Hockey fans, how do you feel about the Stanley Cup Finals getting lower ratings than...?

Question

Build a better burger and mamma's family to name a couple?

Answer 1

Bad. I feel bad. Is that what you wanted? lol, seriously it sucks but it is understandable.

There are those of us who would watch any hockey game above just about anything else. One thing you can say about the NHL the fans they got are dedicated.

Bettman is always saying that things are rosier than they are. He's like the guy facing bankruptcy who still brags every chance he gets about how great he's doing.

I gotta agree losing the ESPN deal was bad. VS has done an admirable job but they just don't have the visibility.

I still think we have too many teams and have diluted the talent pool by spreading out too few players over too many venues.

I love hockey, I will always love hockey, I will always watch hockey, but you need to be building and I don't see that under Bettman. It's all rhetoric and no substance. Saying hockey is popular is not the same as it actually being popular.

I'm in Buffalo though and even with the Sabs out of it, we had the highest ratings on VS in the country. I'm proud of that.

Answer 2

1) There is no shame in losing to a burger show.
2) The ones that are left are hardcore.
3) For the sake of getting to watch more hockey and read about it more, sure I wish it was more popular. But ti's not the end of the world to me. People forget that during the lockout, they thought the league would contract bigtime, and have trouble keeping themselves from folding.
4) I don't care if 50,000 or 50 million people watch the game, it's still a great and entertaining game to watch.
5) Whenever Bettman gets out, hockey will make a comeback. It'll never take a run at the big 3, but we still have good fans. This is partly due to number 4.
6) It would be a lot more fun watching the cup parade around Ottawa and watching those fans go gah-gah, but that's life. At least Selanne got the Cup, finally. I wonder how much he is thinking about the ratings.

Answer 3

I think it's sad! I blame both Betmann and the players union for the lock out, in which both teams were more worried about $$ than the promoting of their own sport, I think a better answer would have been Scab hockey, and when the next season insured ESPN dropped the NHL, that was not good for an already declining fan base either. Thanks to Versus for a valiant effort in picking up what they could. I also agree there are too many teams and not enough talent, resulting in some really boring games, some of the rule changes helped that. I think when Bettman leaves hockey and the major TV sports networks pick the NHL back up, it will help, but I'll tell you I still don't watch baseball like I used to before the strike back in the day. Real hockey fans are passionate about the sport, and will always watch it even if it's not their team. Go Sharks !

Answer 4

For many reasons, the NHL has always struggled to market itself on a national basis in America. What amazes me is that there are several - not all - American cities that have a huge television following that should translate into big national ratings.

Perhaps that has much to do with "homerism" a condition not as prevalent in other major sports leagues.

Nonetheless you really cannot blame the American viewer. We have a tremendous sports buffet to choose from within a years time. I understand that hockey is the #1 sport in Canada but the Stanley Cup Finals are scheduled at a time when baseball is almost a third of the way into its season. Baseball is as huge in America as hockey is to the Great White North.

Answer 5

I think this year the Stanley Cup Finals and the playoffs in general got such low ratings because of the lack of intensity and game 7's this year. I mean there was just 1 game 7 and it was pfft Dallas and Vancouver, I'll admit that was a pretty boring series to watch if you are a fan of goals, but if goal tending and 3 overtime marathons are your kind of thing then it was fun for you. The Final went 5 games, I'm a Leafs fan so im not in favour of the sens being in the finals in the first place but common, I expected a better fight from them, they were over before they even got started.

Answer 6

I'm hoping that the spread of HD will really help. This was the first time I got to watch the playoffs, and much of the season, in HD, and there is no comparison. Everything benefits from HD, but hockey benefits more than anything else! With the wide screen, it is easier to follow the play (I have played since I was 4, so I know where the trailer on the play should be, but now I can see him there).

I think that anyone who sees hockey in HD will not be able to stay away. Of course, I cannot fathom why everyone is not watching already anyway...

Answer 7

I love hockey, it has action speed, hitting and brilliant athletes. There are some problems in the US, there are 24 US teams and no major TV contract so the average sports fan that isn't in a city with a team can't follow the game at all except on Versus which his cable system might not have or he might not have cable. Also a lot of people don't like it because they have trouble following the puck on television and have to wait for a slow motion replay to see what really happened. There is no better sport you can watch in person though.

Answer 8

As a Hockey fan it is humiliating to see one of the premier sporting events in the world fade into obscurity.

The NHL has no one to blame but itself. The deal with Versus was horrible. Only about half of the cable systems in this country even carry the channel. I bought digital cable to get it and the feed is always so garbled that I can't watch. The first two games were on Versus and therefore no could watch and get sucked into the series. The NHL needs to start the Finals on a Saturday and put it on NBC.

Answer 9

One reason why this happened is because during the playoffs they switched the game from NBC to Vs so that NBC could cover the Kentucky derby pre whatever the hell you want to call it. I feel that this was wrong as fans who were watching that game were not told where they could go to resume watching the game. Another thing is that with hockey being on Vs not many people get this channel. It is a shame that the hockey finals received low ratings, its like the basketball finals scoring low as well.....then again when the game starts out on 3 damn channels!!!!!! ESPN and ESPN 2 and ABC what the hell?

Answer 10

The lack of Sponsers! How are we supposed to know if the sport exist if no one really promotes it!!! It Sucks real bad because Hockey is a great sport and the hockey fans are out there but its just real sad that it doesnt get the recognizion it deserves! You have Nike, Gatorade, Addias, and so on promoting the hell out of the NBA, MLB, and NFL but where are the NHL promotors?? So it sucks real bad for me becuase I love Hockey and when the Ducks won the Stanley cup, no really knew or even cared!