NHL National Viewership Down 22% in the U.S.

[FlamesAddiction]

Hockey has never really been able to get out of the niche corner in the U.S. For other sports like baseball, basketball, and football, there are really no gaps in the fanbases. It doesn't matter if your state or region has a team, people tune in. Similar how in Canada, it doesn't matter that Saskatchewan or the Atlantic provinces don't have a team, people are just as devoted.

In the U.S., outside of a few areas, people outside of the city where a team plays, don't really care. Obviously people in places like Nebraska, Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Hawaii, New Mexico, etc... are not tuning into hockey the way they do the other sports. Even in places like Tennessee and North Carolina, I heard once you leave Nashville or Raleigh, no one cares. Like no one in Memphis or Charlotte care about hockey for example, despite having teams in their state.

When it comes to reaching a national audience in the U.S., I think hockey just came in at a time when other sports already seized the gap due to those sports being woven in while American culture was forming. For another sport to try to force itself into that fabric, I think is almost impossible.

I personally don't care how popular it is in the U.S., other than the implications a lack of growth has on the financial stability of the league overall.

It also doesn't help much when a network like ESPN gets a contract to broadcast NHL games and does absolutely nothing to promote it. If you go to their website, they have virtually no stories of advertising for the NHL. I think right now, they have one all-str game related story buried in there with no thumbnail or anything. On an average day, there is nothing at all.

I almost get the sense that some of these networks bid on NHL broadcasting rights just to keep them away from competitors.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Sec214

Sounds like you should educate the kids on what gambling is and what the consequences are… Do you not teach your kids how to cook because you’re afraid they’ll burn the house down?

Love this IMO stupid response. Doughnut parenting these days.

So true. todays parenting is from a bubble, makes the future look bleak

[Joborule]

NHL viewership on ABC is experiencing double-digit increases, averaging 1.1 million total viewers – up 19% – versus ABC’s full-season average last year.

This past Saturday’s Detroit Red Wings versus Boston Bruins game on ABC averaged 1.13 million viewers (peaking at 1.5 million viewers) and is now the second-most viewed ABC game of the season – behind only the Stadium Series. The Philadelphia Flyers versus Pittsburgh Penguins in the second ABC game of the day averaged 1.04 million viewers (peaking at 1.7 million viewers).

NHL viewership on The Walt Disney Company platforms account for four of the top five NHL games on television this season.

https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-r...021-22-season/

[powderjunkie]

It's almost like comparing early season viewership (incl. Thurs/Sun/Mon against the NFL) to an entire season average was a flawed way to look at things...

[ikaris]

Unfortunately hockey will always be considered a second rate sport as compared to all the other major sports in NA as well as globally.

It’s actually really simple, it’s the lack of ethnic diversity within the league itself (something like 5-7% of NHL players belong to an ethnic minority.) The root cause is easy to see, it’s the cost to actually play hockey when looking at minor hockey fees, equipment costs, and the constant need to replace equipment as kids grow. When compared to soccer, baseball, and basketball, the cost is fractional. In comparing against football, in the States equipment is usually supplied by high schools as an example.

Until accessibility to hockey is addressed, it will always be a marginal sport, sadly. No amount of TV contracts or exposure will change this until this fundamental issue is solved.

People don’t want to watch league where they generally are not represented.

[Strange Brew]

And related to cost is the whole winter sport thing.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

It's almost like comparing early season viewership (incl. Thurs/Sun/Mon against the NFL) to an entire season average was a flawed way to look at things...

And of course it was posted just days before the Super Bowl, which has always been when NHL ratings go up every year.

[Paulie Walnuts]

The NBA doesn't even push Sunday games in the afternoon until the NFL season is over.

The NFL kicks everyone's ass.

[GreenLantern2814]

You won’t ever be more than a niche sport in America so long as you can count all the black guys in the league on your fingers.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

The NBA doesn't even push Sunday games in the afternoon until the NFL season is over.

The NFL kicks everyone's ass.

Yeah, it's all "fans" gambling, that's what's not talked about.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

The NBA doesn't even push Sunday games in the afternoon until the NFL season is over.

The NFL kicks everyone's ass.

What? The majority of fans don't watch for diversity, if anything that discussion pisses off >50% of the US sports watching population. MLB is still very popular and is white as white can be.

This take is wrong.

[afc wimbledon]

The average casual american sees hockey as being a game involving violent hits and fights, without that it's hard to see many americans not brought up on the game adopting it

[Goriders]

Doubt hockey is a primary sport in the majority of the southern states. So probably not gaining a fanbase in those regions.

Guessing football, baseball and basketball are primary sports in all states.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by jayswin

What? The majority of fans don't watch for diversity, if anything that discussion pisses off >50% of the US sports watching population. MLB is still very popular and is white as white can be.

This take is wrong.

Think you may have quoted the wrong post.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by jayswin

What? The majority of fans don't watch for diversity, if anything that discussion pisses off >50% of the US sports watching population. MLB is still very popular and is white as white can be.

This take is wrong.

MLB is white as white can be? Look again.

62% of MLB players are white, compared to 84% in the NHL.

MLB is one of the most diverse sports although I agree people don't watch for sake of diversity.

I guess it's also debatable how popular MLB is, but IMO it is doing a good job of appealing to a broad cross section of the population.