The Business of HockeyDiscuss the financial and business aspects of the NHL. Franchise sales, valuations, TV contracts, ratings, expansion, relocation, the CBA and work stoppage discussion goes here.
have you guys ever thought that maybe chicago is America's team? Chicago is a big town and the hawks have an incredible history being in the original 6 and all. and now that they're winning, chicagoans and hockey fans of the hawks are coming out. just like the cubs, no matter where the cubs play, there are always tons of cubs fans everywhere.
just like the habs.. we are canada's team (sorry toronto, but it's true) and when the habs play anywhere, it's close to 50% habs fans, especially all over canada, and in florida.
the hawks are the habs of the states.
AFAIK, the Red Wings are 'America's Team.' The Red Wings are the most recognizable hockey brand in the US. They are a huge draw in the West. Chicago's emergence was recent. Detroit has always been huge. Hell, they're an Eastern Time Zone team that the league has forced in the Western Conference because they're popular enough to salvage an entire conference.
And about the Leafs and Habs, of course people outside of Southern Ontario will dislike the Leafs -- disliking things about Toronto is Canada's national pastime. But rest assured that the Leafs have more fans than the Habs and will continue to be worth significantly more than the Habs.
And about the Leafs and Habs, of course people outside of Southern Ontario will dislike the Leafs -- disliking things about Toronto is Canada's national pastime. But rest assured that the Leafs have more fans than the Habs and will continue to be worth significantly more than the Habs.
i didn't even have to read where you're from. i knew right away toronto.lol.. my friend, montreal is a storied franchise. toronto hasn't won a cup in 46 yrs. 24 cups montreal, 13 cups toronto. everyone in their right mind in canada know the habs are more popular than the leafs and have way more fans. the whole maritimes are habs fans. and 65% of the rest of the country. Montreal is known to be the mecca capital of hockey. Richard, Beliveau, Lafleur.. and for toronto, the only legends i can think of are Sittler, Dave Keon and maybe 1 more guy. lol
Montreal is easily the most famous and most loved team in canada..
AFAIK, the Red Wings are 'America's Team.' The Red Wings are the most recognizable hockey brand in the US. They are a huge draw in the West. Chicago's emergence was recent. Detroit has always been huge. Hell, they're an Eastern Time Zone team that the league has forced in the Western Conference because they're popular enough to salvage an entire conference.
You do know that they're the 16th furthest east team in a league of 30 teams, right?
__________________
“The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile, but that it is indifferent. If we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death, our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.” - Stanley Kubrick
AFAIK, the Red Wings are 'America's Team.' The Red Wings are the most recognizable hockey brand in the US. They are a huge draw in the West. Chicago's emergence was recent. Detroit has always been huge. Hell, they're an Eastern Time Zone team that the league has forced in the Western Conference because they're popular enough to salvage an entire conference.
Try looking at a map. They were in the Western because they are further west than everybody else in the East.
AFAIK, the Red Wings are 'America's Team.' The Red Wings are the most recognizable hockey brand in the US. They are a huge draw in the West. Chicago's emergence was recent. Detroit has always been huge. Hell, they're an Eastern Time Zone team that the league has forced in the Western Conference because they're popular enough to salvage an entire conference.
And about the Leafs and Habs, of course people outside of Southern Ontario will dislike the Leafs -- disliking things about Toronto is Canada's national pastime. But rest assured that the Leafs have more fans than the Habs and will continue to be worth significantly more than the Habs.
The Leafs are worth more as a business, mostly due to their higher ticket prices and corporate backing, but the Habs definitely have the larger fanbase. A team that has a history of success and the greatest of all time will do that to you.
As a recent post on the Habs board by Chet-Nick has explained, the Habs always draw more viewers when combining the English and French viewership. Observe the total viewing audience when Pittsburgh recently played Montreal and Toronto.
PIT-MTL, Mar 2, CBC: 1.657 million (+ 890,000 on RDS) = 2.547 million
PIT-TOR, Mar 9, CBC: 2.021 million
Official FACEBOOK following ...
Montreal Canadiens : 1,004,042
Toronto Maple Leafs : 661,650
Official TWITTER following ...
Montreal Canadiens : 379,521
Toronto Maple Leafs : 280,107
And the Maple Leafs board just only passed Montreal a month or two ago with most posts on HFboards, in which case it is surprising that Montreal was ever ahead at all considering a huge portion of the Habs fanbase is Francophone and probably wouldn't even use this site.
I really don't see how one could argue that the Leafs would have a larger fanbase aside from the fact that Toronto as a city has a larger population, which doesn't mean much for a sports team fanbase. Franchise value doesn't translate to fanbase size, either. I think the statistics provided above speak for themselves.
Drawing all this back to ratings, if Canadiens fans primarily were English speaking, they'd be the ones primarily on HNIC every week and not the Leafs, no doubt.
Nationwide, the Habs have more fans than the Leafs. I think people think it's the other way around because the Leafs probably win among Anglophones. But even here in Toronto there are a ton of Habs fans. I bet more than Leafs fans in MTL.
This mural is left untouched in a TORONTO subway station
Talking to old friends in Atlantic Canada, Montreal was the team of choice because people loved Danny Gallivan. Foster Hewitt was considered pompous.
I would say of the O6 teams in Canada it ranks
Montreal
Toronto
Detroit
Boston
Chicago
New York
Detroit and Boston are very close as the Bruins have a huge following in the Maritimes. The Hawks had a big following in far western Ontario and Manitoba. The Rangers were ignored by most Canadian fans back then.
Today - CBC assigns Bob Cole to do Montreal English games - not for the Quebec audience but for Atlantic Canada. In Quebec most anglophones watch RDS on Saturday night now - as anybody under the age of 40 is bilingual now.
What is 'strange' is how Buffalo and Detroit have to deal with CRTC rules on TV today. A bar in Windsor ( one mile from Joe Louis ) has to buy Centre Ice to get Fox Sports Detroit. Same applies in Buffalo with MSG. The old EMPIRE network did have a waiver from the CRTC to allow Ontario systems to carry the games but MSG was not allowed the same.
Today on US TV your largest fan-bases are Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Buffalo. The Bruins may have the largest total following because of New England.
NBC has made it clear the only Canadian team they want with exclusives is Montreal.
They grabbed 3 of the 4 BOS-MTL games this year ( much to the horror of NESN ) because they know Montreal sells with hockey fans.
i didn't even have to read where you're from. i knew right away toronto.lol.. my friend, montreal is a storied franchise. toronto hasn't won a cup in 46 yrs. 24 cups montreal, 13 cups toronto. everyone in their right mind in canada know the habs are more popular than the leafs and have way more fans. the whole maritimes are habs fans. and 65% of the rest of the country. Montreal is known to be the mecca capital of hockey. Richard, Beliveau, Lafleur.. and for toronto, the only legends i can think of are Sittler, Dave Keon and maybe 1 more guy. lol
Montreal is easily the most famous and most loved team in canada..
I didn't even have to read where you're from.....
Montreal is a distant 2nd, dwindling support, much like their population as compared to Toronto.
Using the logic of better teams having more fans, you could say the Cubs have no fans..
__________________
"Trust me I'm an expert, I watched 13 rangers games on NHL center Ice this year through streaming." -Starburst
"I don't even understand what the point of all this arguing is. Are you guys hoping that the other side is going to have an epiphany and go 'Oh, OH! You're right, we ARE going to lose this series!'" -Crease
Montreal is a distant 2nd, dwindling support, much like their population as compared to Toronto.
Are you just ignoring the five posts ahead of yours which completely deny your claim?
I would agree with IU Hawks fan that if the Montreal fanbase were all English, it would draw higher ratings on CBC. The reason the Leafs are featured more often is because no matter what, an English language broadcast of the Habs would have to compete with the French-language feed on RDS for every single game, as opposed to having exclusive rights to a hockey game; which is the case for the Leafs and pretty much every other team in the league.
Nothing against the Leafs, I just think Montreal has the bigger fanbase because it has a much more successful history, not to mention Montreal used to be the biggest city in Canada and their fans are very spread out across the continent.
Last edited by tarheelhockey: 03-25-2013 at 03:41 PM.
Reason: no personal attacks please.
I just think Montreal has the bigger fanbase because it has a much more successful history, not to mention Montreal used to be the biggest city in Canada and their fans are very spread out across the continent.
Even on hfboards the leafs have more views than any other team. Infact it looks like we will be the first team to get over 3 million views and the milestone may happen tonight. At onetime Montreal did indeed have more views but as I said their support is dwindling. Much like how they used to be the biggest city in Canada, now just a distant 2nd and dwindling.
i didn't even have to read where you're from. i knew right away toronto.lol.. my friend, montreal is a storied franchise. toronto hasn't won a cup in 46 yrs. 24 cups montreal, 13 cups toronto. everyone in their right mind in canada know the habs are more popular than the leafs and have way more fans. the whole maritimes are habs fans. and 65% of the rest of the country. Montreal is known to be the mecca capital of hockey. Richard, Beliveau, Lafleur.. and for toronto, the only legends i can think of are Sittler, Dave Keon and maybe 1 more guy. lol
Montreal is easily the most famous and most loved team in canada..
Toronto is more popular IMO, they are the most loved and hated team in Canada and in the hockey world. Sure the Habs are loved by millions of people but so are the Leafs. Also being hated has to be considered into popularity, the Leafs are hated and I mean hated by many people in Canada, that again shows their popularity. Everyone watches them, no matter if they're a fan of the team or not. It's the Leafs and it's not even close...well Montreal is pretty close but it's gotta be Toronto.
Even on hfboards the leafs have more views than any other team. Infact it looks like we will be the first team to get over 3 million views and the milestone may happen tonight. At onetime Montreal did indeed have more views but as I said their support is dwindling. Much like how they used to be the biggest city in Canada, now just a distant 2nd and dwindling.
Views here mean little
Columbus has more views than either Detroit or Chicago.
Even on hfboards the leafs have more views than any other team. Infact it looks like we will be the first team to get over 3 million views and the milestone may happen tonight. At onetime Montreal did indeed have more views but as I said their support is dwindling. Much like how they used to be the biggest city in Canada, now just a distant 2nd and dwindling.
my friend, did you ever think that the majority of habs fans are french and alot of them don't speak any english, thus have no idea what hfboard is. you think a habs fan from rimouski, or jonquiere or chicoutimi who speaks only french would know about hfboards?? if all the french canadian habs fans were here, it wouldn't even be close in total views.
Habs are not just more popular than the leafs in canada, but are way more popular than leafs in canada. history helps alot.. rocket, lafleur, beliveau, 24 stanley cups.. people love successful teams and surely, the leafs aren't one of them. who's the biggest legend in leafs history, Sittler?? lol..
Even on hfboards the leafs have more views than any other team. Infact it looks like we will be the first team to get over 3 million views and the milestone may happen tonight. At onetime Montreal did indeed have more views but as I said their support is dwindling. Much like how they used to be the biggest city in Canada, now just a distant 2nd and dwindling.
As Fenway explained, views on HFboards mean little. I'll quote him in saying "Columbus has more views than either Detroit or Chicago". With that logic, does that mean their fanbase is larger? No.
And how do you account for Montreal getting viewers in the recent game against Pittsurgh than Toronto by more than FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND people?
PIT-MTL, Mar 2, CBC: 1.657 million (+ 890,000 on RDS) = 2.547 million
PIT-TOR, Mar 9, CBC: 2.021 million
Also, how do you explain the fact that Montreal has a much larger Facebook following and a larger Twitter following? How do you account for the fact that Canadians voted the Habs as Canada's team in 2009? You can't. I feel you are just grasping at straws because you want to defend your favorite team instead of looking at the actual facts.
There's nothing to defend anyways... so what if the Habs have a larger fanbase? It doesn't make them any better. They are hockey teams, that's it. If you use ONE single website to back up your argument, I think it is quite obvious you are very wrong.
And how do you account for Montreal getting viewers in the recent game against Pittsurgh than Toronto by more than FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND people?
PIT-MTL, Mar 2, CBC: 1.657 million (+ 890,000 on RDS) = 2.547 million
PIT-TOR, Mar 9, CBC: 2.021 million
Pretty simple, actually. You are comparing a game that is broadcast on 1 channel to a game that is broadcast on 2 channels. Broadcast the PIT-TOR game on CBC and TSN and then we will compare ratings.
Pretty simple, actually. You are comparing a game that is broadcast on 1 channel to a game that is broadcast on 2 channels. Broadcast the PIT-TOR game on CBC and TSN and then we will compare ratings.
Than the ratings would just be divided in half... Why would more people watch the game if it's on two channels? The only reason the Montreal games are on two channels is because there is a French feed and an English feed... Are Toronto fans just in denial here or what? The facts show that Montreal has a larger fan base.
Pretty simple, actually. You are comparing a game that is broadcast on 1 channel to a game that is broadcast on 2 channels. Broadcast the PIT-TOR game on CBC and TSN and then we will compare ratings.
It really doesn't matter how many channels there are... it is one game being broadcast at one set time, to one single audience. It's just that that the Montreal audience happens to be bilingual, so that audience has to be spread out through multiple channels. If anything, that attests to how much bigger the Montreal audience really is. 500,000 more viewers for the Montreal game is a pretty big number.
And even then, you can't really argue against the other three "facts" that were written, about when it comes to Habs followers on Twitter and fans on Fcebook, as well as being voted Canada's team.
Also, why would you make a post about staying on topic and then proceed to respond to a post which you just claimed to be off-topic? Makes no sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanZ
Than the ratings would just be divided in half... Why would more people watch the game if it's on two channels? The only reason the Montreal games are on two channels is because there is a French feed and an English feed... Are Toronto fans just in denial here or what? The facts show that Montreal has a larger fan base.
The Penguins-Flyers game on Sunday night generated record TV ratings for Root Sports Pittsburgh. The telecast garnered a 16.5 rating as recorded by Nielsen Media Research. More than 515,000 viewers watched the broadcast. The previous highest rating for a regular-season game was Dec. 27, 2000: Mario Lemieux's return from a three-plus year retirement. Fourteen of Root Sports Pittsburgh's all-time top 20 regular-season Penguins games have been played this Penguins season.
Now I'm a little confused by that, which isn't surprising considering it's Rossi, but that 515,000 raw number would be far higher than a 16.5 rating in a television market of Pittsburgh's size.
The Pittsburgh DMA has fewer than 1.2 million homes in it, meaning that number should be something like a 44.6.
Last edited by Big McLargehuge: 03-25-2013 at 11:20 PM.
The Penguins have posted a few ~20 numbers this year and have topped 200k regularly, so something is messed up in Rossi's reporting, which is to be expected.
Last edited by Big McLargehuge: 03-25-2013 at 11:56 PM.