NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

[mercalnd]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

Another point I agree with.
But again, this is the NHL we're talking about.
The NHL said no to the Olympics only 2 years ago. And they could run the World Cup in November when it's actually the proper time to play hockey.
There really is no predicting what the NHL thinks or does.
You'd have to throw all common sense out the window to get to the root of their logic.

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I'm pretty sure Cardot was referring to the Summer Olympics and the World Cup of soccer which are massive TV draws and which the NHL would be up against every other year if they moved to this particular schedule.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

I'm sure they'd take every few years of competition vs every year of it. Not to mention many Olympics aren't in this time zone so most of these primetime viewings aren't live.

I really don't know what the Olympics will be like going forward. Same with World Cups. It was hard enough at times to get hosts, and from a financial standpoint I don't know why anyone would want it (how many countries have been better off financially after hosting an Olympics and didnt end up with debt and abandoned venues?). Now with the pandemic always in the back of people's minds, they might be much more cautious about these types of things.

The US could permanently host the World Cup (and the Olympics for that matter) with existing infrastructure and everyone involved would make a metric ****ton of money.

Well, everyone except the people who now vote on the bids.

[Money99]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

Bill Daley recently said he'd like to see the league eventually get back to their regular schedule.
However, he also said the league will do everything in its power to play 82 games next season.
And I believe it was just reported that the next season likely won't start until mid January.

I don't see how resetting for an October start is ever going to happen unless they play a shortened season next year.
And I highly doubt the PA will agree to a 50-game season.

All I know is, the Red Wings could potentially go 10 months between games - which could be a good thing depending on how you view this current team, lol.

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[nikethebike]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

It will be very strange if the NHL is out of sync with the rest of the world.
Rookies joining after half a season. NHL teams strengthening their teams with players from europe halfway through. Or european players leaving their teams halfway through...


Won't be good for the sport.

[rdnk]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

It will be very strange if the NHL is out of sync with the rest of the world.
Rookies joining after half a season. NHL teams strengthening their teams with players from europe halfway through. Or european players leaving their teams halfway through...


Won't be good for the sport.

Like the MLS? Yeah it's not good...

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

Will be weird seeing NHL starting later than October and ending after June. NBA would feel less weird since they can adjust the GLeague schedule accordingly anyways, but NHL has way more leagues guys can come from.

Even draft wise, are you drafting guys AFTER they go back to school?

[mercalnd]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

Even draft wise, are you drafting guys AFTER they go back to school?

Plenty of guys already continue school after being drafter as it is now. So it's not really an issue what it would be in football or basketball.

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

Plenty of guys already continue school after being drafter as it is now. So it's not really an issue what it would be in football or basketball.

But for some guys, you're going straight into the NHL. And if eligible, possibly wind up in the AHL. And it would suck for the higher up players not knowing their future until the last day of training camp.

NBA and NFL would be worse obviously, but NFL at least the schedule stays the same. NBA starting in February would suck for those guys too.

[nikethebike]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

Like the MLS? Yeah it's not good...

Well there's also a big difference. Football/soccer is a world wide sport with different countries having different start times. And MLS is not a top league. All the top leagues (that are all in europe) are in sync. When it comes to hockey you don't have many leagues at all and the NHL is the sole MAJOR league. It will create a lot of problems for the rest of the hockey world in my opinion.

[pietasterp]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

I tend to be more of a traditionalist, but getting hockey out of the way of the NFL might not be the worst thing in the world for the overall health of the league. It seems pointless to compete with the 800-lb gorilla that is football at this point in time.

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

I tend to be more of a traditionalist, but getting hockey out of the way of the NFL might not be the worst thing in the world for the overall health of the league. It seems pointless to compete with the 800-lb gorilla that is football at this point in time.

For a third of the league, NFL won't have as much of an impact. Although maybe NHL could schedule less Sunday games for those markets with NFL teams in the fall?

While NFL will have an impact, I dont think NHLs interest in the fall when NFL is on would be lower than the interest of hockey in the summer, not just with baseball on, but with it being summer.

If NHL wants to improve interest in the league, they should have more offense in the games and get a better TV deal, such as having ESPN being one of their partners. NFL has the best kind of TV deal of all sports with games on NBC,CBS,FOX,ESPN and I think ABC again?

NHL just being on NBC/SN isn't as good. If they could get a deal with select primetime games also being on FOX and ESPN, that would be big for them.

[DrJones]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

I tend to be more of a traditionalist, but getting hockey out of the way of the NFL might not be the worst thing in the world for the overall health of the league. It seems pointless to compete with the 800-lb gorilla that is football at this point in time.

How much does the NFL really hurt the NHL, anyway? Would hockey really get better ratings and more media oxygen if they played Jan thru July?

I know you're not necessarily making this point, but the "overall health of the league" always makes think about the CFL, not the 5th biggest pro league in the world in total revenue. The NHL makes a ton of money, but it's never going to get much more traction in the US than it has now (with the possible exception of a US-born Gretzky/Lemieux level player on the Rangers), and it's never going to break into the top 3 in North America, but that's okay.

[pietasterp]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

I think both of the above posts are probably correct. I certainly don't have any evidence that hockey would do better in non-football months, just a generalization that there is sort of sports desert period in the spring/summer. That having been said, would there suddenly be a raft of new hockey fans if the NHL were playing during that time? I would have to agree that there is scant evidence for that.

I guess in general, I do feel like there are more US-based fans that aren't being served right now, and they could/would be interested in hockey but it just seems buried in the sports landscape now more than ever. I think that probably has more to do with its broadcast arrangement than anything (to Majingir's points), but I also don't recall a time that football was this dominant in the American sports landscape. But that may be an impression more than a reality.

Hockey needs to be on network TV more in my opinion. I think the 'special' games like the outdoor series definitely help, and the league has the right idea with those kinds of events IMO. It definitely gets the games on the radar of people with otherwise no rooting interest in the matchups.

[jb12780]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

ESPN doesn’t give a **** about hockey. Doubt they have any interest in getting the rights back.


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[pietasterp]

Re: NHL Considering Going to a Jan-July Format Permanently

ESPN doesn’t give a **** about hockey. Doubt they have any interest in getting the rights back.


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ESPN is financially wedded to the NBA, which forces them to cover that league out of proportion to its relevance to the American sports landscape. I don't think they want to make the same mistake twice.