famous than any NHL player.
Even a player like a Zion Williamson is better known than any NHL player he even has his own Nike/Jordan sneaker.
How many nationwide marketing campaigns in the US do Crosby or Ovy have? Zero. None. Crosby even gets cut out of Gatorade commercials in the US. He only has nationally televised commercials in one country -- Canada. They are not well known at all, IMO I would bet the vast majority of average Americans don't know who the f*** either Crosby or Ovy are.
CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
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You’re talking two guys at the ends of their careers. Ovechkin has had national commercials….I’m guessing Crosby has also.
“Merica don”t know hockey stars”……..sure buddy.
They don't. Is what it is. It's a sport played on ice, more than 1/2 the population of the US doesn't even have a proper winter, they're not going to give a crap about a winter sport let alone the athletes in the sport.
I think Ovechkin had like a Snickers deal that was short lived. Crosby has nothing in the US even in his peak, McDonalds? Nope. Patrick Kane basically had nothing too.
The best you can do in the US as an athlete is get some lame regional deals, nationwide deals like Gretzky in a McDonalds commercial with Jordan ... that stuff is long over.
CapitalsCupReality
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Patrick Kane isn’t in the same tier….thats laughable.
Ovechkin gets closer and closer to the goal lead, you think the average Joe is ignoring that? “Nope, we don’t even know that Ruskie’s name!”…….jesus dude.
Why isn't Kane in the same tier?
He was part of a dynasty in CHICAGO (gee, what other superstar did some things in Chicago), he is US born, he plays a highlight reel style of game, he's even funny on camera.
If the US was ever going to have a break out hockey star, he should have been it, instead dude got no traction as a breakout marketing star period. People who think McDavid would be a marketing god in like New York even are naive.
I would bet actually McDavid make MORE marketing $$$ because he plays in Canada. Most of Crosby's marketing deals are in Canada, Tim Horton's, Gatorade Canada, etc.
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Honour Over Glory
Sully-Quinn: Idiots Squared
- Jan 30, 2012
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Basically just this.
His interviews are awful, the cure for insomnia. Even private players at least give better interviews or show up to podcasts and joke around but this bloke is legit just talented and boring as shit for his personality.
Muricans don't give a shit about non Murican sports and athletes. Breaking news at 11.
That's a simplification obviously but it's the reality. Americans are all, and only, about America, Americana, and Americans.
Hell, look at how many of the talk show people talk about the Euro influx in the NBA.
We're a niche sport with foreign origins filled with mostly foreign players played on a foreign surface.
It's always going to be that way.
That's a simplification obviously but it's the reality. Americans are all, and only, about America, Americana, and Americans.
Hell, look at how many of the talk show people talk about the Euro influx in the NBA.
We're a niche sport with foreign origins filled with mostly foreign players played on a foreign surface.
It's always going to be that way.
CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
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Fine fine player, but not generational.
If McDavid was in NY, and winning….he could be as famous as he wanted….don't be fooled.
CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
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The NHL is American….(shrug)…..if anything (beyond market), it’s that McDavid is a plain, boring dude on some level. It’s not like we don’t see him play here in D.C. lots of coverage….
Is it though? Origins are a combination of Canada, Europe, and NE U.S.
Sure you can point to the NE U.S. but that's only a very small part of the U.S. especially when you compare it to the other sports and how much it was part of the culture of school life at all levels across all states across etc...
Add that to the perception people have in general of the N.E.
It's not an American thing. And please understand that I'm not trying to keep it from Americans as a reason for saying it. It's just what I see.
Unless it's an "Americana" thing, it won't be part of the mainstream.
jigglysquishy
Registered User
What do you think the national in National Hockey League stands for? It's not America.
I guess every NHL player is boring then? Perhaps the players should do cartwheels coming into the arena.
The most national media coverage the NHL has gotten in the US in like 10 years is sadly this Johnny Gaudreau tragedy. Was front page news on CNN.com and some other major US news outlets. People are sad about it in the US, but most people don't know who he was, CNN needed the Blue Jackets beat writer to explain to them who he was in the NHL and what his story was.
Do people really think that LeBron James' personality is that magical too? Have you watched Space Jam 2? I couldn't watch more than 15 minutes before falling asleep, dude has the camera presence of a brick wall. Muhammad Ali or even Michael Jordan he most certainly ain't.
Who are all these amazing marketing dream athletes who have incredibly captivating personalities? McDavid has more personality than Lionel Messi, Messi is more boring than plain yogurt. Kevin Durant doesn't have any more personality than McDavid other than when he's throwing a tantrum on Twitter.
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CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
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Not entirely, just mostly.
You’re making an argument against something I never said. Lebron is irrelevant in this conversation. Plenty of hockey players have large personalities….and plenty are boring I’m sure. And?
Yorkshire Leaf
Registered User
Regarding the original question, unless you watch a sport, 99.9% of players are complete unknowns and only a handful make it into your consciousness via the wider media.
Living in the UK and not following basketball I have no knowledge of the supposed superstars people have mentioned in this thread.
No doubt they are huge stars with in their sport and their local area but not as popular as people (Americans) think.
Virat Kohli has more social media followers than any NBA player but very few of you will have heard of him.
Hockey and hockey players are better for not being that famous.
Living in the UK and not following basketball I have no knowledge of the supposed superstars people have mentioned in this thread.
No doubt they are huge stars with in their sport and their local area but not as popular as people (Americans) think.
Virat Kohli has more social media followers than any NBA player but very few of you will have heard of him.
Hockey and hockey players are better for not being that famous.
