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World Cup TV ratings

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True Hockey Fan said:
in more than a year? So that means it's more than any NHL playoff game, any World Championships game, or even any World Juniors game? Not bad.

It probably would've been quite more if the tournament was being held regularly, like after 4 years again.
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In Europe the WHC get's like hundreds of millions of viewers.

In 2015, the Championship had a cumulative TV audience of over a billion people..

http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/...=10018&cHash=bfb1c52ded8e8187a55e1c252d41e806

Seriously. This World Cup is a footnote in comparison.
 
The 3.1 million for the SF against Russia is decent, but certainly not a blockbuster number when compared to other high profile games over the years. The last time Canada hosted the WJC the QF against Denmark drew almost as many people.

The tournament is going to make the NHL owners and PA money, so I'm sure both parties will consider the effort a success, but the whole thing has fallen pretty flat. Tonight's game has tons of empty seats and Maple Leaf Square is nearly empty for the viewing party.
 
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416Leafer said:
FIFA World Cup has better ratings than Olympic soccer... But the Olympic soccer isn't "best on best", which probably hurts their ratings.

Similarly, this tournament isn't best on best, because half the teams either aren't countries or are countries with handicaps. I know that personally, and among most of my friends, this distinction has driven down our interest in watching the tournament. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a common sentiment. The young NA team was "fun", but it also completely pulled my interest out of following Canada, because I just don't see it as a best on best tournament.
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Only South Americans and Africans seem to take Olympics soccer pretty seriously. Europeans beg out of the tournament.
 
ForumNamePending said:
The 3.1 million for the SF against Russia is decent, but certainly not a blockbuster number when compared to other high profile games over the years. The last time Canada hosted the WJC the QF against Denmark drew almost as many people.

The tournament is going to make the NHL owners and PA money, so I'm sure both parties will consider the effort a success, but the whole thing has fallen pretty flat. Tonight's game has tons of empty seats and Maple Leaf Square is nearly empty for the viewing party.
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They simply can't play this in September. It's the worst possible month.
 
Karl Eriksson said:
Very little excitement around this in Canada right now. Feels like a pre-season tune up game

I think it's tough timing, almost like the opening act before a headliner (NHL season) at a concert.
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I think most hockey fans rather see a pre-season game with their team than these finals (exception might be if the team you cheer for actually have a top player in the finals).
 
LiveeviL said:
I think most hockey fans rather see a pre-season game with their team than these finals (exception might be if the team you cheer for actually have a top player in the finals).
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At my workplace, there was zero talk about this tournament. One guy's been talking about TPS Turku only. Completely opposite of what goes on during the Worlds or Olympics.
 
Jussi said:
At my workplace, there was zero talk about this tournament. One guy's been talking about TPS Turku only. Completely opposite of what goes on during the Worlds or Olympics.
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I have to say I was rather absentminded even when Finland was still competitive. Now I even forgot that the first final was last night and not Wed-Thu night... Absolutely, couldn't care less (apart from the off-chance of Canada, somehow, losing this plastic tournament taylor-made for them to win).
 
Jonimaus said:
Can't confirm that football is bigger than hockey in Slovakia (it might even be bigger), but it is sure as hell not far off.
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In early 00´s definitely hockey was more popular than football. But nowadays I think football is bigger. Especially after big slump of slovak hockey and rising of slovak football recently. But definitely hockey is superior sport compared to any sport except football.

Edit: Obviously football playing way more players because it is more cheap. Maybe in this hockey is not even second best I don´t know but popularity wise it surely is.
 
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Lol, are those Twitter pictures really from the same event? I scrolled down to the first photo and was like "oh, I guess people care about this somewhat, that's nice"...then scrolled down a bit more and burst out laughing. :laugh:
 
True Hockey Fan said:
in more than a year? So that means it's more than any NHL playoff game, any World Championships game, or even any World Juniors game? Not bad.

It probably would've been quite more if the tournament was being held regularly, like after 4 years again.
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Why are you trying to defend the tournament? It seems like you take it personal, haha...

Nobody cares about the tournament, it's a big disaster for the NHL.
 
BayStreetBully said:
:laugh: at that point, why would you even stay there?
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The security personnel nearly outnumber the "fans", so maybe they feel safe there?

I'm looking forward to the TV ratings for this final. We were told that the ratings for the final would rival those of the Sochi gold medal game, which nearly half of Canada watched at its peak. Meanwhile, there is absolutely no buzz about this final at my workplace. I walked my dog last night along the strip of restaurants/bars in my neighbourhood (in Ottawa) and every TV had the Jays game on.
 
Team Europe being in the finals is hurting the fan turnout I'd bet.

There's no history to build a rivalry, and while the players on the team are great, they don't posses the same intrigue as Team North America. The most they've got going for them is that they're a Cinderella team, but that's not enough.

Put the US, Russia, or Team North America against Canada in the finals and I think you get more people watching. As it stands, people expect Canada to win and don't feel like paying the price of admission to watch a foregone conclusion. Not to mention that the Jays are in a playoff race and play at roughly the same time.

I also think scheduling and making it a multi-game final/series isn't helping. A one-and-done final probably gets more people watching. Have it on Saturday at prime time and Maple Leaf Square is probably not as pathetically empty as it was/will be. Instead the two games of the finals are going to be played on a Tuesday and a Thursday. People aren't going to come out to mid-week games for a tournament with little pedigree.
 
Wanderson said:
Why are you trying to defend the tournament? It seems like you take it personal, haha...

Nobody cares about the tournament, it's a big disaster for the NHL.
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Pretty obvious the players don't care either, look how Canada played yesterday. Everyone just wants to stay healthy for the new season.
 
Tommy Torini said:
Team Europe being in the finals is hurting the fan turnout I'd bet.

There's no history to build a rivalry, and while the players on the team are great, they don't posses the same intrigue as Team North America. The most they've got going for them is that they're a Cinderella team, but that's not enough.

Put the US, Russia, or Team North America against Canada in the finals and I think you get more people watching. As it stands, people expect Canada to win and don't feel like paying the price of admission to watch a foregone conclusion. Not to mention that the Jays are in a playoff race and play at roughly the same time.

I also think scheduling and making it a multi-game final/series isn't helping. A one-and-done final probably gets more people watching. Have it on Saturday at prime time and Maple Leaf Square is probably not as pathetically empty as it was/will be. Instead the two games of the finals are going to be played on a Tuesday and a Thursday. People aren't going to come out to mid-week games for a tournament with little pedigree.
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A Canada-NA finals would have made it must-watch tv only because of the star power of the young team. There is no other team that could capture the interest of Toronto. Not Canada-US, not Canada-Russia, not US-Russia. It would have to be NA in the finals. And next time around, the NA team probably won't even have the same pull. This World Cup showed that it's just not something Canadian hockey fans care about.

The only way I see this changing is if each country has its glamour players at the same time, like in the 90's. Selanne and Kurri for Finland, not Barkov. Sundin and Forsberg for Sweden, not Sedin and Backstrom. Hasek and Jagr for Czech, not Plekanec. And so on. The crop of stars from those countries are just boring these days. Even Canada's stars pale in comparison to Gretzky, Lemieux, Yzerman and Sakic of the past.
 
BayStreetBully said:
A Canada-NA finals would have made it must-watch tv only because of the star power of the young team. There is no other team that could capture the interest of Toronto. Not Canada-US, not Canada-Russia, not US-Russia. It would have to be NA in the finals. And next time around, the NA team probably won't even have the same pull. This World Cup showed that it's just not something Canadian hockey fans care about.
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Russia-Canada pulled in 3 million viewers on Saturday. When national pride is on the line against a rival, there's more incentive for Canadians to watch. No Canadian wants to lose to the Ruskies or the Yankees. Team Europe doesn't have the same allure.

I do agree that it'd have to be Canada vs (blank) to interest Canadians. Had Canada lost earlier and this final was like Russia-Europe, the viewership and crowd turnout would be even lower than it is now.

Overall this tournament has been a resounding meh. The fans are over it, the players are over it. The most exciting moments were when team North America was playing, and when Russia had it close against Canada for a few minutes in the Semi-finals.
 
BayStreetBully said:
A Canada-NA finals would have made it must-watch tv only because of the star power of the young team. There is no other team that could capture the interest of Toronto. Not Canada-US, not Canada-Russia, not US-Russia. It would have to be NA in the finals. And next time around, the NA team probably won't even have the same pull. This World Cup showed that it's just not something Canadian hockey fans care about.

The only way I see this changing is if each country has its glamour players at the same time, like in the 90's. Selanne and Kurri for Finland, not Barkov. Sundin and Forsberg for Sweden, not Sedin and Backstrom. Hasek and Jagr for Czech, not Plekanec. And so on. The crop of stars from those countries are just boring these days. Even Canada's stars pale in comparison to Gretzky, Lemieux, Yzerman and Sakic of the past.
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Good point. International hockey just ain't what it used to be (for several reasons), sad but true.
 
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