1 of 1- RadioActive
- Moderator
Online! 
Stanley Cup Finals Huge In Canada, But Not In The U.S.
Despite some overtime thrillers, the audience for the Stanley Cup Finals in the U.S. have been shrinking. And there may be a number of reasons for it.
Why are so few people watching the Stanley Cup Final in the U.S.?
- torontostan
- Member
Offline
Re: Stanley Cup Finals Huge In Canada, But Not In The U.S.
Nobody wants to watch hockey in June
- cash
- Member
Offline
Re: Stanley Cup Finals Huge In Canada, But Not In The U.S.
Hockey will always be a fringe sport in the US.
- mace
- Member
Offline
Re: Stanley Cup Finals Huge In Canada, But Not In The U.S.
cash wrote:
Hockey will always be a fringe sport in the US.
Agreed. It will always trail the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA Football [Division One] and NCAA Basketball. Probably the WNBA too.
- Easily Amused
- Member
Offline
Re: Stanley Cup Finals Huge In Canada, But Not In The U.S.
No 'FoxTrax' makes it difficult for the Bubbas to appreciate the game.
- paterson1
- Member
Offline
Re: Stanley Cup Finals Huge In Canada, But Not In The U.S.
Doesn't help when the playoffs are only on cable and on a somewhat secondary network like TNT. ESPN had stronger numbers and the games on ABC helped too.
- Johnny B
- Member
Offline
Re: Stanley Cup Finals Huge In Canada, But Not In The U.S.
The NHL season is 2 months too long...NHL playoffs should be best of 5 in the first round...and never have the NHL finals at the same time as the NBA finals....also, having a Canadian team in the final doesn't help with US ratings either....you get a New York Rangers vs Chicago Black Hawks final and I bet the U.S numbers double.
- mace
- Member
Offline
Re: Stanley Cup Finals Huge In Canada, But Not In The U.S.
The NHL season is 2 months too long...NHL playoffs should be best of 5 in the first round...and never have the NHL finals at the same time as the NBA finals....also, having a Canadian team in the final doesn't help with US ratings either....you get a New York Rangers vs Chicago Black Hawks final and I bet the U.S numbers double.
Best of 5? NHL is primarily a gate receipts revenue league. Owners would never agree to potentially lose two extra games worth of revenue. As for the NHL not having their Championship at the same time as the NBA, both leagues play an 82 game schedule from mid October/early November to the end of April followed by two months of playoffs. The NHL always schedules their playoff games on alternate nights from the NBA because going head to head would not end well ratingswise for the NHL in the U.S.
- Johnny B
- Member
Offline
Re: Stanley Cup Finals Huge In Canada, But Not In The U.S.
NHL first round playoffs used to be best of 3 many years back...then best of 5...owners won;t agree to bringing that back from the now best of 7 round 1, obviously that's a no brainer considering the revenue....I'm looking at this from a fan perspective....having an ice hockey championship go til the middle or end of June is simply ridiculous and if a SC final series goes 7 games it takes 2 weeks to complete...cut the season to 72 games, make the first round of the playoffs shorter and you can end things by the end of May at the very least...too many games, too long a season...just dumb....it's all about the cash...there is no turning back.
- Mavridis
- Member
Offline
Re: Stanley Cup Finals Huge In Canada, But Not In The U.S.
Nah.. Having a Canadian team didn't hurt ratings in the US. One million Canadians live in the US, and another million spend part of the year in California and Arizona alone, so you'd figure at least some of them would watch. The problem was Florida. Even as defending champs, they didn't sell out this season. And their local Miami TV ratings still blow. Yes, a market like NYC would prop ratings up a bit. But so would Columbus or Minnesota. That guy quoted in the story is a knob if he thinks a cross-border final hurts US numbers. The year the Raptors won the title was the last time ABC/ESPN scored an 8-figure viewership; and it remains the highest rated and most-watched NBA Finals of the last decade.
The NHL season is 2 months too long...NHL playoffs should be best of 5 in the first round...and never have the NHL finals at the same time as the NBA finals....also, having a Canadian team in the final doesn't help with US ratings either....you get a New York Rangers vs Chicago Black Hawks final and I bet the U.S numbers double.
- Ale Ont
- Member
Offline
Re: Stanley Cup Finals Huge In Canada, But Not In The U.S.
I remember the first expansion. Jack Kent Cooke, a Canadian, owned the Los Angeles Kings and the "fabulous Forum." He was asked the question concerning fan support. He says there are thousands of Canadians living here so attendance shouldn't be a problem. When attendance was dismal, he was asked about his claim that there were thousands of Canadians living around L.A.. His answer was now he knew why these Canadians moved to California. "They hate hockey."
- mace
- Member
Offline
Re: Stanley Cup Finals Huge In Canada, But Not In The U.S.
NHL first round playoffs used to be best of 3 many years back...then best of 5...owners won;t agree to bringing that back from the now best of 7 round 1, obviously that's a no brainer considering the revenue....I'm looking at this from a fan perspective....having an ice hockey championship go til the middle or end of June is simply ridiculous and if a SC final series goes 7 games it takes 2 weeks to complete...cut the season to 72 games, make the first round of the playoffs shorter and you can end things by the end of May at the very least...too many games, too long a season...just dumb....it's all about the cash...there is no turning back.
Because it is all about the cash nothing will change. Same with MLB. Originally, they played 162 games games. The NL champ played the AL champ for the World Series. Problem was if the league leaders had a huge lead in the standings, attendance would plummet in other cities. Voila! Extend the playoffs with divisional rounds and wild card games. Fan interest will be maintained and extra revenue for the owners. While we are at it, let's move the World Series to prime time to keep the tv networks happy. All the moms were happy about that last move. When I was a kid, the World Series was always played in the afternoon, which often interrupted my mom's "Stories" So now because of this endless chase for more money we have the Stanley Cuo being decided in hot weather [June] and the World Series in cold weather [November]