I agree. Hockey is huge in Minnesota. We sell out every game, just a huge hockey state. Gophers and the Wild. Like you said, hocky is played more in the northern states and midwest and not really in the southern states. Maybe put more teams in the north, like North Dakota, South Dakota, fighting sioux are a big college team.
dr03 said:
Portland has shown itself to be a good hockey city, as has Salt Lake, and, if you can imagine, Las Vegas. My first choice however would be Milwaukee. Very strong base there.
Problem with those cities in the past was, none are considered "major" tv markets. Hence the reason the league went into Florida and tried to cash in on the So Cal market by essentially giving Disney a team. With that (tv ratings) not being a concern, I wouldn't be surprised to see a few teams relocate. (first being Washington)
dr03 said:
That hasn't lost many fans because of that. The players (like in all sports) have magically all become monsters. There is still fighting and insane hitting at times.
The fans wanted less clutching and grabbing (something honed to almost perfect by the team closest to you oddly enough) and the league realized the same thing the NFL did: if you let people take free shots at your stars, pretty soon Jeff George is considered an all-star.
KT is pretty much DEAD ON here about ESPN and the NHL
once the NHL skipped a season - espn went to find alternative programming in what was the last year of their deal. they discovered they could find programming that would get MUCH better ratings than the NHL and at a FRACTION of the cost - making it much more profitable to run those shows than pay for production of NHL games
NHL/OLN signed a 2-year deal with an option for a 3rd so the earliest the NHL could return to ESPN is the 2007-08 season and most likely the 2008-09 season since i have to think OLN/NHL will remain partners until then
ESPN had the right to MATCH ANY offer made the NHL and when OLN signed the deal ESPN declined to do so. as much as i have been BRUTAL to ESPN - financially this is a good move letting the NHL go
and down the road the prospects of the NHL coming back to ESPN isn't very good
ESPN will soon have NASCAR rights and between the NHL and HICK-CAR which one to have the rights to is a NO-BRAINER. espn has football, baseball, nba/college hoops and so much more that there simply isn't room for the NHL unless something "falls off their plate" and even then the return of the NHL isn't likely
i actually get OLN since i have digital cable - the fact i could get 2 TVs w/digital and cable modem and only pay $5 more per month than non digital made it an easy choice to make but as we see - not many have OLN and thus the NHL is in big trouble
when the Ducks made the WC finals there was a HUGE uproar since less than 50% of the area gets OLN meaning MOST ducks' fans were shut out of seeing the ducks' games
put me in charge of the NHL and come next post-season i set up a package where for like $20 you can see EVERY GAME on the internet. people who have OLN will still choose that over the internet but those w/o OLN will benefit and the league will get more exposure and revenue
but seeing as how Bettman is a numskull - not likely to happen
once the NHL skipped a season - espn went to find alternative programming in what was the last year of their deal. they discovered they could find programming that would get MUCH better ratings than the NHL and at a FRACTION of the cost - making it much more profitable to run those shows than pay for production of NHL games
NHL/OLN signed a 2-year deal with an option for a 3rd so the earliest the NHL could return to ESPN is the 2007-08 season and most likely the 2008-09 season since i have to think OLN/NHL will remain partners until then
ESPN had the right to MATCH ANY offer made the NHL and when OLN signed the deal ESPN declined to do so. as much as i have been BRUTAL to ESPN - financially this is a good move letting the NHL go
and down the road the prospects of the NHL coming back to ESPN isn't very good
ESPN will soon have NASCAR rights and between the NHL and HICK-CAR which one to have the rights to is a NO-BRAINER. espn has football, baseball, nba/college hoops and so much more that there simply isn't room for the NHL unless something "falls off their plate" and even then the return of the NHL isn't likely
i actually get OLN since i have digital cable - the fact i could get 2 TVs w/digital and cable modem and only pay $5 more per month than non digital made it an easy choice to make but as we see - not many have OLN and thus the NHL is in big trouble
when the Ducks made the WC finals there was a HUGE uproar since less than 50% of the area gets OLN meaning MOST ducks' fans were shut out of seeing the ducks' games
put me in charge of the NHL and come next post-season i set up a package where for like $20 you can see EVERY GAME on the internet. people who have OLN will still choose that over the internet but those w/o OLN will benefit and the league will get more exposure and revenue
but seeing as how Bettman is a numskull - not likely to happen
It is no coincidence that Poker took off without Hockey as Espn filled many Hockey spots with poker tournaments.
I was thinking that the NHL should own all the cable rights to the games and broadcast every game themselves. Cable is taking over and the money is coming from the broadcast of the games. NY makes a ton of the Rangers tv games and the NHL could just buy a channel in each area. Sell the ads themselves for a profit. Even in small markets most home games are only on cable and for some areas its all the games. Oln can stay for national games and ABC too but all the games should be in their control. Here Comcast does it all and owns the Flyers too. All the money stays with Comcast. Its like a vertical monopoly and NHL should stop it and cash themselves. more money helps the game and brings more of the worlds best to the league. Also with more money NHL can promote its self more and even attempt to make hockey available to more kids in the US. I believe if black athletes even just a few played hockey the best players in the World would be from here and Hockey would also be more popular.
I was thinking that the NHL should own all the cable rights to the games and broadcast every game themselves. Cable is taking over and the money is coming from the broadcast of the games. NY makes a ton of the Rangers tv games and the NHL could just buy a channel in each area. Sell the ads themselves for a profit. Even in small markets most home games are only on cable and for some areas its all the games. Oln can stay for national games and ABC too but all the games should be in their control. Here Comcast does it all and owns the Flyers too. All the money stays with Comcast. Its like a vertical monopoly and NHL should stop it and cash themselves. more money helps the game and brings more of the worlds best to the league. Also with more money NHL can promote its self more and even attempt to make hockey available to more kids in the US. I believe if black athletes even just a few played hockey the best players in the World would be from here and Hockey would also be more popular.
The new rules and the salary cap have helped the NHL tremendously, the holdout will hurt but in time the casual fans will return, I dont think the real hockey fans have deserted at all, also it wouldnt hurt if a Northeast (USA/Canadian) tradional power team won the cup in the near future
[/quote]To make this a top sport again I need to develop some household names. Everyone knows Lebron, Manning, Jeter. I would recommend that they market Iginla because he is one of the top players and could get minorities more interested in the game seeing a minority being marketed. They need to do something to make the game more American then European, I dont know what that is, but the way it's played now the american public has no interest. I would get a network deal with a channel like USA that has good viewership and that everyone has, if they have cable/satellite.[/quote]
Now theres a statment do you know theres actually a country to your north.
I'd like to know how many canadians watched the hockey and basketball games last night and add those numbers to how many americans watched the games I'd guess the numbers would'nt be that far apart.
Now theres a statment do you know theres actually a country to your north.
I'd like to know how many canadians watched the hockey and basketball games last night and add those numbers to how many americans watched the games I'd guess the numbers would'nt be that far apart.
TTinCO said:
Prior to the lockout. 14 teams were showing losses of 5-20 million. Only 2 teams will not show a profit for this season and projections are 1 team for next season (Wash).
The game is better (faster, higher scoring), attendance is up, the league has parity, and all but 2 franchises are profitable. To say that they have never been in worse shape (i believe) is incorrect.
In my view, the league was in much worse shape when they whored themselves out to the 50 million dollar franchise fee and expanded at such a rate that it drastically thinned the talent pool. The idea of putting 2 teams in Florida, a team in Anaheim and places like Nashville/Atlanta may result in one or two solid franchises, but at the peril of duluting a limited talent base and the risk of empty stadiums in a few years when the novelty of the game wears off and the home team is struggling for wins.
2 of the 3 games in the finals have been as exciting as you can get. If people only watch at playoff time, there is nothing else you can do to sell them the game. Either they like it, or they don't. All ESPN or another big broadcaster can do is try and make a fringe (relatively speaking) sport "cool" for a while.
But for those who enjoy the game, it's been a great season back after a year off.
