woj

where some of you your ideas from but the problems are quite simple.

For the NHL to be considered a "major" sport it needs to have stars
with headline grabbing contracts like A Rod's and Yashin's. These guys
are the top 800 or so guys in the world at what they do. You can't
have the top guys making $3M-$4M when football, baseball and
basketball stars make $10-$25M.

It comes down to money. The ratings are generally in the 1.0-2.0
range which is what women's basketball gets. The low ratings
translate to smaller television contracts. The major network
television contracts for the NFL pay each team about $75M, baseball
$20M and basketball $25M. For the NHL it's about $5M. The teams have
local TV contracts that can pay them more but for the smaller markets
it's not much.

It's quite simple, American's in general aren't as interested in
hockey as they are in the other major sports and subsequently don't
watch enough of it on TV to pay "major" league salaries. Why? Well,
that takes some speculation but it seems to make sense that if your
dad played football, baseball and basketball as a kid and in college,
then he's probably gonna enter you in those sports and take you those
sports and get you interested in them so that's what you'll watch on
TV when you grow up.

There's nothing wrong with that. It just means that the NHL isn't
going to be able to keep up with the other major sports in America and
there's not much that can be done about it.

woj!

tom2tec

Sure ... so what. Most of us up here are Canadians. Why should American
apathy affect a Canadian sport and team. The fact is, in Canada it is the
sport with the greatest market. It's clearly time to separate the
divisions along national lines. Let there be a Canadian (north) and an
American (south) division. Let each stand on it's respective national
viewer audience. The Canadian division would do quite well, thank you very
much. Who knows, there might even be a European (eastern) division
someday...

2tec ~ no guts, no glory

cherokee-ltd

: For the NHL to be considered a "major" sport it needs to have stars
: with headline grabbing contracts like A Rod's and Yashin's. These guys
: are the top 800 or so guys in the world at what they do. You can't
: have the top guys making $3M-$4M when football, baseball and
: basketball stars make $10-$25M.
:

Since you have it all figured out...
If salaries dictate interest, please explain high NCAA Football and
Basketball TV ratings.

-Brian

bigredwingsfan

: woj <woj@rogers.com> wrote in message
: news:nmv3c0lad16p73n6r2vo0fdca40ipadqpk@4ax.com...
:
: Sure ... so what. Most of us up here are Canadians. Why should American
: apathy affect a Canadian sport and team. The fact is, in Canada it is the
: sport with the greatest market. It's clearly time to separate the
: divisions along national lines. Let there be a Canadian (north) and an
: American (south) division. Let each stand on it's respective national
: viewer audience. The Canadian division would do quite well, thank you very
: much. Who knows, there might even be a European (eastern) division
: someday...

I almost like this idea, but let the two divisions be the Original Six teams
(and perhaps 2-4 others) and any 6-10 teams west of the Mississippi (using
an imaginary boundary north thru Canada) who have proven to be profitable.
The noveau fan-base of the US southwest could then either put up or shut-up.

Marty
An American and a fan


:
: 2tec ~ no guts, no glory
:
:

problem solved

There are a lot of American fans and geographic regions that enjoy hockey as
much as we do. Well may not a lot, but there are some.

feeniks©

More than I'm sure Neilsen (...or whatever demographic tracking device in
use...) reflects; it seems to only be important what percentage of the
trackable population tunes in to whichever reality show is the network
darling of the moment - who knows what is *really* going on below the radar?
Does anyone *not* watching "Rebuild Your Face and Sell Your Soul" really
care? I know I don't.

I am enjoying these games. Many others I know south of your border are as
well. We are out from under the
Colorado/Detroit/Dallas/New Jersey bloated media go-round... Ain't that
important too?

michael barkatt

I agree. Canadians will always watch hockey, no matter what. I know I will

I don't agree. "Stars" can make any amount at all, but if marketed right,
they will bring in the fans. Why is it that you used such unrealistically
small salaries for your NHL "top guys"? Probably because it doesn't make
any difference the stars are stars regardless of how much they make.

I'm curious. How many USAmericans went to a NHL game last year, and how
many Canadians went to a NHL game last year? The populations of our two
countries are nowhere close to each other. The NHL doesn't want a larger
cut from a smaller pie - it wants the larger pie!

overrated: vc #15

Most of what you say makes sense, but popularity of a sport has NOTHING to
do with player salaries. People who don't watch hockey couldn't care less
about what the players are making. You know why? Because they cannot even
name 10 players. NHL has ZERO superstars. There is not one poster child of
this league. Perhaps the only one who can break through is Jerome
Iginla........but he's stuck in Calgary and nobody can see him.

Here are the real facts (the way I see it, of course):

1) The NHL product is pretty horrible right now. The so-called "Fastest
game on earth" is now a slow paced clutch and grab game.

2) Lack of personality. Let's face it, hockey players have no personality
to sell to America. Lack of charisma is not helping.

3) Americans have seen hockey, and they just don't like it. Americans have
also seen soccer, and they don't like it as well. They've grown up with
baseball, basketball and football. All the media in the US covers these 3
sports very well. They have high-school and college programs dedicated to
these sports. Every magazine covers these sports. Just like here in
Canada......all we see is 24/7 of hockey, hockey, and more hockey! That's
not going to change unless something drastic happens.