I think the NHL's main issues going forward, and really the issue all sports are going to face is: staying in the cultural zeitgeist with increasing competition for entertainment time & money. The NHL is competing just as much against things like reedit, minecraft, and netflix as it is against other sports.
1) Change the playoff format to add more drama and story-lines
Let the team with the highest points choose their opponent in the playoffs (go in order, highest point to lowest choosing until all match-ups are set). Do it publicly with an event between each playoff round, create a media circus to leverage news and social media to create more hype for the next match-ups. It also creates instant rivalry because each opponent was specifically called out by the team who picked them.
2) Make it easier to watch
Cable subscriptions are dieing, people expect to be able to access the entertainment they want when/where/how they want. It needs to be as easy as it is to watch an NHL game as it is to watch netflix. No blackouts, no ties to cable or other subscriptions, no contracts. Watching an NHL game needs to be easier to do than playing a game of fortnite.
3) Make it easier to play
To survive long term the NHL needs more people playing hockey. There is a big price and complexity barrier preventing a lot of people from playing, and it keeps getting worse. This barrier keeps getting worse too, the cost of playing minor hockey is making it a sport that only the rich can play. If this is not addressed hockey will wither and die (become a rich only sport like horse jumping). Tradition and Hockey Canada's old boys club are not helping things either.
4) Increase trades and player movement
Trades and player movement are exciting. It gets hockey in the news, it gets casual fans excited, it keeps hope alive for fans of losing teams. Ideally there should be enough action to keep the NHL in the news during the off-season, and enough roster change that every season can start with every team's fans having a new and exciting roster which they can believe has a chance to win. More big announcements too, as goofy as it was, events like LeBron James' The Decision tv special was so good at getting attention from outside of the regular sports media.
|