Yep, but this is the decline in sports, if you pay attention to economics, its across all leagues, nfl, nba, nhl, people don't have the money or time to care. Look at ALL league ratings... it's same. But you miss the point, espn basically bought the NHL, the competition? NFL... the money machine... they dont want ANY competition to the NFL, hence, they bought the NHL... no one fn reports on this. Think the same market will watch both, so, if NHL on the rise, they stick with the money. if the NHL was the NFL, they'd do the same. F off with CC or X league star power works. WNBA lost $40 MILLION last year. ESPN is the gatekeeper. It's like Coke owning Pepsi, you're clueless dude. Your dumbass video... did it get into NBA ratings? Nah... make that video comps of ratings for last few years of all leagues... shit dude.
It's because they make it so fucking hard to watch any of their games. I am NEVER going to spend hundreds of dollars a year to watch the PGH penguins play. I'll watch post-game highlights on YT or watch a stream with friends online or watch it at someone else's house. I don't even know where to find them half the time. I looked a million times on Hulu over the past 3 years, didn't see any pens games when their games were occurring. This is when I saw all kinds of other NHL games on there. They are intentionally sabotaging their fans' ability to be a part of the experience. Why they make it this hard to fucking watch some hockey is beyond me. There are 80+ games in a season, you really gotta gatekeep your fans that long? I say this as someone who's played ice hockey his entire life and lived in PGH his entire life. It's completely embarrassing how stupid the NHL C-Suite executives are. Absolute damn fools.
Well said; you nailed it! As a Caps fan it is the same dumb crap here in the DMV too, so in that I have to buy two subscriptions to catch Caps games just to have freaking sports gambling ads shoved front and center. Screw that and the illegal streams are just loaded with malware/trojans, so I don't even bother. Don't even get me started on blackouts!
God, financials aside, there are so many problems with hockey from a marketing perspective that I don't see it ever getting bigger with the general population. 1 - The culture of hockey is very old school and reserved. It's all about "we" not "me". Players are almost never arrogant jerks. There is a culture of soft-spoken frontier justice that just won't resonate with modern audiences, for better or worse. Personally, I love the culture of hockey players and find the egotistical antics of NFL and NBA players grotesque and lacking all honor, but it plays to the TikTok generation of kids who feel no shame at doing choreographed dances in rush hour traffic for clicks. 2 - The league flags their ideal organic marketing (TH-cam reaction content) for copyright violations. There is nothing more satisfying than watching like an inner city black kid or a British football hooligan, or a Chinese national react to hockey fights or hockey skill compilations for the first time and watching them be completely blown away. But they can't do this without the league shooting themselves in the foot by copyright striking any non-approved content. 3 - The game is actually too fast. Basketball and football are very easy to follow because they are (relatively) slow and are played with a (relatively) enormous object. People unfamiliar with hockey literally cannot follow the puck, and therefore cannot follow the game. This is a problem that can't be solved, as was showcased in the absurd 90s attempt to highlight the puck, or more modern attempts to highlight the name of the player holding the puck during power plays. It's so distracting and annoying that the cure is worse than the disease. 4 - The game has become too soft and friendly. Skill is great. Speed is great. But drama sells. And the old-school, violent, hate-filled rivalries between teams like the Avalanche and the Red Wings, Bruins and Canadiens, etc. are what really created intrigue. McDavid beating 8 guys and the zamboni driver to score is nice and all, but it cannot compare with the Bruins and Canadiens beating the shit out of each other for 60 minutes including a goalie fight and a bench brawl in terms of entertainment value. And you can't get that in a league where players from rival teams are going out to fancy dinners together the night before a game. --End of text wall
You are right about everything. I also think there are too many games as well in the regular season. If you team isn't doing well, what is the point in watching game 60/82 that doesn't matter? But I honestly hate the modern generation, the fact that hockey isn't popular amoung the young people is more of a sign that it is sensible than anything esle imo, but obviously you need to modern audience. Most things that are popular are quite trash imo, and there is a reason for that.
I pay an internet bill every month, and if hockey is available online through a stream that isn't "pirating" or "stealing," it's getting what I paid for.
Hell, I live in Jersey and Comcast the only cable service in my area lost its deal with MSG. I can't even watch my devils without paying 30$ a month, which is way too pricey
ESPN+ is a good deal if your favorite team is out-of-market. But if you live in your favorite team's home market, then you are screwed due to blackouts.
Honestly, I watch games through streams I find online and even though it's free for me I can barely stand to watch NHL games with the animating ads on the boards. It is SO DISTRACTING. And often times the ads are brighter than they should be which makes my eyes want to focus on them. That's probably the reason they are brighter than the ice but I'm TRYING TO WATCH HOCKEY NOT STARE AT ADS.
Not entirely sure actually, not really that into the NBA so not up to date with their ratings. But regardless they are doing much better than the NHL with its viewership, fluctuations are normal but constant falling stats are not. Really just need to figure out the whole blackout situation ASAP, and move on from there, really is hurting the league atm
They've fucked themselves by splitting it amongst so many viewing platforms. It's all over the place and I just can't be arsed searching if the game is on the 1 subscription i can afford. I'll watch hockey night in Canada on Saturdays and that's it. Im not paying for any service if I'm only getting some of the games. Greed is ruining everything
I love hockey, and would happily pay 40-50$CAD a month to enjoy whatever hockey games i want, when i want, the blackouts are brutal, and i won't pay for any hockey until i can get it all in one place at a reasonable price, including a back log of older games i missed to due being busy. NHL is worth billions, make your own streaming site and sell memberships, they'll make way way more money that way.
As a middle class Albertian who has played hockey from age 6 to current at 28 and only ever played golf (I rarely play anymore) as a secondary sport here is my ranking of preferred viewing order: 1: MLB 2: College football 3: College basketball 4: The Masters 🏌🏻♂️ 5: Ovechkin is playing 🏒 6: NLL lacrosse 7: Any other golf tournament 8: College hockey Yeah, when Ovechkin retires there is zero chance I watch NHL .... last years NHL finals I only watched like the final two minutes of game seven when I became aware that my least favorite team, The Edmonton (where I live) Oilers might lose, I was so damn happy when they did
Can you imagine the kind of "would be" generational talent we'd have today if hockey was as accessible to poor kids as it is well off kids? I myself play today, beer league. But even I had to wait until I became an adult when I was able to afford it on my own because my parents couldn't afford it for me. It's also much cheaper to play as an adult than as a kid. No big tournaments, travel teams, 1 on 1 lessons... just hockey for the pure fun of it. I'm grateful to be able to play what has always been my favorite sport now, but I genuinely missed out as a kid. I instead played football and got into skateboarding. If I could have played hockey as a youth though I would have chosen that over anything else. So yeah, imo the #1 reason it doesn't get as much attention as other sports is simply because not as many people can or have played the game. You don't connect to something that you have never done yourself as much as something that you have.
That's the great thing about being a Russian hockey fan: I can watch all of my team's games in the KHL for free. The tickets are also pretty affordable, though you need to buy them in advance before the only ones left are the nosebleed section behind the net.
Just found your channel, excellent video! You put a lof time, effort and quality for a small channel, great work. An idea I have is trying to promote other forms of hockey. Roller hockey comes to mind being more accessable by not needing ice. This can lessen the burden of play by reducing costs and ease of play, especially in warmer climates. Furthermore, less equipment is required and less players on a full team in some cases. Street hockey and field hockey also come to mind but they significantly change how the game is played. Lmk your thoughts!
Thank you so much, really really appreciate it! Roller hockey is a very good idea, but still kinda is missing the core value of hockey which of course is Ice, but it's still a great idea, as you said especially for warmer climates. Floorball which is popular in Europe is basically the alternative of hockey there and is working great there!
Aa a lifelong NHL fan since the 80’s, i think all of the problems you mentioned are legit. But i look at the NHL problems from a more macro end. First, i think expansion has diluted the league and overall play. You have so many teams now that don’t have any marketable players, how do you sell them to a national TV audience? I also think the Salary Cap has hurt the league too as it’s created too much parity. I know Bettman will defend parity and say that most teams are still vying for a playoff spot in March, but i think it hurts the product in the playoffs. The last time the NHL was on the national radar was the 90’s. They were on ESPN and Fox and had multiple games during the week. You only had 26 teams and no salary cap, so the NHL could push big market teams every year. You had Messier/Gretzky in NY, Lindros in Philadelphia, Lemieux/Jagr in Pittsburgh, Yzerman/Shanahan in Detroit, Hull/Modano in Dallas, Sakic/Forsberg in Colorado and Brodeur in NJ. Those teams were good every year so it created great rivalries you anticipate every spring in the playoffs. Colorado/Detroit playoff battles in the 90’s were memorable. The 97 Finals is still the highest rated on TV in the past 35 years with a 4.0 rating. The Edmonton/Florida final got a 1.6 rating last June. When you go for expansion and parity, you get a mediocre product in the playoffs. Sorry, but i don’t watch the playoffs as much as i did 20-30 years ago, there are too many mediocre teams. Stars and great teams sell sports. The NHL created a financial model in 2005 that makes it hard to promote those 2 things. The NHL ratings reflect that.
I strongly agree that regional blackouts are partially responsible for the plunging ratings. My dad was frustrated with that (ex. TSN channels) like he wanted to the Boston Bruins games either vs Winnipeg Jets [TSN3], Ottawa Senators [TSN5]. And now my dad got the Formuler TV box with myTV app and watch the Bruins in any feeds like NESN, TSN, NHLN, CBC, etc. Regional blackouts are the stupidest thing is forcing people to watch the games online. Subscriptions…STUPID, like I always said about streaming services. I find everything wrong with NHL for years, like lack of fighting, too many stupid rule, biased blindbat stupid ass referees creating screwjobs, there are so many I can’t name at this point.
most of this is fine but having too many teams is not a problem every order league has about this many and if they do it right they can promote individuals like instead of mcdavid theyr'e promoting jersey ads
Dumb excuse. Every league has at least 30 or more teams. It has nothing to do with that. Also baseball is literally dying because no salary cap😂😂😂 nobody wants to watch the same 2 teams in the finals every year
What do they expect when they AGREE with their advertisers to implement ads that have the INTENTION of distracting the viewer? The more intense and chaotic and crucial a given moment in a game get, the more crazy and animated the ads get. They have also caused seizures and injuries for certain epileptics, and the league is just "meh, whatevs" about it. They don't even put a disclaimer before the broadcast. I quickly got used to them and can easily follow the puck, except when they get CRAZY during intense parts of the game and start sensing where the puck is so that it can flash up a bunch of wiggly splish splash ads right as it hits the boards, or follow the puck around with the Enterprise car any time the puck wraps around the corner boards. But even in normal parts of the game with the non-insane ads, they are still very, very annoying, and EXTREMELY disrespectful to fans. Of ALL sports to implemnt that nonsense, HOCKEY is the one???? Further proof we are living in the Bizarro World. No joke. Nothing in this world makes sense.
It’s easy - they are offering exclusives to companies no ones going to pay and sub for. I live in Utah. I’m not goin to go pay a sub to get access to local channels I don’t watch anyways. If it’s not on espn or amazon I’m not watching it. I’ll you tube the highlights after the games done and move on. As for live…. I’d go see games but when the tickets are priced to the point that my wife and I can see real salt lake three times for the cost of one time to Utah hockey club and not have shit seats… yeah Cost of entry here isn’t bad, our local rinks are subsidized by the cities and colleges and we have a kids step up program which is how my sons going to start when he turns three
The cost of tickets, and the hoops you have to jump through are only part of the problem. The cost to play it is a huge factor as well. However, another huge factor is how they have removed physicality and real fighting from the game. Playoff games are now less physical than regular season games used to be and it makes the games boring as hell to watch and I've been watching the sport for 30 years. Physicality sustains the passion & interest in between the peaks and valleys of the game play. When you remove it, you are ensuring that nearly every game will have large stretches of boring play.
The 5 biggest strikes against hockey..... 1. Bad TV/streeming covering of the league - Also over-priced costs that combined with bad covering just kills it for people. 2. The attendence/ticket prices are INSANE high and with this economy, it is not sustainble (Thanks Biden-nomics). 3. That NHL have not allowed the NHL players participate in the Olympics (2018 & 2022) is a real back-burner. The best international exposure/publicity for hockey is the Olympics as that is one of the most watched events. 4. Hockey as a sport itself have become a rich-man sport, where only parents who have more spending money can afford having there children to play hockey. The equipment is INSANELY expensive alone, and add all the time it demands for parents to be involved also makes it difficult when todays parents must work a lot more. 5. There are not enough ice rinks able to be played at for kids and youngsters.
@@braddyboy82 I think what they were getting at with their Biden statement was, as bad as inflation has gotten, a good part of society doesn't have the same disposable income they had before inflation blew up like it did. With that being the case, many hockey fans may no longer be able to attend games now or may have even cut off their NHL viewing subscription packages because they need that money for more pressing needs now.
Not sure if this is possible but purchasing tickets to a game or say attending at least 5 games any given month ought to get you like a free month of service on your local RSN that carries hockey games. NHL can work out a deal with the RSN's carrying games so that the NHL pays a little more to each RSN so they can recoup the lost revenue they would be experiencing for such a deal. Or something like this anyway as the NHL will come out ahead filling arena seats because otherwise more and more fans will just pirate and watch at home.
In my opinion hockey as a sport would benefit from the NHL not being a thing. Having the best players leave at 18 to play behind a complext paywall on hours only fitting for a small percentage of the total hockey audience will harm growth. As a european it's pretty much impossible to find a decent way to watch the NHL that is legal creating a disinterest for the best the sport has to offer.
What NHL needs is dedicated outdoor arenas. Look at the turnout for outdoor games in terrible venues like football stadiums and baseball ball parks. The fans are far from the action on the ice, yet they pack in. If the cold weather teams have their own arenas that are outdoors, or retractable roofs, think of all the fans that want to come. Even a college game was a massive success. When Mich played Mich State, the Big House was filled to the brim.
Only reason football, soccer, or Bball is affordable is cuz municipalities subsidize it. Think about football/soccer fields are huge. The grass needs to be maintained as much as ice does. And they are always are part of schools or town parks. Same for baseball. School basketball courts are part of every public school for most part, and usually American parks have a court too. Ice rinks are private endeavours for the most part.
Its ever since they allowed and promoted betting. They have clear favourites every season and each season its felt more and more manufactured and disingenuous.
The fact that they put the 1st Sharks game on ESPN+ which barely anyone has was a travesty. Everyone was hyped up for Celebrini's debut but no one could watch it because of ESPN+. How smart is it to blackout your own home fans from watching it because no one is subscribing just to watch one game.
nhl doesn't need to conform to viral marketing. They need to market the things they value and already have because that's what hockey fans love. Less gimmicks and more hockey. instead they are half assed in both directions and alienating all consumers.
Because it's just not an interesting sport compared to Formula 1, Soccer, etc. Hockey Players, and Hockey culture is super backwards. It needs to get more sophisticated. At all levels. The days of "Grassroots charm" are over. People want F1. Superbowl. Real Madrid. Sophistication. Class. Action. Not people spitting and old locker rooms.
I recently got into hockey and I think it’s interesting. The problem is it’s not mainstream at all, I never heard of Connor mcdavid until I started watching hockey. The star players have no personality which is why you don’t see new people watching hockey.
because whistles are put away during playoffs, most penalties are not called. this makes for a boring slogging games instead of exciting games. sadly, this bleeds over into the regular season as most teams are building boring slogging teams instead of building exciting teams. call penalties in the playoffs, all of them, even if seemingly one sided, even if half the game is played on a power play. so be it.
Maybe if the nhl didn’t make it so difficult to just watch any team you wanted there would be a lot more people watching. Didn’t help that there wasn’t an opening night at the start of the season. That one game they classified as the opening night wasn’t even in the states or Canada. And they had it with two pre season games
They make it way too hard to watch games. I'm not gonna subscribe to a streaming service just to watch a hockey game here and there. Also the on ice product is garbage now. No hits, no fights, no passion, just dudes chasing a puck around.
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Imo problem with hockey overall is that outside their skills on the ice hockey stars are so boring. During interviews they all sound the same and theres nobody that has impact outside the hockey community - as you highlighted in your video. Their interviews, ads and public appearances doesnt feel genuine and they all sound like robots. I think this could get better if NHL clubs were more like UFC, letting their players express freely. It would make the sport more entertaining even for people that dont care about hockey.
Need to return to its roots. Forge these warm weather cities like Houston or PHX and ATL. Move up to QBC for guaranteed viewship. Cities like KC is pretty cold, and have no competition in winter as there is no NBA.
Doesn't help when one of the NHL's biggest stars calls 50 million people fascists on his social media and then asks people for respect when his old man croaks.
That's it. The NHL is full of really low class people all round. Compare it to F1 for example and you see how pathetic hockey is. It's a very backwards culture.
All sports have been sissified!! Sports are down across the board, people are struggling to pay the bills. The NBA is in total free fall, if they didnt have china they would have imploded by now. Their fan base is made up of 81% whites, and they proceeded to call them racists. I for one dont want to hear what the nhl players have to say, just play the game. They took out hitting and fighting. What they call a hit today is really a player bumping into another one. All the so called problems you listed have always been there and yet Hockey endures. It is the greatest most passionate sport EVER played. You have to learn how to skate and also learn the game, thats what makes hockey so special. Ive been involved with hockey for 50 years, played and coached. When someone told me they hate hockey, I'd say too lazy to learn how to skate are ya? Twice it turned into a bar brawl. I will never let someone trash this sport! Thats passion...
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Hockey used to be free to watch... the end.
That's the great thing about being a Russian hockey fan: I can watch all of my team's games in the KHL for free.
learn how to stream for free
@@husg13streaming it for free doesn’t solve the problem. Other people just wont watch.
Yep, but this is the decline in sports, if you pay attention to economics, its across all leagues, nfl, nba, nhl, people don't have the money or time to care. Look at ALL league ratings... it's same. But you miss the point, espn basically bought the NHL, the competition? NFL... the money machine... they dont want ANY competition to the NFL, hence, they bought the NHL... no one fn reports on this. Think the same market will watch both, so, if NHL on the rise, they stick with the money. if the NHL was the NFL, they'd do the same. F off with CC or X league star power works. WNBA lost $40 MILLION last year. ESPN is the gatekeeper. It's like Coke owning Pepsi, you're clueless dude. Your dumbass video... did it get into NBA ratings? Nah... make that video comps of ratings for last few years of all leagues... shit dude.
@@husg13 I do .....
I was shocked this year at how quickly my excitement for the start of hockey died as soon as the first sports betting ad came on.
Can't stand the moving board ads
It's because they make it so fucking hard to watch any of their games. I am NEVER going to spend hundreds of dollars a year to watch the PGH penguins play. I'll watch post-game highlights on YT or watch a stream with friends online or watch it at someone else's house.
I don't even know where to find them half the time. I looked a million times on Hulu over the past 3 years, didn't see any pens games when their games were occurring. This is when I saw all kinds of other NHL games on there. They are intentionally sabotaging their fans' ability to be a part of the experience. Why they make it this hard to fucking watch some hockey is beyond me. There are 80+ games in a season, you really gotta gatekeep your fans that long?
I say this as someone who's played ice hockey his entire life and lived in PGH his entire life. It's completely embarrassing how stupid the NHL C-Suite executives are. Absolute damn fools.
Well said; you nailed it! As a Caps fan it is the same dumb crap here in the DMV too, so in that I have to buy two subscriptions to catch Caps games just to have freaking sports gambling ads shoved front and center.
Screw that and the illegal streams are just loaded with malware/trojans, so I don't even bother. Don't even get me started on blackouts!
Every game is on Fubo for $90/month 😅
NHL network
@@MbisonBalrog I used to have the NHL channels, but the games I want to watch were all blacked out! I just catch the highlights on youtube.
Hockey is such an underappreciated sport
It's because Latinos, African Americans and other ethnic people don't watch it.
God, financials aside, there are so many problems with hockey from a marketing perspective that I don't see it ever getting bigger with the general population.
1 - The culture of hockey is very old school and reserved. It's all about "we" not "me". Players are almost never arrogant jerks. There is a culture of soft-spoken frontier justice that just won't resonate with modern audiences, for better or worse. Personally, I love the culture of hockey players and find the egotistical antics of NFL and NBA players grotesque and lacking all honor, but it plays to the TikTok generation of kids who feel no shame at doing choreographed dances in rush hour traffic for clicks.
2 - The league flags their ideal organic marketing (TH-cam reaction content) for copyright violations. There is nothing more satisfying than watching like an inner city black kid or a British football hooligan, or a Chinese national react to hockey fights or hockey skill compilations for the first time and watching them be completely blown away. But they can't do this without the league shooting themselves in the foot by copyright striking any non-approved content.
3 - The game is actually too fast. Basketball and football are very easy to follow because they are (relatively) slow and are played with a (relatively) enormous object. People unfamiliar with hockey literally cannot follow the puck, and therefore cannot follow the game. This is a problem that can't be solved, as was showcased in the absurd 90s attempt to highlight the puck, or more modern attempts to highlight the name of the player holding the puck during power plays. It's so distracting and annoying that the cure is worse than the disease.
4 - The game has become too soft and friendly. Skill is great. Speed is great. But drama sells. And the old-school, violent, hate-filled rivalries between teams like the Avalanche and the Red Wings, Bruins and Canadiens, etc. are what really created intrigue. McDavid beating 8 guys and the zamboni driver to score is nice and all, but it cannot compare with the Bruins and Canadiens beating the shit out of each other for 60 minutes including a goalie fight and a bench brawl in terms of entertainment value. And you can't get that in a league where players from rival teams are going out to fancy dinners together the night before a game.
--End of text wall
agree 100%
You are right about everything. I also think there are too many games as well in the regular season. If you team isn't doing well, what is the point in watching game 60/82 that doesn't matter? But I honestly hate the modern generation, the fact that hockey isn't popular amoung the young people is more of a sign that it is sensible than anything esle imo, but obviously you need to modern audience. Most things that are popular are quite trash imo, and there is a reason for that.
I pay an internet bill every month, and if hockey is available online through a stream that isn't "pirating" or "stealing," it's getting what I paid for.
Hell, I live in Jersey and Comcast the only cable service in my area lost its deal with MSG. I can't even watch my devils without paying 30$ a month, which is way too pricey
ESPN+ is a good deal if your favorite team is out-of-market. But if you live in your favorite team's home market, then you are screwed due to blackouts.
I would pay 100 a year to watch what I want when I want, take it or leave it bigwigs.
I would want a 50 dollar discount 4 the blackouts i almost never see my tam win a Cup yet which doesnt help either. Also need better services overall.
Tickets are too high.
Honestly, I watch games through streams I find online and even though it's free for me I can barely stand to watch NHL games with the animating ads on the boards. It is SO DISTRACTING. And often times the ads are brighter than they should be which makes my eyes want to focus on them. That's probably the reason they are brighter than the ice but I'm TRYING TO WATCH HOCKEY NOT STARE AT ADS.
The Edmonton Oilers should start dating Taylor Swift. That will raise interest in the league, especially with young people.
😂
One of these hockey boys need to drag out a kardashian or something
Make watching impossible and not watching will become reality.
Completely agree, main issue they have to tackle and everything else will align with time and some work
@@SynoGG
Yeah but isn't the same thing happening in the NBA? I thought their TV viewing was down as well and they also have access issues for fans.
Not entirely sure actually, not really that into the NBA so not up to date with their ratings. But regardless they are doing much better than the NHL with its viewership, fluctuations are normal but constant falling stats are not. Really just need to figure out the whole blackout situation ASAP, and move on from there, really is hurting the league atm
They've fucked themselves by splitting it amongst so many viewing platforms. It's all over the place and I just can't be arsed searching if the game is on the 1 subscription i can afford. I'll watch hockey night in Canada on Saturdays and that's it. Im not paying for any service if I'm only getting some of the games. Greed is ruining everything
Why would I watch hockey when Formula 1, Soccer, NFL or the NBA exist? Serious question.
@@ciaronsmith4995 and that's why you're not real fan your band Wagner and wannabe .
I love hockey, and would happily pay 40-50$CAD a month to enjoy whatever hockey games i want, when i want, the blackouts are brutal, and i won't pay for any hockey until i can get it all in one place at a reasonable price, including a back log of older games i missed to due being busy. NHL is worth billions, make your own streaming site and sell memberships, they'll make way way more money that way.
Gotta stop with the digital ads on the boards and ton down all the betting advertising.
This is mostly BS. Nice clickbait. The NBA is falling hard
we used to just play on ponds not very expensive at all
As a middle class Albertian who has played hockey from age 6 to current at 28 and only ever played golf (I rarely play anymore) as a secondary sport here is my ranking of preferred viewing order:
1: MLB
2: College football
3: College basketball
4: The Masters 🏌🏻♂️
5: Ovechkin is playing 🏒
6: NLL lacrosse
7: Any other golf tournament
8: College hockey
Yeah, when Ovechkin retires there is zero chance I watch NHL .... last years NHL finals I only watched like the final two minutes of game seven when I became aware that my least favorite team, The Edmonton (where I live) Oilers might lose, I was so damn happy when they did
corporate greed is killing the viewer experience. and the players are more like sellout celebrities than they are athletes now.
Can you imagine the kind of "would be" generational talent we'd have today if hockey was as accessible to poor kids as it is well off kids? I myself play today, beer league. But even I had to wait until I became an adult when I was able to afford it on my own because my parents couldn't afford it for me. It's also much cheaper to play as an adult than as a kid. No big tournaments, travel teams, 1 on 1 lessons... just hockey for the pure fun of it. I'm grateful to be able to play what has always been my favorite sport now, but I genuinely missed out as a kid. I instead played football and got into skateboarding. If I could have played hockey as a youth though I would have chosen that over anything else. So yeah, imo the #1 reason it doesn't get as much attention as other sports is simply because not as many people can or have played the game. You don't connect to something that you have never done yourself as much as something that you have.
@@Remmy0930 Yep it’s not as accessible as soccer or basketball. Really does make you wonder at times
That's the great thing about being a Russian hockey fan: I can watch all of my team's games in the KHL for free. The tickets are also pretty affordable, though you need to buy them in advance before the only ones left are the nosebleed section behind the net.
Just found your channel, excellent video! You put a lof time, effort and quality for a small channel, great work.
An idea I have is trying to promote other forms of hockey. Roller hockey comes to mind being more accessable by not needing ice. This can lessen the burden of play by reducing costs and ease of play, especially in warmer climates. Furthermore, less equipment is required and less players on a full team in some cases. Street hockey and field hockey also come to mind but they significantly change how the game is played. Lmk your thoughts!
Thank you so much, really really appreciate it! Roller hockey is a very good idea, but still kinda is missing the core value of hockey which of course is Ice, but it's still a great idea, as you said especially for warmer climates. Floorball which is popular in Europe is basically the alternative of hockey there and is working great there!
Aa a lifelong NHL fan since the 80’s, i think all of the problems you mentioned are legit.
But i look at the NHL problems from a more macro end. First, i think expansion has diluted the league and overall play. You have so many teams now that don’t have any marketable players, how do you sell them to a national TV audience? I also think the Salary Cap has hurt the league too as it’s created too much parity. I know Bettman will defend parity and say that most teams are still vying for a playoff spot in March, but i think it hurts the product in the playoffs.
The last time the NHL was on the national radar was the 90’s. They were on ESPN and Fox and had multiple games during the week. You only had 26 teams and no salary cap, so the NHL could push big market teams every year.
You had Messier/Gretzky in NY, Lindros in Philadelphia, Lemieux/Jagr in Pittsburgh, Yzerman/Shanahan in Detroit, Hull/Modano in Dallas, Sakic/Forsberg in Colorado and Brodeur in NJ.
Those teams were good every year so it created great rivalries you anticipate every spring in the playoffs. Colorado/Detroit playoff battles in the 90’s were memorable. The 97 Finals is still the highest rated on TV in the past 35 years with a 4.0 rating. The Edmonton/Florida final got a 1.6 rating last June.
When you go for expansion and parity, you get a mediocre product in the playoffs. Sorry, but i don’t watch the playoffs as much as i did 20-30 years ago, there are too many mediocre teams. Stars and great teams sell sports. The NHL created a financial model in 2005 that makes it hard to promote those 2 things. The NHL ratings reflect that.
100% Agree with you, NHL has really lost It's core, what it was 20-30 years ago. Appreciate your input!
I strongly agree that regional blackouts are partially responsible for the plunging ratings. My dad was frustrated with that (ex. TSN channels) like he wanted to the Boston Bruins games either vs Winnipeg Jets [TSN3], Ottawa Senators [TSN5]. And now my dad got the Formuler TV box with myTV app and watch the Bruins in any feeds like NESN, TSN, NHLN, CBC, etc. Regional blackouts are the stupidest thing is forcing people to watch the games online. Subscriptions…STUPID, like I always said about streaming services.
I find everything wrong with NHL for years, like lack of fighting, too many stupid rule, biased blindbat stupid ass referees creating screwjobs, there are so many I can’t name at this point.
No salary cap would end the league at least in its current configuration. Maybe could get away with 24 teams.
most of this is fine but having too many teams is not a problem every order league has about this many and if they do it right they can promote individuals like instead of mcdavid theyr'e promoting jersey ads
Dumb excuse. Every league has at least 30 or more teams. It has nothing to do with that. Also baseball is literally dying because no salary cap😂😂😂 nobody wants to watch the same 2 teams in the finals every year
What do they expect when they AGREE with their advertisers to implement ads that have the INTENTION of distracting the viewer? The more intense and chaotic and crucial a given moment in a game get, the more crazy and animated the ads get. They have also caused seizures and injuries for certain epileptics, and the league is just "meh, whatevs" about it. They don't even put a disclaimer before the broadcast.
I quickly got used to them and can easily follow the puck, except when they get CRAZY during intense parts of the game and start sensing where the puck is so that it can flash up a bunch of wiggly splish splash ads right as it hits the boards, or follow the puck around with the Enterprise car any time the puck wraps around the corner boards. But even in normal parts of the game with the non-insane ads, they are still very, very annoying, and EXTREMELY disrespectful to fans.
Of ALL sports to implemnt that nonsense, HOCKEY is the one???? Further proof we are living in the Bizarro World. No joke. Nothing in this world makes sense.
Slap Shot 2 was a warning to what was coming.
It’s easy - they are offering exclusives to companies no ones going to pay and sub for. I live in Utah. I’m not goin to go pay a sub to get access to local channels I don’t watch anyways. If it’s not on espn or amazon I’m not watching it. I’ll you tube the highlights after the games done and move on. As for live…. I’d go see games but when the tickets are priced to the point that my wife and I can see real salt lake three times for the cost of one time to Utah hockey club and not have shit seats… yeah
Cost of entry here isn’t bad, our local rinks are subsidized by the cities and colleges and we have a kids step up program which is how my sons going to start when he turns three
The cost of tickets, and the hoops you have to jump through are only part of the problem. The cost to play it is a huge factor as well. However, another huge factor is how they have removed physicality and real fighting from the game. Playoff games are now less physical than regular season games used to be and it makes the games boring as hell to watch and I've been watching the sport for 30 years. Physicality sustains the passion & interest in between the peaks and valleys of the game play. When you remove it, you are ensuring that nearly every game will have large stretches of boring play.
The 5 biggest strikes against hockey.....
1. Bad TV/streeming covering of the league - Also over-priced costs that combined with bad covering just kills it for people.
2. The attendence/ticket prices are INSANE high and with this economy, it is not sustainble (Thanks Biden-nomics).
3. That NHL have not allowed the NHL players participate in the Olympics (2018 & 2022) is a real back-burner. The best international exposure/publicity for hockey is the Olympics
as that is one of the most watched events.
4. Hockey as a sport itself have become a rich-man sport, where only parents who have more spending money can afford having there children to play hockey.
The equipment is INSANELY expensive alone, and add all the time it demands for parents to be involved also makes it difficult when todays parents must work a lot more.
5. There are not enough ice rinks able to be played at for kids and youngsters.
Bingo.
Just so I am understanding you correctly -- before Biden was elected, ticket prices were cheap? And Biden is to blame for ticket prices, too?
@@braddyboy82 I think what they were getting at with their Biden statement was, as bad as inflation has gotten, a good part of society doesn't have the same disposable income they had before inflation blew up like it did. With that being the case, many hockey fans may no longer be able to attend games now or may have even cut off their NHL viewing subscription packages because they need that money for more pressing needs now.
Nhl revenues are through the roof. Are you insane?
Not sure if this is possible but purchasing tickets to a game or say attending at least 5 games any given month ought to get you like a free month of service on your local RSN that carries hockey games.
NHL can work out a deal with the RSN's carrying games so that the NHL pays a little more to each RSN so they can recoup the lost revenue they would be experiencing for such a deal.
Or something like this anyway as the NHL will come out ahead filling arena seats because otherwise more and more fans will just pirate and watch at home.
In my opinion hockey as a sport would benefit from the NHL not being a thing. Having the best players leave at 18 to play behind a complext paywall on hours only fitting for a small percentage of the total hockey audience will harm growth. As a european it's pretty much impossible to find a decent way to watch the NHL that is legal creating a disinterest for the best the sport has to offer.
What NHL needs is dedicated outdoor arenas. Look at the turnout for outdoor games in terrible venues like football stadiums and baseball ball parks. The fans are far from the action on the ice, yet they pack in. If the cold weather teams have their own arenas that are outdoors, or retractable roofs, think of all the fans that want to come. Even a college game was a massive success. When Mich played Mich State, the Big House was filled to the brim.
Only reason football, soccer, or Bball is affordable is cuz municipalities subsidize it. Think about football/soccer fields are huge. The grass needs to be maintained as much as ice does. And they are always are part of schools or town parks. Same for baseball. School basketball courts are part of every public school for most part, and usually American parks have a court too. Ice rinks are private endeavours for the most part.
Its ever since they allowed and promoted betting. They have clear favourites every season and each season its felt more and more manufactured and disingenuous.
Arenas are not struggling to fill seats, The Hockey Guy made a post about attendance just a few days ago
The fact that they put the 1st Sharks game on ESPN+ which barely anyone has was a travesty. Everyone was hyped up for Celebrini's debut but no one could watch it because of ESPN+. How smart is it to blackout your own home fans from watching it because no one is subscribing just to watch one game.
nhl doesn't need to conform to viral marketing. They need to market the things they value and already have because that's what hockey fans love. Less gimmicks and more hockey.
instead they are half assed in both directions and alienating all consumers.
Board Ads
yes those digital ads are ridiculous.
Because it's just not an interesting sport compared to Formula 1, Soccer, etc.
Hockey Players, and Hockey culture is super backwards.
It needs to get more sophisticated. At all levels. The days of "Grassroots charm" are over.
People want F1. Superbowl. Real Madrid. Sophistication. Class. Action. Not people spitting and old locker rooms.
I recently got into hockey and I think it’s interesting. The problem is it’s not mainstream at all, I never heard of Connor mcdavid until I started watching hockey. The star players have no personality which is why you don’t see new people watching hockey.
because whistles are put away during playoffs, most penalties are not called. this makes for a boring slogging games instead of exciting games. sadly, this bleeds over into the regular season as most teams are building boring slogging teams instead of building exciting teams. call penalties in the playoffs, all of them, even if seemingly one sided, even if half the game is played on a power play. so be it.
Maybe if the nhl didn’t make it so difficult to just watch any team you wanted there would be a lot more people watching.
Didn’t help that there wasn’t an opening night at the start of the season. That one game they classified as the opening night wasn’t even in the states or Canada. And they had it with two pre season games
They make it way too hard to watch games. I'm not gonna subscribe to a streaming service just to watch a hockey game here and there. Also the on ice product is garbage now. No hits, no fights, no passion, just dudes chasing a puck around.
Imo problem with hockey overall is that outside their skills on the ice hockey stars are so boring. During interviews they all sound the same and theres nobody that has impact outside the hockey community - as you highlighted in your video. Their interviews, ads and public appearances doesnt feel genuine and they all sound like robots. I think this could get better if NHL clubs were more like UFC, letting their players express freely. It would make the sport more entertaining even for people that dont care about hockey.
people loved hockey because of the physicality and fighting and passion. its just not entertaining anymore
Need to return to its roots. Forge these warm weather cities like Houston or PHX and ATL. Move up to QBC for guaranteed viewship. Cities like KC is pretty cold, and have no competition in winter as there is no NBA.
I blame nbcsn
hockey as a sport is thriving...
Chinese and North Korean children now play hockey.
maybe they should stop blacking all the fuckin games out...
I want to go on record saying I've never heard of Caitlyn Clarke. No idea who that is. Let's not get carried away here, pal.
Doesn't help when one of the NHL's biggest stars calls 50 million people fascists on his social media and then asks people for respect when his old man croaks.
Who are you speaking about?
@@user-iw5mp5th6d Ovi?
Drive to Survive on Netflix made F1 deeper in American market.
Well Faceoff on Amazon prime hasn’t
@@JessCameron-l7t Netflix has more reach
Lol most new hockey fans I met are funny enough are not by the league related promo, literally booktok carrying this stuff
Greatest sport in the world
Did you watch the NHL awards? Charisma in the NHL is like finding Bigfoot
That's it. The NHL is full of really low class people all round.
Compare it to F1 for example and you see how pathetic hockey is.
It's a very backwards culture.
I need 10 apps and even then it might be black out...😢...the end.. NHL killed it self..or maybe maybe re free games?...😂
Just fire George Parros and there would immediately be an improvement in the product.
10 mins video saying nothing. Time well wasted.
90% of games are blacked out and the nearest nhl team is 7 hours away
All sports have been sissified!! Sports are down across the board, people are struggling to pay the bills. The NBA is in total free fall, if they didnt have china they would have imploded by now. Their fan base is made up of 81% whites, and they proceeded to call them racists. I for one dont want to hear what the nhl players have to say, just play the game. They took out hitting and fighting. What they call a hit today is really a player bumping into another one. All the so called problems you listed have always been there and yet Hockey endures. It is the greatest most passionate sport EVER played. You have to learn how to skate and also learn the game, thats what makes hockey so special. Ive been involved with hockey for 50 years, played and coached. When someone told me they hate hockey, I'd say too lazy to learn how to skate are ya? Twice it turned into a bar brawl. I will never let someone trash this sport! Thats passion...