Would you support a Calgary PWHL team?

[JPeeper]

So as someone who admittingly rarely watches women sports I 100% want CSEC to get an expansion team for the PWHL. I am actually quite annoyed Calgary isn't one of the founding teams in the league. If Calgary got a PWHL team and aired the games on TV I'd follow them as close as I do the Flames.

Do you think Calgary should get a PWHL team, do you think we eventually will?

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[Iggys Dome]

I hope so. I definitely would watch and support the team. Not sure if Calgarys the biggest market though. They’ll likely expand to Vancouver and other American cities first.

 

[Snazu]

I hope so. I definitely would watch and support the team. Not sure if Calgarys the biggest market though. They’ll likely expand to Vancouver and other American cities first.

Also with there already being the Flames, Wranglers and Hitmen all indirect competition for people money, it might struggle to see people at the games.

 

[super6646]

Also with there already being the Flames, Wranglers and Hitmen all indirect competition for people money, it might struggle to see people at the games.

2/3 already struggle to put butts in seats, and even the flames have had some trying times recently. I wish the PWHL all the best, but pro-hockey has seen better days in this city

 

[Bounces R Way]

Probably not to be honest, just don't have much interest and I devote more than enough of my time to sports already. We had a women's team for a while and they weren't popular even when they were among the better teams IIRC.

 

[Lunatik]

Probably not to be honest, just don't have much interest and I devote more than enough of my time to sports already. We had a women's team for a while and they weren't popular even when they were among the better teams IIRC.

I'm not local, so I don't know how popular they were, but they (the Inferno) did have a dope ass logo

 

[Mobiandi]

Calgary needs to sort out the situation around their existing hockey teams before they go and add another one. Personally wouldn't even consider a PWHL team until the new arena opens

 

[joescores]

I wish them well but no, I would not because to me and many others, this sport (and many other collective sports like basketball, soccer, football) is not attractive when women play it.

 

[Lunatik]

holy f***ing sexist batman

 

[Figgy44]

Probably not to be honest, just don't have much interest and I devote more than enough of my time to sports already. We had a women's team for a while and they weren't popular even when they were among the better teams IIRC.

Same boat. Between kid and illness and other busy things to address, I barely have consistency following the Flames, let alone another sport.

Things might improve if they make it easier to follow PWHL, but if it's like how things were before, interest in the PWHL is probably going to be as popular as interest in the Calgary Hitmen from Flames fans... which isn't very popular.

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

I'm not local, so I don't know how popular they were, but they (the Inferno) did have a dope ass logo
View attachment 938643

Agreed, I really liked this logo and thought it was so much cooler than some of the logos in the NHL, including some of the Flames' logos (ie: that ugly Calgary western third jersey years ago, Blasty).

As much as I'd like to support a local PWHL team (and women's sports in general), I don't think I'd have the capacity to, to be quite honest. I don't even follow the Hitmen or Wranglers too closely. If it were televised, I'd probably watch it or have it running in the background from time to time. I do enjoy watching women's Team Canada hockey during the olympics and the occasional international tournament though.

 

[Lunatik]

Agreed, I really liked this logo and thought it was so much cooler than some of the logos in the NHL, including some of the Flames' logos (ie: that ugly Calgary western third jersey years ago, Blasty).

As much as I'd like to support a local PWHL team (and women's sports in general), I don't think I'd have the capacity to, to be quite honest. I don't even follow the Hitmen or Wranglers too closely. If it were televised, I'd probably watch it or have it running in the background from time to time. I do enjoy watching women's Team Canada hockey during the olympics and the occasional international tournament though.

Agreed w/ everything, except watching the PWHL is pretty easy as I believe all the games are on YouTube.

Between the Flames and Wranglers, I do get hockey'd out, so I wouldn't do more than follow them passively. It is like when I tried to watch more wrestling than WWE, with WWE programming already being 6-7 hours a week plus the Premium Live Events, adding more was just too much.

 

[Figgy44]

Agreed w/ everything, except watching the PWHL is pretty easy as I believe all the games are on YouTube.

Between the Flames and Wranglers, I do get hockey'd out, so I wouldn't do more than follow them passively. It is like when I tried to watch more wrestling than WWE, with WWE programming already being 6-7 hours a week plus the Premium Live Events, adding more was just too much.

I didn't know it was on Youtube, but I think the point still stands for most of us. Ignoring cannibalization of other sports entertainment media from the CSEC for a moment, the appetite for lower tier hockey media consumption than the NHL is very low. It's not even purely a saturation issue, it's a complicated one.

There's probably a way to help make it more successful, but at this point, I'm not sure what that is for the PWHL in Calgary.

 

[Lunatik]

I didn't know it was on Youtube, but I think the point still stands for most of us. Ignoring cannibalization of other sports entertainment media from the CSEC for a moment, the appetite for lower tier hockey media consumption than the NHL is very low. It's not even purely a saturation issue, it's a complicated one.

There's probably a way to help make it more successful, but at this point, I'm not sure what that is for the PWHL in Calgary.

I don't disagree at all, I think the way to make it more successful would have to be targeting schools and getting kids to the games. I know the AHL seems to do "school days" once a year, I think you'd need to do that more often and really get the kids hooked on the product... another idea is massively discounted tickets for students, including University, and try and bring young women from SAIT, Mount Royal, U of C... etc to the games.... and lets be honest, you bring women to the games, dudes will folllow.

 

[Figgy44]

I don't disagree at all, I think the way to make it more successful would have to be targeting schools and getting kids to the games. I know the AHL seems to do "school days" once a year, I think you'd need to do that more often and really get the kids hooked on the product... another idea is massively discounted tickets for students, including University, and try and bring young women from SAIT, Mount Royal, U of C... etc to the games.... and lets be honest, you bring women to the games, dudes will folllow.

Good idea. TBH, I've occasionally heard of these trips for school, but I wondered why this isn't done more often for the Wranglers/Hitmen.

Agreed that once you get interest in it (even at a loss, but what loss is it to fill empty seats at a discount for situations like these?), that in theory, people will continue to keep tabs on it later on. But I don't know about the financial calculations and whether reality is that it adds to the bottom line or if it's just barely break even with increased risks and concerns that have to be addressed (ie: security and liability costs for missing/lost kids and drunk post secondary students).

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

Agreed w/ everything, except watching the PWHL is pretty easy as I believe all the games are on YouTube.

Between the Flames and Wranglers, I do get hockey'd out, so I wouldn't do more than follow them passively. It is like when I tried to watch more wrestling than WWE, with WWE programming already being 6-7 hours a week plus the Premium Live Events, adding more was just too much.

Haha I think you underestimate how lazy I can be. I have the Youtube app on my Roku and smart TV and I can't be bothered to ever search for anything cause I hate typing things with my remote control, so I'll just watch whatever shows up on my feed or shut it off. I'll search for things on my laptop but I really hate watching anything more than 5-8 minutes on it and I don't like watching videos on my phone period. Total first world problems haha

That said, yeah I was aware PWHL games were streamed on YouTube, but they are (or were?) during really weird hours, like in the middle of the day. I've meant to watch some, but I always forget cause I'm so caught up with work. Ideally for me would be to throw a game on tv after work while I'm eating dinner.

Actually, I was in Toronto a couple weeks back. I didn't have a lot of spare time but there were only two things I was hoping to do there had it fit the schedule: go to the HHOF and attend a Toronto Sceptres game. Didn't get to do either, but it's on the list for next time.

 

[Volica]

All the props to those talented women. I worked with a member of the Inferno and made it out to a few of their games.
That all said, it has to make sense geographically to extend the PWHL. If you want to put it in Calgary, you need to have Vancouver, Seattle, Edmonton and probably 1 more city on board.

Right now the league is essentially centered on the NE US/Canada border (minus Minnesota).

You can't have these teams too far from one another or the league would collapse on travel cost.

 

[InfinityIggy]

I think there is an issue with "hockey-saturation" in Calgary. With the Flames, Wranglers, Hitmen all local that puts a lot of pressure on any other league coming here to compete for what are for the most part, the same dollars these existing leagues are competing for.

That said, I could certainly see myself watching some PWHL playoff hockey on tv, or perhaps in person.

 

[Nanuuk]

Sorry. I don't have a huge interest in women's hockey.

I recognize that it would be a huge boost for girls and women's hockey in the city though.