Quote:
Originally Posted by Matty81
I don't know that anyone is going to be able to provide data to back up either point of view. But I find it hard to believe or argue that anybody could believe participation in the Olympics over the last 20 years hasn't exposed a lot of people to hockey who wouldn't otherwise know it exists.
|
Organizations as large as the NHL will be heavily invested in determining how many tickets they sell, how much merchandise they sell and how many people watch their product. And they will have enough data now to have a really good idea what tangible impact the Olympics offers. We fans obviously don't know what they've determined, but we can make a really good guess based on the NHL spending the last 6+ years saying "we don't want to go unless the deal gets better".
Quote:
|
This olympics will definitely create new fans in South Korea and Asia, how many is impossible to tell right now but it certainly won't lose hockey any fans.
|
That's speculation. That very same speculation is what led the NHL to get into the Olympics in the first place in 1998. Again, the fact that the NHL wants out indicates that this is just chasing unicorns.
Quote:
Ultimately, it doesn't have to be the Olympics even, but a best on best international tournament with broad distribution (that isn't mickey mouse like the god awful world cup) draws people who aren't followers of the NHL in.
Like the WBC baseball, if owners are left to own that tournament, they will ensure it is second priority to their own money making endeavor and looks and is treated badly relative to the stanley cup finals, which is too bad.
|
You mean the World Cup? Which is itself an outgrowth of the Canada Cup, which was controlled by the NHL and NHLPA and was, for the 70s and 80s, the preeminent international tournament.