If I Ruled the Sports World-- Hockey
This is the first of a short series on what I would do with sports, if I ruled the world. Lucky for y'all that I don't!
I don't usually write about sports, although I am a fan. While I watch a moderate amount of TV sports, I'm not glued to ESPN. I'll go to a few games each year, watch the playoffs and special events, catch one football game a Sunday, etc., but mostly I am a "newspaper" fan. So though I may not spend three and a half hours watching a baseball game on a Tuesday night, I will spend 5 minutes reading the story the next day.
Hockey is dieing, and that's a shame. Its disease was self-inflicted. I wrote previously that hockey could go the way of the roller derby-- don't laugh! There was a time when roller derby had great attendance, and ratings much higher than hockey has ever had. Can a sport fade from the scene? Ask boxing fans. Asking indoor cycling fans, a sport that used to fill arenas (indeed, Madison Square Garden was built for cycling!). It can happen.
Hockey is in the midst of a lockout, but I don't miss hockey, yet. I'm an Islander fan; I was at their first home victory, November 21, 1972, against the California Seals. I love playoff hockey, and I detest regular season hockey. There was nothing more intense, not even the Yankee-Bosox rivalry, than the Islander-Ranger playoff series, when both teams were good. Nothing.
I have never understood why the NHL hasn't simply moved ten or so money-losing American South franchises to Europe. Trans-Atlantic flights are easy enough, and I have to believe the ability to market world-wide products simultaneously here & in Europe would attract sponsors. Besides, many of the best players are now from Europe--it truly is an international sport.
I have never understood why hockey hasn't cut out the fighting; they will never broaden their fan base while guys goon it up on cue, like a WWE cage match. I understand that they have a tiger by the tail; they are afraid that if they stop the thuggery, they will lose the 15 year old boy market. International hockey exists without fighting. Since the NHL is in crisis, anyway, it seems to me they should give it a shot.
Too many teams make the playoffs. The regular season is too long. Regular season games are worthless, and everyone knows it, so nobody goes to the game, and nobody watches on TV. Cut the number of teams in the playoffs, and cut the number of regular season games, and every game becomes vastly more important. Result? Higher attendance, higher ratings.
International hockey, and college, don't use the red line. It allows longer passes. Think of a bomb in football-- isn't that exciting? The NHL should open up the long pass.
The NHL also allows too much clutching and grabbing, too much center ice interference. Let the guys skate!
Finally, I think the single biggest mistake made by the NHL was taking the short money, and putting almost all hockey games on cable only. They effectively shrunk their market twenty years ago to only then-existing fans. Get the games out there-- re-involve young fans. The NHL has a miniscule national TV contract (when they have one) because people are creatures of habit, and when they can't find their show with regularity, they fade away. So to supplement their income, the NHL has raised ticket prices to atmospheric proportions. Tickets to Islander games, for example, range from $25 (few of those) to $140 per ticket, with most tickets going for about $70. Who can afford that?
There. Add some free market solutions, such as unlimited team movement, and the ability to sell player contracts for whatever the market will bear, and my work here is done.
I don't usually write about sports, although I am a fan. While I watch a moderate amount of TV sports, I'm not glued to ESPN. I'll go to a few games each year, watch the playoffs and special events, catch one football game a Sunday, etc., but mostly I am a "newspaper" fan. So though I may not spend three and a half hours watching a baseball game on a Tuesday night, I will spend 5 minutes reading the story the next day.
Hockey is dieing, and that's a shame. Its disease was self-inflicted. I wrote previously that hockey could go the way of the roller derby-- don't laugh! There was a time when roller derby had great attendance, and ratings much higher than hockey has ever had. Can a sport fade from the scene? Ask boxing fans. Asking indoor cycling fans, a sport that used to fill arenas (indeed, Madison Square Garden was built for cycling!). It can happen.
Hockey is in the midst of a lockout, but I don't miss hockey, yet. I'm an Islander fan; I was at their first home victory, November 21, 1972, against the California Seals. I love playoff hockey, and I detest regular season hockey. There was nothing more intense, not even the Yankee-Bosox rivalry, than the Islander-Ranger playoff series, when both teams were good. Nothing.
I have never understood why the NHL hasn't simply moved ten or so money-losing American South franchises to Europe. Trans-Atlantic flights are easy enough, and I have to believe the ability to market world-wide products simultaneously here & in Europe would attract sponsors. Besides, many of the best players are now from Europe--it truly is an international sport.
I have never understood why hockey hasn't cut out the fighting; they will never broaden their fan base while guys goon it up on cue, like a WWE cage match. I understand that they have a tiger by the tail; they are afraid that if they stop the thuggery, they will lose the 15 year old boy market. International hockey exists without fighting. Since the NHL is in crisis, anyway, it seems to me they should give it a shot.
Too many teams make the playoffs. The regular season is too long. Regular season games are worthless, and everyone knows it, so nobody goes to the game, and nobody watches on TV. Cut the number of teams in the playoffs, and cut the number of regular season games, and every game becomes vastly more important. Result? Higher attendance, higher ratings.
International hockey, and college, don't use the red line. It allows longer passes. Think of a bomb in football-- isn't that exciting? The NHL should open up the long pass.
The NHL also allows too much clutching and grabbing, too much center ice interference. Let the guys skate!
Finally, I think the single biggest mistake made by the NHL was taking the short money, and putting almost all hockey games on cable only. They effectively shrunk their market twenty years ago to only then-existing fans. Get the games out there-- re-involve young fans. The NHL has a miniscule national TV contract (when they have one) because people are creatures of habit, and when they can't find their show with regularity, they fade away. So to supplement their income, the NHL has raised ticket prices to atmospheric proportions. Tickets to Islander games, for example, range from $25 (few of those) to $140 per ticket, with most tickets going for about $70. Who can afford that?
There. Add some free market solutions, such as unlimited team movement, and the ability to sell player contracts for whatever the market will bear, and my work here is done.
posted by A Red Mind in a Blue State at 6:20 AM
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