NHL Ratings down

[DrJones]

Quote: Originally Posted by Donovan

That still doesnt make sense. The majority of people in NA are in the US, and no way does hockey do better than basketball in Mexico. Overall in NA or the US basketball would draw better TV numbers, Canadas population just isnt big enough to prop up hockey in that comparison. So again, show me how that makes sense, preferably with a link to something that proves this.

Here's the Toronto Star article that's being referred to...


That Mark Cuban is a rare American is well established. The owner of the Dallas Mavericks is one of the world's 793 certifiable billionaires. He's also among the few pro-sports executives who, in his jeans and sneakers and T-shirts, isn't a suit-and-tied corporate drone.

Less known, perhaps, is that he's of the opinion that the NHL — left for dead as a niche sport points south — should be considered a peer of the NBA's.

"The NHL has just got to give themselves more credit," he said. "They've got an inferiority complex right now, and I think they've got to overcome that."

Cuban was speaking on Sunday at the Air Canada Centre, moments before the Mavericks would take the court to beat the Raptors. He's still a basketball junkie, but the 48-year-old has been thinking about hockey a lot of late. He was in attendance Saturday night to watch the Leafs get pummelled by the Canucks. And late last year he put in an
unsuccessful bid to buy his hometown NHL team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Having kicked a franchise's tires, he has studied the way hockey is positioned in the U.S. market. He is clearly unimpressed.

"People in the States underestimate (hockey)," he said. "More people watch Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights than watch NBA basketball on Thursday night in the States. People in the U.S. don't realize that. They don't realize there are more hockey fans in a country of (32.8) million than there are NBA fans in the U.S. (population 300 million).

"I'd be out there promoting the NHL's combined TV viewership in the U.S. and Canada. But it doesn't happen."
It's an interesting point. The NBA on TNT, the league's Thursday night national broadcast, averaged a 1.1 rating last season, or about one million households in the United States. Meanwhile, Hockey Night in Canada's marquee Saturday night matchup is averaging about 1.27 million viewers in the northland. If you combine that with the typical
rating for a national U.S. broadcast of an NHL game on the obscure Versus network — even if it's a pittance of about 160,000 households — it represents an impressive North American audience.

It's rough math, but it's the ballpark number that's important. Cuban's point is that people on either side of the border simply don't think of hockey as having an audience as large as basketball's. If you look at the U.S. perception of the NBA compared to that of the NHL. – "and perception," said Cuban, "is reality" – it's big league versus bush league. And even if folks in the U.S. realize the NHL is big in Canada, they probably don't realize exactly how big it really is.

Why does it matter? Cuban acknowledged you can shoot a few holes in the premise, to be sure. You could point out that the U.S. and Canada are served by different TV cable networks. But Cuban, who produces films, looked to Hollywood to draw an interesting parallel.

"People might not realize it, but when you put out a movie, the opening weekend isn't just U.S. It's not just Canada. They combine the two numbers," he said. "I would be doing the same thing if I was the NHL. And suddenly your numbers are bigger than basketball's."

Cuban said that if the NHL started citing the combined North American number it would be a productive step in changing the image of the game. It's an ever-evolving media landscape, after all, in which geography matters less and less. The NHL recently struck a deal to supply content to YouTube. And on the Web, audiences are measured in
eyeballs, not necessarily nationalities.
The naysayers will chime in, "Well, TV doesn't work that way." And TV, to be sure, is a changing business, too. Challenging the conventional wisdom is Cuban's specialty. And in the delicate game of creating perceptions of value, Cuban – who sold Broadcast.com for about $5 billion – has some experience.

"The perception among regular sports fans is going to be, `Wow. I didn't realize hockey was that big.' Nobody's going to do the division and say, `Well, that's in Canada so that doesn't count.' It's just like a box office. They don't say, `Well, it was stronger in Canada.' We've had movies stronger in Canada per screen than they were in the
U.S. No one cares. It's just total box office. Advertisers don't care. You guys drink beer. We drink beer. You guys play video games. We play video games. You guys wear stupid sneakers and pay too much money for 'em. We do the same."

"I think it's just a matter of educating people that it's not that far a leap from the NHL to the NBA. They're on par with each other. But you don't hear that."

[Donovan]

Thank you. It makes more sense.

[GoodEats]

If the NHL were serious about building up its fan-base and audience, then the NHL and its owners should invest heavily in ice rinks and youth hockey leagues all around the states. The sports I enjoy, baseball, football, and basketball are sports I understand and appreciate because I had the opportunity to play them when I was younger. This has nothing to do with class, because I live in a very rich area of the US (Bay Area) yet we do not have any kind of hockey league that compares to most other youth sport leagues. In fact, if given the opportunity to play in a hockey league, I would have in a heart beat.
By getting kids involved, they are building fans for generations, and with parents having their kids involved in hockey they (the parents) are more likely to sit and watch a hockey game with their kids, buy their kids NHL merchandise, and take their kids to NHL games.

I just went to an NHL game for the 1st time in my life, and I wasn't able to fully appreciate the game because I don't understand the game like I do for baseball, football, and basketball. Hell, I don't really enjoy soccer too much, but I understand the game because I played when I was a kid.

We have a good team here in the Bay Area in the Sharks, but they get no kind of love from sport radio, TV, newspapers, and the people in general because no one cares. Why should they care about something of which they don't really understand. I always hear the remark "Well if people just go to games, then they will become hooked on them and become instant fans". OK, but why would people want to go to an event, in an area that has tons of other things to do, and not really understand and be able to appreciate the event like they would for other sports and events?

Well, there goes my 1st post.

[VanCitySportsGuy]

I'm going to jump all over the place........

- I feel like it's important for the NHL to get back on ESPN because the channel is in more homes, hotels, and bars. While Versus treats the NHL as their number 1 property, what good is it if not too many people get the channel? Gary Bettman and NHL owners need to swallow their pride and take less money upfront if it means getting the games back on the ESPN channels.

- I give Gary Bettman little credit for getting the salary cap. He was the person that helped create the mess in the first place. When he came over from the NBA, he had a grand vision of the NHL being a huge mainstream sport all over the US. That's why he expanded to places like Nashville, Florida, Tampa Bay, etc.... I think we can all admit his plan hasn't exactly worked out.

- I doubt nobody cares about the Sharks in San Jose. The team has sold out almsot every game in franchise history. I would rank San Jose as one of the top 5 hockey markets in the US.

- I hear people complain about how the NHL doesn't market it's stars, but I would now disagree. If you look at their commercials, they highlight their star players. I'm talking about the "Reminding you that the season starter", AO NBC, and My NHL commericlals. I've also read complaints about how hockey players need to open up and even rock the cradle. I don't know about you, but I could do without a TO type in the NHL. I find it extremely sad people will complain that the NHL doesn't have "attention whores". Looks like people have been influced by the ESPN/Me generation. If you look at the all the major sports, the NHL has the best group of guys. I've heard from media members that have covered various sports and they say the NHL guys are the most friendly and humble. You'll also find a lot more NFL and NBA guys that have run ins with the law.

- To be honest, based on the NHL's low ratings in the US, they should be pretty happy with the coverage they are getting from the US media. They are still mostly viewed as one of the big four sports and not on lower tier with the likes of Soccer, Tennis, Golf, etc....

- If I had my pick of the NHL front office, I would name Gretz as the Commish with Brian Burke as his right hand man.

[GoodEats]

The Sharks do have high attendance rates, but it is partly due to the high number of corporate seats purchased by the numerous high tech companies surrounding the arena in Silicon Valley. It was alarming how many empty seats there were. And even though the Sharks have high attendance rates, it does not mean that it translates to the popularity of the sport in the area.

In the Bay Area, the Giants, A's, Raiders, 49ers, and Warriors (a team with one of the longest streaks in all of professional sports without making the playoffs) are far more popular among the locals. People care about those teams during the regular season, and talk about those teams during the off-season, whereas the Sharks will only get love and media attention during the playoffs, and even then the local media will favor the Giants and A's over the Sharks. For example last year when the Sharks were in the playoffs, some of the games were moved to FSN Bay Area Plus, to allow for the Giants to be shown on FSN Bay Area. Not opening day, but a regular mid-week game.

So maybe just the bay area is not hockey country, (which it is not), but neither is the USA. For the NBC hockey telecast, it got a rating of 1.1, which means slightly over 1% of USA households tuned in. That's less than 1 million households, which is pathetic. And I don't think Versus is the problem, as the channel is available to as many homes as ESPN2 is (heard this stat on radio). This all goes back to NHL needing to build up a feeling of passion amongst its fans, which starts by getting more people involved in playing and understanding the sport.

I hope this doesn't come off as my trying to rip on hockey, because I'm not. I'm just trying to explain why a non-hockey, but sport fan, living in a non-traditional hockey market does not watch or get that excited by hockey.

[oakfan162]

Quote: Originally Posted by GoodEats

The Sharks do have high attendance rates, but it is partly due to the high number of corporate seats purchased by the numerous high tech companies surrounding the arena in Silicon Valley. It was alarming how many empty seats there were. And even though the Sharks have high attendance rates, it does not mean that it translates to the popularity of the sport in the area. In the Bay Area, the Giants, A's, Raiders, 49ers, and Warriors (a team with one of the longest streaks in all of professional sports without making the playoffs) are far more popular among the locals. People care about those teams during the regular season, and talk about those teams during the off-season, whereas the Sharks will only get love and media attention during the playoffs, and even then the local media will favor the Giants and A's over the Sharks. For example last year when the Sharks were in the playoffs, some of the games were moved to FSN Bay Area Plus, to allow for the Giants to be shown on FSN Bay Area. Not opening day, but a regular mid-week game. So maybe just the bay area is not hockey country, (which it is not), but neither is the USA. For the NBC hockey telecast, it got a rating of 1.1, which means slightly over 1% of USA households tuned in. That's less than 1 million households, which is pathetic. And I don't think Versus is the problem, as the channel is available to as many homes as ESPN2 is (heard this stat on radio). This all goes back to NHL needing to build up a feeling of passion amongst its fans, which starts by getting more people involved in playing and understanding the sport. I hope this doesn't come off as my trying to rip on hockey, because I'm not. I'm just trying to explain why a non-hockey, but sport fan, living in a non-traditional hockey market does not watch or get that excited by hockey.

Great 1st and 2nd posts, you make a sad but true point.

btw does your name come from the FoodNetwork show?

[Scottdau]

Quote: Originally Posted by GoodEats

The Sharks do have high attendance rates, but it is partly due to the high number of corporate seats purchased by the numerous high tech companies surrounding the arena in Silicon Valley. It was alarming how many empty seats there were. And even though the Sharks have high attendance rates, it does not mean that it translates to the popularity of the sport in the area. In the Bay Area, the Giants, A's, Raiders, 49ers, and Warriors (a team with one of the longest streaks in all of professional sports without making the playoffs) are far more popular among the locals. People care about those teams during the regular season, and talk about those teams during the off-season, whereas the Sharks will only get love and media attention during the playoffs, and even then the local media will favor the Giants and A's over the Sharks. For example last year when the Sharks were in the playoffs, some of the games were moved to FSN Bay Area Plus, to allow for the Giants to be shown on FSN Bay Area. Not opening day, but a regular mid-week game. So maybe just the bay area is not hockey country, (which it is not), but neither is the USA. For the NBC hockey telecast, it got a rating of 1.1, which means slightly over 1% of USA households tuned in. That's less than 1 million households, which is pathetic. And I don't think Versus is the problem, as the channel is available to as many homes as ESPN2 is (heard this stat on radio). This all goes back to NHL needing to build up a feeling of passion amongst its fans, which starts by getting more people involved in playing and understanding the sport. I hope this doesn't come off as my trying to rip on hockey, because I'm not. I'm just trying to explain why a non-hockey, but sport fan, living in a non-traditional hockey market does not watch or get that excited by hockey.

Exactly! you realize how bad it is when you can't even find a sharks hat in a San Jose mall! I still can't believe that one, but if they win a cup that can all change. The Bay Area loves to win.

[DrJones]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scottd

Exactly! you realize how bad it is when you can't even find a sharks hat in a San Jose mall! I still can't believe that one, but if they win a cup that can all change. The Bay Area loves to win.

The Bay Area loves winners, yet they are fanatical about the 49ers, Raiders, and Warriors (!), while ignoring the Sharks? Hmmm...