Has hockey gained popularity since scoring levels increased?

[Nineteen67]

Football doesn’t show the whole field either and it’s TV numbers seem to be okay…

Different sport, but they really should.

 

[KeydGV21]

Different sport, but they really should.

It being a different, much more popular sport, is kind of my point about the broadcasters not being the reason hockey is bad on tv…

 

[Nineteen67]

It being a different, much more popular sport, is kind of my point about the broadcasters not being the reason hockey is bad on tv…

It’s one of the reasons.

 

[brentashton]

As a somewhat casual fan, I don't really see any increased interest in hockey. It has nothing to do with goals or really anything the NHL can control.

You need to have a lot of equipment to play hockey and you need things like rinks that aren't going to be available in many areas. A lot of people are going to be lost at that level alone.

I don’t see many people with X Wing fighters and Millenium Falcons in their driveways and yet Star Wars has a lot of fans that watch it.

 

[brentashton]

I'm from Arizona, I watch hockey more than any other sport.

I am too. Your in the very large minority pal, even if you live in Flagstaff.

 

[ThatGuy22]

There is nothing people on this board love more than crapping on the NHLs marketing and Hockey's popularity in general.

Yes hockey is getting more popular. No it's not going to surpass the NBA or MLB. And yes MLS might surpass it in time.

Non traditional markets that 10 to 15 years ago people were screaming hockey would never work and teams should move are packing their barns every night, with dedicated fan bases. Nashville, Carolina, Tampa Bay, even Florida now are capacity nightly.

Vegas and Seattle have filled their barns so far.

All these things are positive, The game is growing, a certain percentage of new fans will become generational fans, developing new fans by family extension.

 

[thrillhous]

I don’t care if it gets more popular or not. I will enjoy it regardless. If I were an owner obviously I would care, but…

 

[Jeremy Hronek]

Not going to happen. What are you going to do? Build outdoor rinks in Harlem? Just doesn't work.

What has all the popular sports in common? It's easy to play. For hockey you need ice and that's expensive and hard to maintain.

My suggestion would be to try to make high-school hockey a thing. Would make it more affordable to everyone.

 

[Rufus T Firefly]

Niche =/= small.

Niche means that you appeal to a portion of the market predisposed to your product, and have little opportunity for growth outside of where your appeal already resides. That describes hockey.

There are heavy metal artists that are multi-platinum. 9 out of 10 regular people still don't listen to it. It's not canonized. Hockey is very popular in the grand scheme of all sports but it's not canon to the point where the majority of people watch it, like basketball for example.

Does it describe hockey? It seems like hockey has plenty of room for growth given its already large foothold as a major sport, while still not being as big as the other 3 in NA. I'm sure people would have said the same thing in the 80's and then you have all the sunbelt teams come in and (for the most part) succeed which has definitely increased hockey's reach. Some recent success by teams like that (Tampa, VGK winning, Dallas, Florida, Nashville in the finals etc.) I'm sure has only added fans to the market.

It's strange to say that hockey can't continue to grow and that's what makes it niche when there is in fact plenty of room for growth. If the NHL is doing that effectively is another question altogether...

Also if it's not "canon" because the majority of people don't watch it, I suppose that would be true for NA at large, but then really only American football would be canon I would assume, given that it dwarfs all other sports there. But in Canada it would absolutely be canon. And if we compare it on the world stage, then football/soccer is probably the only sport in the world that is canon.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

We're gonna have to wait for an ice age for hockey to even approach the popularity of other sports. Until then it'll remain niche.

 

[Machinehead]

Does it describe hockey? It seems like hockey has plenty of room for growth given its already large foothold as a major sport, while still not being as big as the other 3 in NA. I'm sure people would have said the same thing in the 80's and then you have all the sunbelt teams come in and (for the most part) succeed which has definitely increased hockey's reach. Some recent success by teams like that (Tampa, VGK winning, Dallas, Florida, Nashville in the finals etc.) I'm sure has only added fans to the market.

It's strange to say that hockey can't continue to grow and that's what makes it niche when there is in fact plenty of room for growth. If the NHL is doing that effectively is another question altogether...

Also if it's not "canon" because the majority of people don't watch it, I suppose that would be true for NA at large, but then really only American football would be canon I would assume, given that it dwarfs all other sports there. But in Canada it would absolutely be canon. And if we compare it on the world stage, then football/soccer is probably the only sport in the world that is canon.

If you went to 95% of the countries on Earth, they wouldn't know what hockey is. North America and select countries in Europe are the only places where it's a top 5 sport.

If you went to any hobunk state in the US that isn't a hockey market or doesn't have a big city, they don't watch hockey.

The concept of a hockey market is definitely a thing. There's no such thing as a basketball market or a soccer market. It's everywhere. In North America, there's no such thing as a football market.

 

[GrumpyKoala]

People are obsessed with hockey popularity to no avail.

More teams
More adds
More gambling

What I miss is

Watching hockey without 6 different subscription model.

Being able to afford going to live games regularly.

Tied games and the last 5 minute dilemma of pushing for two point, because not everybody back then felt so entitled to fulfill theirs tiktok insta need satisfaction.

Quality jerseys that are not 300$ of counterfeit value material.

Quality broadcast that are not made out of semi-celebrity choosen for theirs clickabiliy.

Is it too much to ask to get to enjoy a puck drop where the highlight is players competing for the crest on theirs chest or we done already?

 

[HolyHagelin]

Niche =/= small.

Niche means that you appeal to a portion of the market predisposed to your product, and have little opportunity for growth outside of where your appeal already resides. That describes hockey.

There are heavy metal artists that are multi-platinum. 9 out of 10 regular people still don't listen to it. It's not canonized. Hockey is very popular in the grand scheme of all sports but it's not canon to the point where the majority of people watch it, like basketball for example.

A) you take that back about metal bands!

B) the majority of people do not watch baseketball.

 

[JianYang]

The most common score in by far the most popular sport in the world is 1-0.

It was never about offense.

In the north American sporting landscape, I think offemse does mean something more. The sexiest individual record in hockey is most goals scored.

MLB had a boom in that home run era where the single season record was broken by Mcguire, regardless of steroids. Even a popular Nike ad reflected this at the time when Maddux phrased the term "chicks dig the longball".

The nhl is niche but if and when ovechkin gets close to the goals record, the NHL will draw alot more attention, if only for some fleeting moments.

 

[Machinehead]

A) you take that back about metal bands!

It's true!

And I'm fine with it.

B) the majority of people do not watch baseketball.

Yes they do.

I know it's cool to bash basketball on this site but absolutely every country in the world watches basketball. FIBA has 211 members. The IIHF has 57.

Ask random ass people how they feel about KD. Most of them will have a response.

 

[JianYang]

Does it describe hockey? It seems like hockey has plenty of room for growth given its already large foothold as a major sport, while still not being as big as the other 3 in NA. I'm sure people would have said the same thing in the 80's and then you have all the sunbelt teams come in and (for the most part) succeed which has definitely increased hockey's reach. Some recent success by teams like that (Tampa, VGK winning, Dallas, Florida, Nashville in the finals etc.) I'm sure has only added fans to the market.

It's strange to say that hockey can't continue to grow and that's what makes it niche when there is in fact plenty of room for growth. If the NHL is doing that effectively is another question altogether...

Also if it's not "canon" because the majority of people don't watch it, I suppose that would be true for NA at large, but then really only American football would be canon I would assume, given that it dwarfs all other sports there. But in Canada it would absolutely be canon. And if we compare it on the world stage, then football/soccer is probably the only sport in the world that is canon.

The barriers to entry are quite large. Accessibility and cost are much more of a factor in hockey relative to the sports that we often compare it to around here, so you have already cut off a good chunk of the population right off the bat.

There is room to grow but that is because they have been starting almost from zero especially in the more southern markets which have joined the league in the last few decades. The big breakthrough would be limiting those above mentioned barriers which is easier said than done.

 

[JianYang]

If you went to 95% of the countries on Earth, they wouldn't know what hockey is. North America and select countries in Europe are the only places where it's a top 5 sport.

If you went to any hobunk state in the US that isn't a hockey market or doesn't have a big city, they don't watch hockey.

The concept of a hockey market is definitely a thing. There's no such thing as a basketball market or a soccer market. It's everywhere. In North America, there's no such thing as a football market.

They might know what hockey is but not the form of hockey that we think. Although field hockey may not be as professionalized, I wouldn't be shocked at all to see global participation rates to be higher than ice hockey. We already know it has more of a geographical reach than ice hockey.

 

[Machinehead]

They might know what hockey is but not the form of hockey that we think. Although field hockey may not be as professionalized, I wouldn't be shocked at all to see global participation rates to be higher than ice hockey. We already know it has more of a geographical reach than ice hockey.

Oh yeah, field hockey is huge. I was referring to ice hockey.

 

[JianYang]

Oh yeah, field hockey is huge. I was referring to ice hockey.

I understand. I'm just trying to encapsulate how niche ice hockey is from a global perspective.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Well, I haven't watched a Sharks or any hockey game since the middle of January so in essence, the NHL has lost a fan.

Something happen in the middle of January that I missed?

 

[HolyHagelin]

It's true!

And I'm fine with it.

Yes they do.

I know it's cool to bash basketball on this site but absolutely every country in the world watches basketball. FIBA has 211 members. The IIHF has 57.

Ask random ass people how they feel about KD. Most of them will have a response.

I am not refuting that most countries have people interested in basketball, and I am not trashing basketball with this observation. I used to be a sportswriter, but I have been in direct sales over 20 years all over the country, meeting people and making friends with them as fast as possible. Sports is a huge icebreaker. Basketball ain’t it. Football and baseball get me into conversations with a much higher % of clients.

 

[Toby91ca]

My suggestion would be to try to make high-school hockey a thing. Would make it more affordable to everyone.

This is where hockey is different as well. The very best high school age football players are playing high school football. The very best high school age hockey players (in Canada anyway) are not playing high school hockey....they have more than likely already moved away from home and are playing Major Junior somewhere.

As a Canadian who grew up not knowing you weren't allowed to not be part of hockey...thought it was law (jk).....I often do wonder how things may have changed over time and how things may continue to change with immigration in this country. The demographics of a lot of places in Canada have changed over the years, but if you look at all the youth hockey teams.....generalizing.....they are all still pretty "white".

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

No. Hockey in today's social circle has become extremely niche.

"Today's social circle"? I get you are from Quebec, but for ~80% of the NHL communities it's always been extremely niche. There is nothing new about that.

If it's becoming more niche in Canada - that is probably to be expected with reduced participation due to high cost to play and increased immigration with a higher % of the population not having the family legacy to fall back on.

 

[Machinehead]

I am not refuting that most countries have people interested in basketball, and I am not trashing basketball with this observation. I used to be a sportswriter, but I have been in direct sales over 20 years all over the country, meeting people and making friends with them as fast as possible. Sports is a huge icebreaker. Basketball ain’t it. Football and baseball get me into conversations with a much higher % of clients.

It depends on age. Baseball's popularity is decaying more and more with each generation.

 

[HolyHagelin]

It depends on age. Baseball's popularity is decaying more and more with each generation.

That is fair, if you also account for the massive population of people my age (b 1980) that have abandoned basketball as a spectator sport in the last decade. Between the Donaghy scandal, players dictating rosters, the rise of boring “all 3s” offense, a truly loathsome Face of the league (lbj), and unnecessary political activism (simping for china), generation x is largely out on basketball.