[Rumour] 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

When you look at the 2004 event, only two out of four games sold out in Minnesota (and none of the games went to the standing room max of 18,664). Only three of the five games in TORONTO sold out. Both games in Montreal sold out. I went to all four Minnesota games. It was $30 a ticket.

Contrast that with the World Juniors where the Calgary/Edmonton event sold out in, what, 12 seconds? The Toronto/Montreal event sold out in a matter of hours.

This is a tournament with best-on-best NHL stars. It should sell out in seconds and I think if you limited it to one or two teams/cities they would be able to put their marketing muscle behind it like Calgary/Edmonton did at the World Juniors and sell it out instantly.

The World Juniors are bigger than the World Cup and it shouldn't be that way. A big reason I think is the prestige of hosting the tournament (and the TSN hype machine, of course).

Hmmm, Toronto didn't sell out all of its games. LOL. I was at a 1996 WCH game in Vancouver and I recall that it sold out quickly. Since 1997, the vast majority of the world juniors have been in 2 cities or even 3 as was the case in 2006.

I am not saying have the WCH in 10 different cities. Share the event where cities have a good track record for international hockey games. Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto (if they sell out), and Montreal.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Tsawwassen

Hmmm, Toronto didn't sell out all of its games. LOL. I was at a 1996 WCH game in Vancouver and I recall that it sold out quickly. Since 1997, the vast majority of the world juniors have been in 2 cities or even 3 as was the case in 2006.

I am not saying have the WCH in 10 different cities. Share the event where cities have a good track record for international hockey games. Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto (if they sell out), and Montreal.

Sept. 4, Canada vs. Russia, Attendance 19,226 (sell out)
http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/hock...HCANADARUSSIA0

Sept. 5, Slovakia vs. Russia, Attendance 18,115 (no sell out)
http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/hock...USSIASLOVAKIA0

Sept. 8, Canada vs. Slovakia (Quarter-Final), Attendance 18,786 (no sell out)
http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/hock...ANADASLOVAKIA0

Sept. 11, Canada vs. Czech (Semi-Final), Attendance 19,273 (sell out)
http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/hock...ADACZECHREPUB0

Sept. 14, Canada vs. Finland (Final), Attendance 19,370 (sell out)
http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/hock...CANADAFINLAND0

I'm just saying it's easier to build up hype for an event when it isn't in the same city all the time. If the entire event was in Calgary, it would be huge for the Flames and the city and that would be better than Calgary getting one Slovakia vs. Finland game every time there's a tourney.

[Vulcan]

I was thinking if the Markham arena was ready, Toronto would be able to spread the games to the two arenas but it looks like the Markham arena deal won't be happening any time soon, if ever.

[polak]

This won't catch on to any where near the level of Olympic hockey. People outside of hockey mad countries watch Olympic Hockey cause there's Olypmic medals at stake.

It would be a mistake.

#MyTwoCents

Also one city? That's pretty lame.

[Jayems]

rick westhead
‏@rwesthead
NHL and NHLPA will announce return of World Cup of Hockey during All Star break. Most compelling new tweak? Final is best-of- three.

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by polak

This won't catch on to any where near the level of Olympic hockey. People outside of hockey mad countries watch Olympic Hockey cause there's Olypmic medals at stake.

It would be a mistake.

#MyTwoCents

Also one city? That's pretty lame.

I think this tells you what a pain in the arse the IIHF is to deal with. They'd rather create their own event than have to deal with those clowns.

[browna]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

I think this tells you what a pain in the arse the IIHF is to deal with. They'd rather create their own event than have to deal with those clowns.

Can't pin this on the IIHF. With the Olympics you have arena scheduling issues, athletes in villages, and all sort of logistics...and you can't totally control the TV time. With the next games in Korea, it will be the middle of the night start times in early rounds.

Though the "rather create their own event" is correct...and the people that would be doing the creating is the NHL and TSN (probably). NHL would want full control in order to get full control of the network right fees to host broadcasting the event. Networks like TSN (who i'd be shocked if they don't spend huge money to win rights) want the event to be created because they can control 100% of the advertising, and make a lot of money. With the Olympics, you have to have Olympic sponsors (some of who are sponsors in the first place because of the extra attention Men's hockey brings) and other rights holders, making the ability to sell ads more restrictive than this money grabbing event.

Anyways, the World Cup in a 1 city format is 95% for people making money at the thing, 5% for the hockey (shoe-horned into a season), a 0% for making it an international event.

TSN, if winning the rights, doesn't have to go all over the place and spend money/expenses to have 7 different locations to broadcast from, saving them money. The organizing committee/financial backers of this don't have to pay for teams to fly back and forth over the continent, saving them money. Of course, they will set the ticket prices and policies to make huge profit, and it will be easier to do make profit if you just have one arena in Canada's biggest city hosting all the games. Corporate sponsors can conveniently walk out of their corporate head offices in Toronto and to the games; no "hassle" to get out to Pearson Airport to fly to Calgary for a couple games, and that convenience of their home city makes them more willing to spend more (is how they'll be sold on it by the media ad sellers).

Don't get me wrong, the media (especially those winning the rights *cough* TSN *cough*) will force feed us how cool this is, how monumental it is on a global scale, and draw the ridiculous comparisons in stature to the "Superbowl" (as LeBrun already has) to try and convince everyone around the country how unique the setup it to try and get the world feel engaged.

When really, its the league making some good money off of it, TSN able to promote the heck out of something for months, as well as drape themselves in the flag to Canadians a second time that year. Gives a chance for a bunch of Toronto media types to boast about hosting the World Cup. Media execs from same company able to now do a new bunch of deals with Toronto-centric corporate sponsors, extracting a premium out of them. As for fans, unless your in Toronto or willing to fly there and willing to cough up huge dough (for a stub hub ticket or the inevitable 'package of tickets" gouging they sold at the WJC this year), you're not seeing any games live outside of the Air Canada Centre in this "global" event that 6 countries are participating in.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

I think this tells you what a pain in the arse the IIHF is to deal with. They'd rather create their own event than have to deal with those clowns.

Less the IIHF and more the IOC. It is the IOC, for instance, that prevents the NHL from using any highlights or promotional tools from the OGs.

One big problem with the one city concept is going to be ticket prices. This won't cost less than an NHL game. Probably more. Do they expect people will pay about 55-60% of the cost of an NHL season ticket for a ticket package of about 17-20 games?

[Resolute 14]

Oh, and since this would probably be held in a Canadian city 90% of the time, just drop the pretense and go back to the Canada Cup name. That brand at least has some prestige.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Oh, and since this would probably be held in a Canadian city 90% of the time, just drop the pretense and go back to the Canada Cup name. That brand at least has some prestige.

And Provenance.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Jayems

rick westhead
‏@rwesthead
NHL and NHLPA will announce return of World Cup of Hockey during All Star break. Most compelling new tweak? Final is best-of- three.

If true, that is awesome!

[Resolute 14]

That is hardly a new tweak, actually. The 2004 event being a single elimination was the exception, not the rule. 1976, 1984, 1987, 1991 and 1996 were all best of threes. Only 1981 and 2004 were not.

[transplant99]

Yeah i was gonna say....best of 3 is the norm not the exception.

I will say that the '87 final best of 3 was the single most compelling and entertaining hockey i have watched in all my years of following this great game. I didnt think anything would rival the 72 summit series games, but that years Canada Cup smoked it. Still the most fun watching hockey to this day.

[Mister Yamoto]

I can't wait for this. I hope that this is a huge success and it is the end of NHLers in the Olympics.

Those Canada Cups in the 80's were some of the best Hockey I will ever see.

[landshark]

The board of govs has to watch their valuable commodities play in the Olympic while not making a penny. The World Cup of Hockey will be another cash cow for the NHL and the PA to split. It's ALL about the money and not about anything else...

[kn]

The Olympics will always be a much bigger event. It draws in non-hockey fans from many nations. The World Cup of Hockey? Maybe a blip on the radar.

Plus, the NHL has yet to prove it is committed to it. You can't have a tournament with any prestige if it only occurs once every decade or longer. Unless it's a regular tournament, held consistently, with commitment from the NHL and NHLPA for the long-term, it's nothing more than a one-off.

I'd love to see this held in Florida or Arizona in September in front of a packed house.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Mike F

How is the Superbowl (1 game) an appropriate model for a World Cup of Hockey (multi game tournament)? Do you spread out the schedule so much that all games are in MLG, or do you put a bunch of games in non-NHL rinks? Neither is a good choice.

There's no way this goes ahead without multiple Canadian cities, as well as New York and maybe one more American city.

Too many big players amongst ownership and governors as well as corporate interests to make it completely limited.

Maple Leaf Gardens is a grocery store.

[rubecube]

Yeah, this won't equal the Olympics. People aren't going to flood the streets if Canada wins the World Cup like they did when Canada has won the gold medal.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Yeah, this won't equal the Olympics. People aren't going to flood the streets if Canada wins the World Cup like they did when Canada has won the gold medal.

For hockey fans it will very much be as big a deal. And the people who flood the streets tend to be hockey fans.

Personally, I don't care if the World Cup will be as big a deal to non-fans in Vancouver, San Diego, and Frankfurt as the Olympics. On the ice it will be the best hockey in the world, and the tournament won't be bloated with bad teams and meaningless games the way the Olympics are.

[Tyler]

I personally hope this is the end of the Olympics.

We won our Gold medals, it was fun. Getting up at 5am to watch a game in a totalitarian regime is stupid. Going to be even worse in South Korea and then China again.

Hopefully the World Cup of Hockey morphs into a signature event like the World Cup of Soccer. No one gives a crap about the soccer Olympics. With enough time and promotion, the NHL can get there. Why should they loan their players during the middle of the season and get nothing back?

Great move for the NHL. Screw the IOC.