Hockey game is tied (Fallout)

[golfer]

I just looked it up.. Stephen Walkom, otherwise known as " WHO?".

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by golfer

That was Jim Shoenfeld to Don Koharski, I believe
Shoenfeld coaches the Rangers AHL team, Koharski is still officiating.

I cant get enough of that...

[golfer]

The full qoute was "you fell, you fat pig, have another donut, have another donut!", I looked that up too

[SentToStud]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

VS is not a widely distributed channel. Fox, I believe has had hockey coverage the last few years. Remember the glowing puck? Hockeys 2 biggest problems with attracting new viewers are 1. It is a bad betting sport and 2. most of the players are foreign. Add to that the fact that most of the south is uninterested and view it as a northern sport and there is virtually no mainstream exposure.

I dont believe that the live gate is anywhere near the NBA's.

VS in 72 Mllion homes. ESPN in 102 Million. I'll have someone in the lab check the NHL gate compared to NBA. I'd bet a sandwich on NHL.

As an aside, gambling was THE major factor that kept the sport popular and growing during the first 1/2 of the last century. Personally, I find nothing lousy about gambling on hockey.

[golfer]

Here it is Chuck, you'll have to wait a couple of minutes, but enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUKboJCNn3U

[SentToStud]

Originally Posted by SentToStud

VS in 72 Mllion homes. ESPN in 102 Million. I'll have someone in the lab check the NHL gate compared to NBA. I'd bet a sandwich on NHL.

As an aside, gambling was THE major factor that kept the sport popular and growing during the first 1/2 of the last century. Personally, I find nothing lousy about gambling on hockey.

2006-07 Regular Season Total Attendance:

NBA: 21.8 Million
NHL: 20.8 Million

30 teams and 1,230 regular season games in each league. NBA by a short head.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by SentToStud

VS in 72 Mllion homes. ESPN in 102 Million. I'll have someone in the lab check the NHL gate compared to NBA. I'd bet a sandwich on NHL.

As an aside, gambling was THE major factor that kept the sport popular and growing during the first 1/2 of the last century. Personally, I find nothing lousy about gambling on hockey.

72 vs 102 would seem to be a bad match especially in light of the fact that on many cable systems you have to pay for an extra tier of channels to get VS, while ESPN is on basic on most systems.

The gate is a joke. WNBA games which are usually played in fron of 1/2 filled arena's with 1/2 of those tickets being free or group giveaways, routniely report attendance figs of 15000.

[SentToStud]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

72 vs 102 would seem to be a bad match especially in light of the fact that on many cable systems you have to pay for an extra tier of channels to get VS, while ESPN is on basic on most systems.

The gate is a joke. WNBA games which are usually played in fron of 1/2 filled arena's with 1/2 of those tickets being free or group giveaways, routniely report attendance figs of 15000.

Well, I won't wast any more of your time. But gates being a joke? It's no different for one league than the other unless you try to say the NHL sells more season tix than the NBA. I have a share in Heat season tickets and I assure you when they play Atlanta, the joint ain't busting. And unless you have a seat between the end lines at an NBA game, I assure you NHL live is a far better spectator sport from an average seat. That's why they draw 20.8 million despite being on VS, I guess.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by SentToStud

Well, I won't wast any more of your time. But gates being a joke? It's no different for one league than the other unless you try to say the NHL sells more season tix than the NBA. I have a share in Heat season tickets and I assure you when they play Atlanta, the joint ain't busting. And unless you have a seat between the end lines at an NBA game, I assure you NHL live is a far better spectator sport from an average seat. That's why they draw 20.8 million despite being on VS, I guess.

I am not debating the merits of the 2 sports at all. I like both. But the NHL has marginalized itself to the point where fans like me who could easily be attracted just are not that interested anymore. Honestly if the playoffs were on ESPN and constantly promoted like they do, I'm sure I would have a lot more interest.

[golfer]

The old joke was, and perhaps still is, there are at least (and possibly at most) 20,000 hockey fans in each city, and the same people are the ones filling up the arena's each night. The ticket prices are insane for most people. I have not been to a game since the mid 90's when $40 got you a good seat. Madison Square Garden sells mostly to Corporations, who of course, use them as write-offs (this is my opinion, I don't have the numbers to back it up).

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by golfer

The old joke was, and perhaps still is, there are at least (and possibly at most) 20,000 hockey fans in each city, and the same people are the ones filling up the arena's each night. The ticket prices are insane for most people. I have not been to a game since the mid 90's when $40 got you a good seat. Madison Square Garden sells mostly to Corporations, who of course, use them as write-offs (this is my opinion, I don't have the numbers to back it up).

Sounds like Churchill on Derby day!!
There are real problems when the Red Wings dont sell out a playoff game!

[SentToStud]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

I am not debating the merits of the 2 sports at all. I like both. But the NHL has marginalized itself to the point where fans like me who could easily be attracted just are not that interested anymore. Honestly if the playoffs were on ESPN and constantly promoted like they do, I'm sure I would have a lot more interest.

Thing is, hockey will never be a big TV sport here. The game does not translate well at all to television. There are infrequent whistles, the puck moves fast and scoring is fairly low. Football and basketball are just better TV sports.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by SentToStud

Thing is, hockey will never be a big TV sport here. The game does not translate well at all to television. There are infrequent whistles, the puck moves fast and scoring is fairly low. Football and basketball are just better TV sports.

True but without the big $ and exposure that TV brings, it is hard to see the sport gaining in popularity among the average fan

[Cannon Shell]

Actually it is a little scary that a few multimedia sources pretty much control what we watch and more importanly what we desire to watch.

[golfer]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Actually it is a little scary that a few multimedia sources pretty much control what we watch and more importanly what we desire to watch.

Now this is an IMPORTANT STATEMENT!!!

[BillW]

I'm watching the FSN-Pitts. daily sports talk show now. People are pissed that the game was preempted by the Preakness. Guess you can't please everybody. The host, Stan Savran did mention that the ratings for the Preakness pre-game show was double that of the hockey game.

[Zippy Chippy]

Originally Posted by golfer

The ticket prices are insane for most people. I have not been to a game since the mid 90's when $40 got you a good seat.

Back before the lockout, owners insisted that they needed to charge high prices for tickets because of the expensive payrolls they were paying. After the lockout, the owners got exactly what they wanted: their payrolls went down significantly. So what happened to ticket prices? Nothing. They stayed the same. If the fans weren't feeling gouged before, they certainly are being gouged now--especially during the playoffs.