Phx has been in the league 15 years. 15 years. What?? - you're surprised (and some are even angry!) that Phx doesn't have as many fans as certain Canadian cities where they have had hockey for generations?!
yeah, great comparison...
Quote:
Originally Posted by mizzoublues29
It's called market development, with a market penetration strategy.
I think you misinterpret what I was saying. I love watching live hockey, but have lived my whole life in Toronto and Vancouver, so I can only afford to go to 1, maybe a few games a year, and mostly have to go to OHL/WHL games to get my live hockey fix. If I lived in a place like Phoenix, while it would suck to not have hockey as a major part of the culture, I'd absolute LOVE the ticket prices, and would snatch up seasons tickets in a second.
I think the three biggest reasons that that Hockey isn't as popular i the United States:
-Most American climates don't allow for outdoor hockey/skating, a pasttime that is cherished in Canada and some European countries.
-It's not an American game.
-Americans aren't the best at it.
I think a bigger surprise is that Soccer in America isn't as popular as Basketball, Football or Baseball.
I was just visiting NYC for the first time, was surprised by the lack of coverage. All the SportsCenter shows and alike were just focusing on either the Masters in golf or some argument between a player and a coach in NBA (the coach was really short and whining about the player during an interview when the player came over).
Also, everybody seemed to have a thing for baseball. Apparently the season just started and one of the NYC teams hadn't lost at all. Sometimes I wanted to say "Hey, you know your Rangers team is fighting for the President's Trophy and have a good chance of winning the SC?"
But I guess it's the same in Finland, soccer (especially national level) gets a lot of attention, even though they've never even gotten to the big tournaments. But luckily ice hockey is king here.
I didn't start hockey skating (don't want to include skating in circles with friends at a public session) until about 17 or 18, started playing competitively at 20. Now I play in leagues year round.
But prior to skating, I was always a die-hard NHL and Blues fan.
Of course lots of people enjoy hockey who have never skated before, I was just saying though that I can see the disconnect with some people who don't. Not judging it, just putting myself in the shoes of someone who say has grown up in California or North Carolina or Alabama all their life.
In general, 'winter sports' in the US are not very popular. The Winter Olympics are not as big as the Summer Olympics, especially in the US.
When you are in a climate region where snow in and of itself is a huge rarity, the idea of playing a sport on a frozen ice is always going to be ... odd to some people.
It's not a surprise that the bigger hockey markets in the US seem to be areas like Buffalo, Minnesota, etc. which are closest to Canada in climate or markets which do have cold winters and a long hockey history (ie: Boston).
But you know there's always a flipside to every story, I know lots of basketball fans in Canada, especially Raptors fans, that bemoan hockey getting all the coverage on Canadian sports channels like 90% of the time.
I think inline hockey is a great alternative for those who can't skate on a frozen pond. It's cheaper and more accessible. Unfortunately, USA Hockey dropped inline from their program and moved it over to USA Roller Sports, which will probably decrease funding for the sport from a national level.
I know it's not the same game, but it can certainly generate interest in the NHL if we can get youth to play some form of hockey.
As we speak right now; Long Beach State, North Carolina State, Central Florida, and UC Santa Barbara are all competing for the Inline Hockey national championships (among other schools). All non-traditional markets, but they can piece together competitive inline club programs.
That is something, but it can't replace the cultural experience of lacing up skates and playing shinny on an outdoor rink or a frozen pond (something every kid from my generation has done). I think as we have become a more urban country ourselves, this has chagned a bit, but I can still drive through any city in Canada on a -20 degree C night and see a bunch of kids playing steet hocket or shinny on an outdoor ice surface.
This is something a southern state will never be able to replicate.
It's not a slight. I look at it like this....Saskatchewan will never produce a world champion snowboarder either. Our province is basically flat. The only ski runs we have are valleys and man-made hills (usually landfills covered in dirt).
Climate is a huge factor. It is for this same reason basketball will never be as big in my area. Kids can't play it outdoors more than maybe 4-5 months of the year.
Culture is also a HUGE component, aside from climate.
There was a thread made a few days ago where someone asked "When did you get into the NHL?" or something to that effect.
It is hard for me to even understand that question. It's like asking me when I got into breathing oxygen. It has always just been there.
I was shocked to see people reply "When I was 15" or something like that. I can't even fathom that. I probably wore skates before I wore shoes.
Hockey has been a part of my life as much as my family. I can't even imagine my life without hockey being not only a part of it, but a central part of it. Times with my dad, my friends...my wife and I basically started dating because we always saw each other at our local rink.
I hope people don't see this as a criticism of any other way of looking at the game, but rather an explanation of why it is so popular in Canada compared to the US in general.
I watch baseball, enjoy it, and got into it when I was a kid watching the Expos and Blue Jays on Sunday telecasts. Played it a little. But I don't have anywhere near the relationship with it as I do hockey, and I would probably call it my second favorite sport. But it's just a game, whereas hockey is...blood.
I'm appalled at how ignorant the average American is about the sport. It's borderline disgusting. I hate how it gets absolute zero coverage on the newspaper and on ESPN until the playoffs are here. I'm just really sick of it all. Am I alone on this? I feel that there are many people in this country that could be come great fans of the sport if they at least give it a shot. And of course it's nearly impossible for them to when the NHL's barely in the media as it is but yeah... end rant.
1. There are plenty of countries where people are "ignorant" about the game of hockey and other sports like American Football for that matter.
2. Should I find it "borderline disgusting" seeing how "ignorant" most people up north are about Soccer?
Hockey is never going to be the #1 sport in the United States no matter how well or poorly the sport is covered. The roots of American Football are too deep and complexed and won't be uprooted anytime soon.
It bugs me even though I dont live in the states, but it comes down to a cultural issue. As a canadian, I grew up with hockey, but many americans grow up with football, basketball, and baseball.
Until hockey gets woven in the the cultural fabric of americans, nothing will change.
What really angers me is not that amerians aren't watching, but the americans who make ignorant and negative comments about the game. You dont have to like it, but at least respect the game. Its not quite the circus its made out to be by mainstream american outlets.
I've considered moving to the USA for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with politics. If I did I would make it my mission to get everyone to become, at the very least, a casual fan of their hometown team.
I've considered moving to the USA for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with politics. If I did I would make it my mission to get everyone to become, at the very least, a casual fan of their hometown team.
I know Nashville had had some ownership instability through the years, but even through tough times, they had crazy crowds. They got as involved then as they do today, especially in the playoffs.
Columbus worked for a while too. They were selling out games, but at some point, you got to give your fans something to cheer about especially in markets where hockey is not the king.
you shouldn't care about hockey so much that the idea of it not being embraced in a different country angers you.
it's a game, who cares who likes it or not. that's like me loving monopoly SOOO much that the idea that norway doesn't play monopoly just drives me up the wall!
OMG, **** you norway! how could you EVER shun monopoly?!?! greatest. board. game. EVER!!
They don't play monoploy in Norway? Wouldn't suprise me actually, it's a strange country in many ways.
New York is the worst, people are Football and Baseball crazy and if there even is any casual fans they all flock to the Rangers because, lets face it, they are the big name easy team to cheer for and bandwagon NY fans love that (I'm not calling true Ranger fans "Bandwagon fans", just saying that I generally notice casual hockey fans flock to the Rangers).
It kinda bugs me simply because hockey is the sport that provides the most action and entertainment. It is the fastest paced, the physical game is more exciting than footballs and the scoring is perfect. I can't watch soccer because the score ends up being 1-0 or 2-1 and nothing is happening most of the time. I cant watch football because well over half the game is just picking plays and nothing going on. While basketball has constant flow like hockey it doesn't entertain me and its embarrassing seeing people 7 feet tall embellishing everything. Sometimes I watch baseball but there isn't too much action in the games. Sorry if it seemed like I was making fun of a sport you like, but these are just my personal opinions. I live in Canada so I grew up with hockey.
If you are watching football you have to enjoy little things those players do. You should follow Barcelona and see all the little things Messi does, It's very exciting. (Obviously I have played football for 10 years, so I might have different view on this).
Scheduling the biggest hockey game of the day (Philly/Pens) up against the Knicks/Heat and Lakers/Mavs??????
Not a good idea, Dr. Bettman.
Um, a little bit beyond his control, the NBA season almost didn't happen and they had to scramble a schedule together. The NHL schedule has pretty much been in place all along.
Um, a little bit beyond his control, the NBA season almost didn't happen and they had to scramble a schedule together. The NHL schedule has pretty much been in place all along.
Who cares about basketball anyways?
All of America.
Bettman could have flexed the Pens game to prime time and only competed with Yankees-Angels from a National standpoint. Goodell flexes key games all the time into prime time. But the NFL is well run, so it's expected.
Like our area. People on the college campuses are aware, and our local ECHL team is in the playoffs, but a large amount of the people here couldn't name 5 NHL players. College baseball is bigger here than hockey.
My response? I wish there were more coverage. With more coverage, more people would play...with more people playing, more kids are exposed to it, and when that happens, the next generation of athletes is playing hockey instead of something else.
The responses of many others? "I like to tell others I like hockey. Then I tell them it's too underground for them to have heard of, and if they start liking it anyway, I point out that i liked it before it was popular."
If you are hankering for some NHL coverage in the US sports media, there will be a ton of it tomorrow after this afternoon's fiasco of a game in Philadelphia.
