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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.
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.
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There will still be hockey in the Olympics. Does a viewer in Korea or China care or even know if they're watching NHL players? If you watched rugby in the Summer Olympics, would it be more appealing and compelling to you if professionals you'd never heard of were playing instead of amateurs you'd never heard of? Even most Americans who watch Olympic hockey don't follow the NHL. It's something they tune in to every four years to cheer on their team. Like volleyball or rowing. They won't care if Auston Matthews or Ryan Suter don't play.
The people who care about NHLers being in the Olympics are Canadians. The NHL knows this. And we're already a saturated market that isn't going to turn its back on NHL hockey because they didn't participate in the Olympics.