Low TV viewership numbers for NHL in America

[Kipper_3434]

Shocked. Shocked! I tell ya.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

Baseball and Football suuuuck. Like how is hockey 5th or 6th on the list (probably below golf even) in many US markets?

America just has poor taste in sports.

Baseball isn't even a sport.. but football. I'll watch any football game over this crap the NHL puts out now.

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by Toonage

I have long maintained if you put ball in the name of the game they will watch.

Call it ice ball. Who cares if it’s not a ball. A football isn’t really a ball either.

How about ‘fightball”?

“We got ourselves a real game of FIGHTBALL tonight”!!!!

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

The US clearly needs McDavid and all the endless hype that accompanies him to play there.

Maybe a quick bump but quickly followed by a epic free-fall when they see he has the personality of an earthworm.

[Press Level]

The biggest hockey markets are all having bad seasons as well. Chicago, Detroit (until recently), Boston and New York are all having bad seasons at the same time. That has to affect viewership in a big way.

[Barnet Flame]

Harsh on our soil dwelling invertebrate friends.

[Mr.Coffee]

Gambling offsets the lower viewership

[WCW Nitro]

Most probably won't agree with this, but I don't think the game is very good right now. It's fast, but there isn't much creativity or nice goals. Most teams just collapse in front of their net and the players are big so the goals are mostly just greasy goals. You hardly ever see a breakaway now.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by Barnet Flame

How about ‘fightball”?

“We got ourselves a real game of FIGHTBALL tonight”!!!!

And it sounds enough like football to trick some viewers into watching

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by WCW Nitro

Most probably won't agree with this, but I don't think the game is very good right now. It's fast, but there isn't much creativity or nice goals. Most teams just collapse in front of their net and the players are big so the goals are mostly just greasy goals. You hardly ever see a breakaway now.

Scoring has been higher than it has been in years. Flames hockey is what you are describing outside of the breakaways, I think there are like 5 a game against them.

[CalgaryFan1988]

Originally Posted by WCW Nitro

Most probably won't agree with this, but I don't think the game is very good right now. It's fast, but there isn't much creativity or nice goals. Most teams just collapse in front of their net and the players are big so the goals are mostly just greasy goals. You hardly ever see a breakaway now.

I agree with you. Wasn't long ago each team had a marquee player, those days are long over as well.

[bluejays]

I’m sure the challenge is multi pronged but how many casual fans down south have ever picked up a hockey stick to play? The NHL should be investing in inline hockey to promote it at the grass roots down south. Basketball anyone can pick up, but hockey requires additional equipment. But like so many Canadians until the past ten years, we grew up playing street hockey or inline hockey before graduating to ice. They really have to invest to give kids a shot at it to get hooked. Else it’s going to be traditionally the accessible sports or the sports they’re used to like football or basketball.

[metroneck]

Originally Posted by JJJ

Gambling revenue?

Well it’s definitely not the Canadian $

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by WCW Nitro

Most probably won't agree with this, but I don't think the game is very good right now. It's fast, but there isn't much creativity or nice goals. Most teams just collapse in front of their net and the players are big so the goals are mostly just greasy goals. You hardly ever see a breakaway now.

Creativity is found in goal prevention every bit as much as it is in goal creation.

Originally Posted by Bonded

Scoring has been higher than it has been in years. Flames hockey is what you are describing outside of the breakaways, I think there are like 5 a game against them.

Are you adjusting for empty net goals?

[3rd liner]

Not to turn this thread into a different discussion, but somebody earlier mentioned affordability of going to games could be a factor in US uptake. Further to that, what about affordability of playing the sport compared to others? Not that every hockey fan plays or played hockey, but obviously many canadian kids play hockey in some form growing up (street hockey, ice hockey), which gives you an appreciation of the sport. It's a lot easier in many US cities (especially southern climates) to hit the basketball court or throw a football around in a field rather than than get involved in hockey- both cost and convenience. If you aren't exposed to the sport growing up, I'd argue it's less likely (though not impossible) that you're going to get into it as an adult, unless you're in the colder northern areas where there is more hockey culture (Boston, Minnesota etc).

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by 3rd liner

Not to turn this thread into a different discussion, but somebody earlier mentioned affordability of going to games could be a factor in US uptake. Further to that, what about affordability of playing the sport compared to others? Not that every hockey fan plays or played hockey, but obviously many canadian kids play hockey in some form growing up (street hockey, ice hockey), which gives you an appreciation of the sport. It's a lot easier in many US cities (especially southern climates) to hit the basketball court or throw a football around in a field rather than than get involved in hockey- both cost and convenience. If you aren't exposed to the sport growing up, I'd argue it's less likely (though not impossible) that you're going to get into it as an adult, unless you're in the colder northern areas where there is more hockey culture (Boston, Minnesota etc).

It's more expensive to get all the real equipment to play on ice, but sticks, nets, and a hockey ball are probably the same price as an outdoor hoop, basketball, and a pump.

And at least here, Kings tickets are more affordable than Lakers or Dodgers.

I think it's just that video games captivate the imagination of kids more these days.

[Badgers Nose]

Americans think of hockey as a quirky upper middle class sport for people in cold climates.

It's about as popular as it will ever get.

In a way that's good, because even with poor penetration in the USA American players are already becoming a bigger and bigger proportion of the NHL. If hockey became a lot more popular down south, with their 10x bigger population that would translate into US players eventually dominating rosters.

How would that affect Canadian teams? How would that affect hockey culture? The game might eventually be taken away from us over a few generations if it really caught on down south.

I'm happy with it the way it is.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

It’s nothing but click bait. They cherry picked a couple of really bad matchups and are trying to paint the entire viewership because no one wanted to watch a 10:30 PM Eastern start between Seattle and San Jose.

Even within the article they pointed out that the ABC numbers look good.



These kinds of things can’t be taken on a game by game basis. Especially in a league where every team plays 82 regular season games. I’d be curious what the overall trend is for viewership on ESPN and TNT.

Also, these sorts of stories always come out just before the Super Bowl because NHL ratings always go up after the football season ends.

[dino7c]

need to make it easier to watch games

pay X amount...stream all games without blackouts. Its not that hard

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by dino7c

need to make it easier to watch games

pay X amount...stream all games without blackouts. Its not that hard

Nobody wants that but us dumb schmucks, the viewers. Networks and streaming services don't care about such trivialities.