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gopens67

How do you think hockey compares in popularity ?

By gopens67, in Miscellaneous Discussions

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Sniper15    0

Sniper15
Posted
It would be higher if there was more canadian teams. The ratings in the states are terrible.

How the hell do you figure that? Winnepeg and Quebec couldn't support teams so were else would you put one? You really think somewhere like Nova Scotia could support a NHL team? :ph34r:

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Chadd    916

Chadd
Posted

Actually it's very popular. Compare the attendance figures from hockey (NHL, AHL, ECHL, etc...) to those of volleyball, rugby, etc... In the US it will lag behind football, basketball or baseball but from an attendance point of view, it's doing very well. The biggest problem the NHL has is the low ratings and I think there are a couple of reasons for that; 1. It is behind the other major sports in popularity, no doubt about that. 2. People tend to be fans of one team and not of the sport in general. 3. Marketing for the league has been worse than any other sport. 4. It requires more attention than other major sports, you can't just watch a few minutes here and there with a hockey game.

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Chadd    916

Chadd
Posted
I personally think that in the USA, hockey is not as important to most ppl as it is to other countries such as Europe.

thats just my thoughts on it though

Most European buildings are half the size of NHL arenas and te=hey still don't sell out as often as NHL teams.

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Neo5370    132

Neo5370
Posted

Baseball (recently dropped?) and American Football aren't Olympic sports, but Ice Hockey is.

Hockey is not popular in the states, but I think globally it is more popular than those two of the "Big Four" sports.

Basketball and Soccer have Hockey beat though. I bet the same goes for Tennis and Golf.

But how do you define popularity? Amount of amateur particpants? Pro participants? Amount of spectators, or simply how many people are able to recognize a sport?

I used the Olympics as a gauge because I feel it is (IMO) the most universally significant sporting event. And as I said, as far as the Olympics are conerned, it beats Baseball and Football.

However, I'll concede that Tennis and Golf aren't exactly Olympic mainstays.

EDIT: Haha, I just realized the Curling and Bobsledding are also Olympic events and those aren't exactly household sports so there goes most of my theory. I still stick by hockey being more popular than some of America's most popular sports (globally).

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Chadd    916

Chadd
Posted
Baseball (recently dropped?) and American Football aren't Olympic sports, but Ice Hockey is.

Hockey is not popular in the states, but I think globally it is more popular than those two of the "Big Four" sports.

Basketball and Soccer have Hockey beat though. I bet the same goes for Tennis and Golf.

But how do you define popularity? Amount of amateur particpants? Pro participants? Amount of spectators, or simply how many people are able to recognize a sport?

I used the Olympics as a gauge because I feel it is (IMO) the most universally significant sporting event. And as I said, as far as the Olympics are conerned, it beats Baseball and Football.

However, I'll concede that Tennis and Golf aren't exactly Olympic mainstays.

EDIT: Haha, I just realized the Curling and Bobsledding are also Olympic events and those aren't exactly household sports so there goes most of my theory. I still stick by hockey being more popular than some of America's most popular sports (globally).

Baseball is growing in popularity worldwide. The Olympic issue is because MLB will not release the players for an olympic tournament during the regular season.

Most sports are not universal, they have pockets of fans in certain portions of the world. Soccer and basketball are probably the two sports that are the closest to being universal sports.

On a semi-related note:

Within a four hour (or so) drive of my house there are more than 10 professional hockey teams at the ECHL level or higher, a similar number of baseball teams in a number of leagues, three NBA teams, and five NFL teams.

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Miike    1

Miike
Posted
It would be higher if there was more canadian teams. The ratings in the states are terrible.

How the hell do you figure that? Winnepeg and Quebec couldn't support teams so were else would you put one? You really think somewhere like Nova Scotia could support a NHL team? :angry:

Being from Nova Scotia i think so :)

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Hockeyman9621    0

Hockeyman9621
Posted
It would be higher if there was more canadian teams. The ratings in the states are terrible.

How the hell do you figure that? Winnepeg and Quebec couldn't support teams so were else would you put one? You really think somewhere like Nova Scotia could support a NHL team? :rolleyes:

Well, let's see, Hamilton - could have a team easily but Buffalo is afraid to lose fans. London - see memorial cup. I could go on with this list, but I won't. We have 3 major junior leagues that all have a decent fan base. Why wouldn't they be able to have more NHL teams?

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Chadd    916

Chadd
Posted
It would be higher if there was more canadian teams. The ratings in the states are terrible.

How the hell do you figure that? Winnepeg and Quebec couldn't support teams so were else would you put one? You really think somewhere like Nova Scotia could support a NHL team? :rolleyes:

Well, let's see, Hamilton - could have a team easily but Buffalo is afraid to lose fans. London - see memorial cup. I could go on with this list, but I won't. We have 3 major junior leagues that all have a decent fan base. Why wouldn't they be able to have more NHL teams?

Toronto would be the best market for another Canadian team. There are three in the NYC area, two in the greater LA area and only one in Toronto. They just need to find a location that won't impact Buffalo as much.

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Edge    0

Edge
Posted

as suprising as it sounds, hockey is getting very big here in arizona. From a television standpoint, hockey's popularity absolutely sucks but people are still liking the game.

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asdfa    0

asdfa
Posted
It would be higher if there was more canadian teams. The ratings in the states are terrible.

How the hell do you figure that? Winnepeg and Quebec couldn't support teams so were else would you put one? You really think somewhere like Nova Scotia could support a NHL team? :angry:

Well, let's see, Hamilton - could have a team easily but Buffalo is afraid to lose fans. London - see memorial cup. I could go on with this list, but I won't. We have 3 major junior leagues that all have a decent fan base. Why wouldn't they be able to have more NHL teams?

Toronto would be the best market for another Canadian team. There are three in the NYC area, two in the greater LA area and only one in Toronto. They just need to find a location that won't impact Buffalo as much.

Toronto doesn't really have too many good places for another NHL team. Compared to NY and LA, toronto is a relatively small city, and there aren't as many areas where people are concentrated together, and the only one isn't very big (the downtown core, which already has the skydome and the Air Canada Centre). Toronto is definately a hockey town, but to say it could support another NHL team might be going to far. not to mention leaf fans are really loyal

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Chadd    916

Chadd
Posted
It would be higher if there was more canadian teams. The ratings in the states are terrible.

How the hell do you figure that? Winnepeg and Quebec couldn't support teams so were else would you put one? You really think somewhere like Nova Scotia could support a NHL team? :rolleyes:

Well, let's see, Hamilton - could have a team easily but Buffalo is afraid to lose fans. London - see memorial cup. I could go on with this list, but I won't. We have 3 major junior leagues that all have a decent fan base. Why wouldn't they be able to have more NHL teams?

Toronto would be the best market for another Canadian team. There are three in the NYC area, two in the greater LA area and only one in Toronto. They just need to find a location that won't impact Buffalo as much.

Toronto doesn't really have too many good places for another NHL team. Compared to NY and LA, toronto is a relatively small city, and there aren't as many areas where people are concentrated together, and the only one isn't very big (the downtown core, which already has the skydome and the Air Canada Centre). Toronto is definately a hockey town, but to say it could support another NHL team might be going to far. not to mention leaf fans are really loyal

They are now, it would change somewhat over time. Considering the eternal waiting list for Leafs season tickets and the large number of businesses in Toronto I still believe it could support a team better than Winnipeg, Q-city, etc... I'm not saying they would ever become more popular than the leafs, they would always be the red-headed stepchild in town. Then again, look at how the Devils have flourished while the Rangers have struggled. Never say never.

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Jason Harris    31

Jason Harris
Posted
how does it compare in overall popularity worldwide to sports like basketball, baseball, football, rugby, volleyball etc....

If you asked people to take a survey and check off all the sports they've played, and then ask them to list which is their favorite to play, I guarantee you hockey would come in first place for those people who have played hockey. My guess is rugby would come in second. (I'm classifying golf as a recreation on the survey.)

Given that passion, we just need the NHL to figure out how to market the sport better....

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Neo5370    132

Neo5370
Posted

I think a lot of popularity has to come from the general public being able to experience it for themselves (just you said Salming).

It's just such an expensive sport that parent's can't stomach (and I don't blame them) spending even 150 on skates, 20 on skates, maaaybe a little over 100 for protective, 80 bucks for helmet/mask, then on top of that league fees, travel costs, and going to freezing rinks at 6am on a Sunday or driving to the rink an hour away for a 10pm game on Tues night.

I wonder what on earth happened in the early 90's when hockey was a true member of the Big 4 of team sports. But then again, I"m sure we've discussed that "era" before.

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cobrAA    0

cobrAA
Posted

i tihnk it depends by location in the USA...but if not

I tihnk the best one is SOCCER...because it the CHEAPEST sport you can play...and you can PLAY ON ANY SURFACE!! (you can't play B-B on grass..)

Hockey is freakine xpensive and you can't play it anywhere

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Chadd    916

Chadd
Posted
i tihnk it depends by location in the USA...but if not

I tihnk the best one is SOCCER...because it the CHEAPEST sport you can play...and you can PLAY ON ANY SURFACE!! (you can't play B-B on grass..)

Hockey is freakine xpensive and you can't play it anywhere

Soccer has been the #2 participation sport in the US for years but has never been able to consistantly draw a crowd to a professional game or get even marginal ratings.

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