Does ESPN treat the NHL fairly?

[Chadd 916]

Interesting article and worth a few minutes of your time.

http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/...blic-attitudes/

[TBLfan 25]

Just this morning, they did a teaser about Sidney Crosby. They come back after commercial, talk more about the allstar game, then say "Sidney Crosby signed a 5-year contract with the Pittsburg Penguins." Then they moved on. They spent more time talking about freaking Paris Hilton than Sidney resigning!!! ...And there was nothing to talk about today because it's the all-star break!

[nizmo 0]

Yea I find it sad that NFL off-season news gets more coverage than the NHL during the regular season.

[RadioGaGa 162]

It's all about what people want to see. Even here in town, it took the Bulldogs getting to the Calder Cup Final for them to get more than 2 pages of coverage locally (for the most part).

But in that time, the Tiger Cats (CFL) signed some players and made some off season coaching changes. THAT was on the cover of the sports section. Dogs were on Page 4&5. NHL playoff was on 2&3. Now for Games 3, 4 & 5...the paper was wall to wall Dogs...but by that point it was beyond a hockey game..it was a city wide event.

The Cats have been in town for 80+ years...and draw 27,000+ even when they lose. The Dogs are 11 years in town and struggle to get 3,500 on most nights...until the Finals when they put 5,600 / 8,000 & 14,000 into Copps.

The Cats season is 2 weeks old. They are 0-2...they get the cover...and 1 or 2 pages of coverage. They just don't cover the Dogs the way they cover the Cats.

I can't say that I blame ESPN. They have to think someone cares before they put hockey on the air...but if they have to put hockey on the air to generate interest.

The Chicken & The Egg...

The League needs to market the game & players. Make people want to see the product...then ESPN has to put it on.

[Chadd 916]

ESPN made a decision to downplay hockey, even while they had the contract. Moving all of the games to ESPN2, reducing the number of games, canceling NHL2nite and most importantly, by running fewer and fewer promos for the games they were showing. Remember, this was the same time frame when they did their own TV series about football. They wanted to get into sports related entertainment and out of sports.

As for the spelling bee, paintball and other nonsensical crap they show; those events buy airtime from ESPN and then sell the ads on their own. Most of those events are nothing more than infomercials for the people that sponsor them.

Right now the NHL is at the bottom because it's not the cool thing to watch. The author is far more eloquent than I am, I usually just say that most people are lemmings.

To make matters worse, such informational social influence can translate into normative social influence, which is born of the need to “conform to the rules of other people.” If it seems that a growing number of people dislike hockey or that being a hockey fan exposes one to ridicule, many will hide, ignore, or lose their affection for hockey.

[Roach 0]

Good read. Thanks, Chadd.

Taken from the article, "The reduced exposure on ESPN can only be harmful to the NHL. By minimizing coverage and highlights, the network is effectively reducing the imprint of the game on Americans’ collective sports consciousness."

I'm all the way in Asia with a very small ex-pat and local base interested and actually playing the sport yet following the NHL very closely. It's bad enough that we don't get any games on ESPN in this part of the woods (ESPN2 has yet to make it over here), but reduced coverage makes it even worse. To get our hockey fix, we have to watch highlights on CNN which is far and few.

If it's that bad in North America, then imagine what it's like over here in less hockey-known countries.

[ThePurpleCobra 0]

I was watching PTI and they were talking about hockey and one of the guys (filling in for one of the regulars) talked about how hockey isnt a dieing sport but it's already dead... do you really think this is helping hockeys case when you get guys on TV goin out and saying this.. Its crazy.

[RadioGaGa 162]

The greatest spokesman for hockey in the states could be Jim Rome. Apparently he loves hockey. But, he knows (for the most part) his audience doesn't...so he limits his hockey talk. Buffalo (WGR 550) carries him and we can get that here. during the Finals he did quite a bit of hockey talk...

It's going to take talk form the big names like him and Kornheiser/Wilbon (PTI) to get the profile of hockey up in the States.

btw...that fill in was most likely Dan Lebotard (sp?)

[Chadd 916]

The greatest spokesman for hockey in the states could be Jim Rome. Apparently he loves hockey. But, he knows (for the most part) his audience doesn't...so he limits his hockey talk. Buffalo (WGR 550) carries him and we can get that here. during the Finals he did quite a bit of hockey talk...

It's going to take talk form the big names like him and Kornheiser/Wilbon (PTI) to get the profile of hockey up in the States.

btw...that fill in was most likely Dan Lebotard (sp?)

Rome is horrible and 90% of the callers that I've heard could be diagnosed as clinically retarded.

[RadioGaGa 162]

The greatest spokesman for hockey in the states could be Jim Rome. Apparently he loves hockey. But, he knows (for the most part) his audience doesn't...so he limits his hockey talk. Buffalo (WGR 550) carries him and we can get that here. during the Finals he did quite a bit of hockey talk...

It's going to take talk form the big names like him and Kornheiser/Wilbon (PTI) to get the profile of hockey up in the States.

btw...that fill in was most likely Dan Lebotard (sp?)

Rome is horrible and 90% of the callers that I've heard could be diagnosed as clinically retarded.

Like him or not...he's a big name in Sports in the US...he could do a lot for hockey.

[DarkStar50 679]

Just watch Aaron Sorkin's old sit com "Sports Night" to see how truly vacuous and shallow ESPN really is. When NASCAR went with Fox and NBC starting in 2001, they wouldn't allow ESPN onto their race track properties to report on the races. NASCAR owns about half the tracks and has the power to do this. At the time, ESPN choose to ignore NASCAR for any race results. Now that ESPN/ABC has NASCAR TV rights, the NASCAR push on ESPN is relentless.

Unfortunately, through innudation and saturation, ESPN has become the standard in sports news and information. ESPN's decision to ignore and degrade hockey is something that will not be changed. The effects the article mentions are true. Wait, I think its time to watch another poker tournament. The players are in peak physical and mental condition. They fit the over-used sports cliche of "warriors."

We will just have to suffer another year with Versus. I'll continue to buy the NHL Center Ice Package.

[Chadd 916]

We will just have to suffer another year with Versus.

Sometimes you're better off sleeping with the ugly chick than going home alone.

[RadioGaGa 162]

We will just have to suffer another year with Versus.

Sometimes you're better off sleeping with the ugly chick than going home alone.

Chadd...how long you figure 'til that line appears in someones signature? *L*

[TBLfan 25]

It's really sad considering that right now hockey has some of the best talent to come into the game (in a matter of 3 years) in quite a while. ESPN certianly has an impact on the sport simply because everyone goes to ESPN when they are looking to get their dose of sports. Personally, I'd rather watch just about anything besides poker, eating contests, spelling bees and the like.

[JR Boucicaut 3789]

Remember back in the day when all "The Deuce" had was hockey? Sigh...

[D-MaN88 0]

On ESPN's big "Who's Now?" segment, they had Jeter going up against Crosby and the whole panel agreed as to why Crosby wouldn't win is because when kids want to start playing sports, and parents start to decide what sports to try them out in, hockey is never thought of. Until the image of hockey is made better and the ease of playing (ice time in the states) and costs of equipment can be affordable to most families in the US when their kids will just grow out of it, hockey won't be popular. ESPN and all the other networks will show what makes them money and gets them ratings, all of us hockey fans just have to suffer...

[DarkStar50 679]

On ESPN's big "Who's Now?" segment, they had Jeter going up against Crosby and the whole panel agreed as to why Crosby wouldn't win is because when kids want to start playing sports, and parents start to decide what sports to try them out in, hockey is never thought of. Until the image of hockey is made better and the ease of playing (ice time in the states) and costs of equipment can be affordable to most families in the US when their kids will just grow out of it, hockey won't be popular. ESPN and all the other networks will show what makes them money and gets them ratings, all of us hockey fans just have to suffer...

That's the fact, Jack!

[sabre09923 0]

I agree, part of the problem is that hockey is probably the most expensive sports to play. For basketball and football, all you need is a ball. For hockey, you need skates, pads, a stick, and... ice. None of those things come very cheap.

But ESPN is killing the sport. Scratch that, the media in general is killing the sport. The general media portrayal is that hockey is dead and no one watches it... But ESPN needs to stop its BS in broadcasting the Spelling Bee, paintball, and poker. Hell, they give soccer more attention than hockey (ESPN Deportes "updates" ), which is arguably the least popular sport in the US.

[jcp2 2]

Agreed, organized hockey is expensive to play. But a fan base is not built around former youth league players. It's built around people who like to watch the sport, the majority of which will have never have played the "official" version of what they are watching, but may have fooled around with a reasonable fascimile. For hockey, it might be street hockey or pond hockey, neither of which are very expensive at all. Good marketing and exposure is also needed.

[joshy207 15]

The greatest spokesman for hockey in the states could be Jim Rome. Apparently he loves hockey. But, he knows (for the most part) his audience doesn't...so he limits his hockey talk. Buffalo (WGR 550) carries him and we can get that here. during the Finals he did quite a bit of hockey talk...

It's going to take talk form the big names like him and Kornheiser/Wilbon (PTI) to get the profile of hockey up in the States.

btw...that fill in was most likely Dan Lebotard (sp?)

Rome is impossible to listen to. He'll say something... then pause for 10 seconds (station identification?)... then repeat it... pause again... and repeat yet again. And usually he's not saying anything important.

[CapsFan 5]

Rome is good if you want a laugh... Speaking of which...

[Chadd 916]

Rome is good if you want a laugh... Speaking of which...

Not enough pauses

[skooled 0]

Well, the NHL has to step up to the plate and do somethign to save the game. "edge" jerseys aren't going to do it ;]

I dunno, se not being from there, I always thought, until the last year or two that hockey was HUGE, as big at least as the other 3 major sports MLB, NFL,NBA. How would you guys in the US and Canada say the coverage compares to say, the MLL (lacrosse) or the Arena football???

[DamnLocust 0]

Lacrosse gets very little in terms of exposure, but I want to say that Arena Football gets better ratings than Hockey.

[Jason Harris 31]

I once worked for a network equipment manufacturer. One night, the corporate offices were burglarized and three computers were stolen: one each from an intergral person in accounting, engineering and marketing. If someone would commit corporate espionage against a no-name company, would I put it past ESPN to poison the waters on hockey? No.

However, I'm just not as concerned as some others are about the state of the game. Maybe the NHL is on weaker legs with its television contract, but there are numerous cities in the US where they can't build rinks fast enough to meet demand. Perhaps it will always remain a niche sport, but I think it's strong within that niche.