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Originally Posted by Itse
I don't think any of that is true. I think the NHL needs the olympics much more than they realize. No other team sports gets the kind of exposure from that hockey gets from the winter olympics, because they're the lone major team sport there. I also don't see there being any "alternative methods" that are even on the same ballpark than the olympics.
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There will be hockey in the Olympics whether NHLers participate or not. And 90 per cent of the viewers wouldn't know the difference, just as most of us wouldn't know the difference if we were watching second-tier long-track speedskaters at the Olympics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Itse
The perspective here is wrong. The olympics don't need the NHL. They don't need to "work with" the NHL any more than they already are.
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I disagree. The only way to cover the enormous expense of hosting modern Olympics Games is through hundreds of millions in sponsorship and broadcasting rights. NHL participation brings a lot of viewers to the Olympics. The IOC would be very displeased if the NHL pulled out, because NBC etc. would be very displeased.
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Originally Posted by Enoch Root
As for your question about luge - look at Slovenia, Austria, Germany and Switzerland now contributing to the NHL. Hockey continues to grow around the world. How much can be attributed to the Olympics is impossible to gauge. But it is indisputable that the game is growing globally.
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In my opinion, global participation in hockey isn't growing so much as elite dedication to hockey is growing. And that's because of the prospect of earnings many millions of dollars playing in the NHL and KHL.