Penguins vs. Oilers

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

These teams met twice in the last week and the NHL did not nationally televise either game.  Why?  

You've got the face of the league and the future face of the league.  McDavid doesn't play on TV a lot in the US, because he plays for a team located near the North Pole.  This was a perfect opportunity to show some of his games. 

This league is just dumb.  

Edited November 2, 2017 by GMRwings1983

[Son of a Wing 1,644]

4 hours ago, GMRwings1983 said:

These teams met twice in the last week and the NHL did not nationally televise either game.  Why?  

You've got the face of the league and the future face of the league.  McDavid doesn't play on TV a lot in the US, because he plays for a team located near the North Pole.  This was a perfect opportunity to show some of his games. 

This league is just dumb.  

Agreed. It doesn't make any sense.

The first game, I believe it was the Wings/Sabres game they chose instead.  That was literally one of the worst games of professional hockey I've seen in a long time. 

Is it the other owners fighting for their slice of viewership? I have no idea. Just dumb. 

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

Was it much different with the Gretzky Oilers tho? (not sure, before my time). American viewers in general (casual ones at least) don't care about teams from northern Alberta. (NO disrespect) That's why. Had those Oilers teams of the 80's played in LA instead, the league would have grown much more during that time. Much more coverage. The league knows that your more diehard fans are going to watch the games regardless of whose playing. They're going after the casual fans with their national broadcasts.

Yeah, its Crosby and McDavid, but lesser fans aren't going to know who's who anyway. (Y'know the fans who refer to players by numbers?) Better to put out cities and teams that are more known as far as the league is concerned.

[Son of a Wing 1,644]

3 minutes ago, Neomaxizoomdweebie said:

Was it much different with the Gretzky Oilers tho? (not sure, before my time). American viewers in general (casual ones at least) don't care about teams from northern Alberta. (NO disrespect) That's why. Had those Oilers teams of the 80's played in LA instead, the league would have grown much more during that time. Much more coverage. The league knows that your more diehard fans are going to watch the games regardless of whose playing. They're going after the casual fans with their national broadcasts.

Yeah, its Crosby and McDavid, but lesser fans aren't going to know who's who anyway. (Y'know the fans who refer to players by numbers?) Better to put out cities and teams that are more known as far as the league is concerned.

I think you're vastly underestimating how knowledgeable the average American viewer is now compared to the 80s. 

The fans that "refer to players by numbers" might make up about a tiny sliver of total viewership.

[kickazz 5,459]

People know who Crosby and McDavid are.

They just don't care for it. With the World Series, NFL and College football going on people would rather devote time of the week to those things. 

Plus for whatever reason Crosby isn't that big in the US even though he plays for Pittsburgh. McDavid is huge but he's just not as popular yet. 

Edited November 3, 2017 by kickazz

[Son of a Wing 1,644]

4 minutes ago, kickazz said:

People know who Crosby and McDavid are.

They just don't care for it. With the World Series, NFL and College football going on people would rather devote time of the week to those things. 

Plus for whatever reason Crosby isn't that big in the US even though he plays for Pittsburgh. McDavid is huge but he's just not as popular yet. 

How is Matthews compared to those guys? Curious as he's actually American yet plays for a Canadian franchise.

[kickazz 5,459]

6 minutes ago, Son of a Wing said:

How is Matthews compared to those guys? Curious as he's actually American yet plays for a Canadian franchise.

Super popular amongst middle and high schoolers. But so is McDavid. Got to remember that the younger generation is what drives hockey in the US and most of them don't really know prime Crosby like we all do. But they for sure are into the McDavid/ Mathews hype they see from ESPN etc. 

Kane is popular amongst high schoolers too. Parise popular amongst young college guys.  

People also like guys like Ovechkin for sure. Crosby just isn't as popular, can't say why. I think because he's pretty boring as a person. 

Edited November 3, 2017 by kickazz

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

34 minutes ago, kickazz said:

People know who Crosby and McDavid are.

They just don't care for it. With the World Series, NFL and College football going on people would rather devote time of the week to those things. 

Plus for whatever reason Crosby isn't that big in the US even though he plays for Pittsburgh. McDavid is huge but he's just not as popular yet. 

That's a Catch-22.  If the league is too lazy to market McDavid and make the "he plays in Alberta" excuse, then how is he ever going to become popular?

Also, sports broadcasting has evolved since the 80's.  You can now watch English and German soccer league games here in the US.  If they showed lots of Oilers games (at least when they play against teams in the Eastern and Central time zone), it would help market McDavid.    

[kickazz 5,459]

4 minutes ago, GMRwings1983 said:

That's a Catch-22.  If the league is too lazy to market McDavid and make the "he plays in Alberta" excuse, then how is he ever going to become popular?

Also, sports broadcasting has evolved since the 80's.  You can now watch English and German soccer league games here in the US.  If they showed lots of Oilers games (at least when they play against teams in the Eastern and Central time zone), it would help market McDavid.    

I think it's inevitable that McDavid gets popular. That dude is going to be breaking some records in a year or two. I still remember Patrick Kane didn't get popular until just 2-3 years ago when he started wracking up those insane amount of points.

It would also help if hockey came back to ESPN. Because that's what most households watch. Nobody gives a crap about NBC sports. 

 

Edited November 3, 2017 by kickazz

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

2 minutes ago, kickazz said:

I think it's inevitable that McDavid gets popular. That dude is going to be breaking some records in a year or two. I still remember Patrick Kane didn't get popular until just 2-3 years ago when he started wracking up those insane amount of points.

It would also help if hockey came back to ESPN. Because that's what most households watch. Nobody gives a crap about NBC sports. 

 

I disagree.  ESPN is laying people off and are losing viewers because of their political stance.  Ten years ago, they held a monopoly on sports in this country.  Not anymore.  We now have Fox Sports, NBC Sports, and other channels that broadcast sporting events.  ESPN is not what it used to be.  The only thing I miss about hockey on ESPN, was hearing Gary Thorne calling games and of course that awesome theme song they used to play. 

[kickazz 5,459]

2 minutes ago, GMRwings1983 said:

I disagree.  ESPN is laying people off and are losing viewers because of their political stance.  Ten years ago, they held a monopoly on sports in this country.  Not anymore.  We now have Fox Sports, NBC Sports, and other channels that broadcast sporting events.  ESPN is not what it used to be.  The only thing I miss about hockey on ESPN, was hearing Gary Thorne calling games and of course that awesome theme song they used to play. 

Fox doesn't have the volume of popular shows though. People still cling on to Sports Center as their nightly sports news, so it's natural for households to flock to it when they want to brows sports. Either way it seems that ever since NBC picked up hockey, it just hasn't been as popular here. 

Edited November 3, 2017 by kickazz

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

12 minutes ago, Son of a Wing said:

I think you're vastly underestimating how knowledgeable the average American viewer is now compared to the 80s. 

The fans that "refer to players by numbers" might make up about a tiny sliver of total viewership.

Maybe in bigger cities with NHL or even AHL teams, but not in a lot of the US, particularly middle America, where its still a niche sport. Someone in Boston knows who Connor McDavid is, or who the Edmonton Oilers are. Someone in Lincoln, Nebraska is less likely to, but they will more likely have heard of the Boston Bruins or the New York Rangers. The league, right or wrong, is trying to grow the game in new markets, with casual fanbases. Therefore they choose team/city recognition over player recognition, even if the product is worse. Not defending it, or even agreeing with it, just answering the question 'Why?' that was asked in the first post.

 

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

16 minutes ago, Neomaxizoomdweebie said:

Maybe in bigger cities with NHL or even AHL teams, but not in a lot of the US, particularly middle America, where its still a niche sport. Someone in Boston knows who Connor McDavid is, or who the Edmonton Oilers are. Someone in Lincoln, Nebraska is less likely to, but they will more likely have heard of the Boston Bruins or the New York Rangers. The league, right or wrong, is trying to grow the game in new markets, with casual fanbases. Therefore they choose team/city recognition over player recognition, even if the product is worse. Not defending it, or even agreeing with it, just answering the question 'Why?' that was asked in the first post.

 

Except, someone like Gretzky was well known in the US in the 80's, even among niche fans or non-fans.  Of course, he was destroying records and winning MVP awards every year, but playing in Edmonton in a league that had had basically no teams south of St. Louis didn't stop him from being generally known.

Bottom line is the league needs to take advantage of opportunities to showcase a young star like McDavid.   

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

56 minutes ago, GMRwings1983 said:

That's a Catch-22.  If the league is too lazy to market McDavid and make the "he plays in Alberta" excuse, then how is he ever going to become popular?

Also, sports broadcasting has evolved since the 80's.  You can now watch English and German soccer league games here in the US.  If they showed lots of Oilers games (at least when they play against teams in the Eastern and Central time zone), it would help market McDavid.    

Correct. The NHL doesn't do the best job at marketing itself. Anyone would find a McDavid vs. Matthews game more entertaining. Even someone who has never watched hockey before, and that would grow more interest in the league for sure. The trick is getting people to watch the games first though. Edmonton vs. Toronto just doesn't sound "sexy" enough? Its like that in any sport I guess. Yankees vs. Dodgers will always draw greater viewership than Astros vs. Royals, even in the World Series.

I am not disagreeing with you, just playing devil's advocate.

And you're right about Gretzky, impossible not to be noticed. IF McDavid tears up the league like that, the coverage will come regardless of where he plays. He's not there yet, give it time.

Edited November 3, 2017 by Neomaxizoomdweebie

[kickazz 5,459]

33 minutes ago, GMRwings1983 said:

Except, someone like Gretzky was well known in the US in the 80's, even among niche fans or non-fans.  Of course, he was destroying records and winning MVP awards every year, but playing in Edmonton in a league that had had basically no teams south of St. Louis didn't stop him from being generally known.

Bottom line is the league needs to take advantage of opportunities to showcase a young star like McDavid.   

McDavid isn't in the same league as Gretzky though. And times have changed particularly because back then hockey was very much popular in the US, specifically because of the Olympic "rivalry" with the USSR. 

80s, 90s hockey in the U.S was it's own golden age.

We would need another resurgence for it to matter. Maybe if Team USA won the Olympic gold, I guarantee you casual fans or non-fans would want to see more of it. 

Edited November 3, 2017 by kickazz

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

2 minutes ago, kickazz said:

McDavid isn't in the same league as Gretzky though. And times have changed particularly because back then hockey was very much popular in the US, specifically because of the Olympic "rivalry" with the USSR. 

80s, 90s hockey in the U.S was it's own golden age.

We would need another resurgence for it to matter. Maybe if Team USA won the Olympic gold, I guarantee you casual fans or non-fans would want to see more of it. 

Aren't there more teams and better attendance than there used to be in the NHL?  

[kickazz 5,459]

5 minutes ago, GMRwings1983 said:

Aren't there more teams and better attendance than there used to be in the NHL?  

That may be true but I wonder if that's just for the sake of the sporting event and culture of "going to a hockey game". I'm speaking for non-fans/casual fans (that show up for playoffs) that can be recruited into the McDavid hype for TV viewing. It might take more than just having the game available on cable. I think these people need some spark to get the interest in hockey. Olympics is always an opportunity. And if NHL players really can't go this year, USA may have a shot at winning. 

I mean it's not like they aren't trying though, like Neo said, they're trying random locations like Vegas. Whether that works or not, we'll find out.  

Edited November 3, 2017 by kickazz

[kickazz 5,459]

I mean don't get me wrong, I think hockey among the youth in the U.S is at its all time peak. But with these 20, 30,. 40 year olds, just doesn't seem like the same as it used to be. Most of these dudes would rather watch Golden State Warriors, Patriots, etc. 

 

Edited November 3, 2017 by kickazz

[Euro_Twins 4,477]

12 hours ago, kickazz said:

Super popular amongst middle and high schoolers. But so is McDavid. Got to remember that the younger generation is what drives hockey in the US and most of them don't really know prime Crosby like we all do. But they for sure are into the McDavid/ Mathews hype they see from ESPN etc. 

Kane is popular amongst high schoolers too. Parise popular amongst young college guys.  

People also like guys like Ovechkin for sure. Crosby just isn't as popular, can't say why. I think because he's pretty boring as a person. 

Do you hang out at high schools or something?

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

7 minutes ago, Euro_Twins said:

Do you hang out at high schools or something?

Hes king of the HS ski team

[kickazz 5,459]

2 hours ago, Euro_Twins said:

Do you hang out at high schools or something?

The hospitals don’t discriminate against the youth

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

3 hours ago, Euro_Twins said:

Do you hang out at high schools or something?

If dating counts as hanging out, then he does.  

[LeftWinger 4,964]

The nhl has it wrong. They'd rather show Detroit v Buffalo to grow in the US. When "newer" fans catch that game, they decide these teams suck and this is boring. If I were a person tuning in to see what the nhl has to offer, you better believe I'd enjoy Edmonton v Toronto more. It may hook me, then maybe I'd watch more games on NBC. But if my 1st impression was that Detroit v Buffalo game, I'm watching reruns of American idol. 

[kickazz 5,459]

12 minutes ago, GMRwings1983 said:

If dating counts as hanging out, then he does.  

Does it look like I’m an NBA player

3 hours ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

Hes king of the HS ski team

Snowboard* 

4 minutes ago, LeftWinger said:

But if my 1st impression was that Detroit v Buffalo game, I'm watching reruns of American idol. 

Like reruns as in the Kelly Clarkson era? Or Clay Aiken? 

[LeftWinger 4,964]

2 hours ago, kickazz said:

Does it look like I’m an NBA player

Snowboard* 

Like reruns as in the Kelly Clarkson era? Or Clay Aiken? 

Haley Reinhardt!