Granted, not the two most marketable teams that could be in it but that's pathetic.
A perfect storm has more or less hit the NHL over the past couple of years and this is what it has become. Kind of sad but the league brought it on itself. As great as the previous TV contract was from a financial perspective for the players and some teams (the dolts at Disney/ABC/ESPN paying WAY TOO much), it created a whole lot of issues that will linger for years.
Is this what the NHL is? 10 years ago, I really thought that hockey had a legit shot at being a popular and high profile sport. It was never going to be the NFL but I thought it could hang with the NBA, as the post-Jordan era has been terrible (but has since picked up), and MLB.
I guess I need to resign myself to the fact that hockey is nothing more than a fringe sport.
611,000 American viewers for game 1 of The Finals
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MuchoBulls
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JD wrote:Who fuckin cares. If you like it, watch it!
'Zactly...
I would be curious to find out what the numbers were for the game last night on NBC though. With the Oilers winning last night, it does make this more of a series and more watchable to the casual viewer. I didn't watch the game last night because I had to tend to a family emergency but I did record. I'm glad Edmonton won last night and made this a series again...I wouldn't be shocked to see this go 6 or 7. I don't know what ABC did for Game 6 and 7 of last season's final...can't imagine it won't be that much different.
My point being that if you like it, just watch and ratings will take care of themselves.Rack Fu wrote:The point being that if only 600,000 people are watching the Stanley Cup Finals, there might not be anything to watch in the future. Who the hell would want to put something that anemic on TV?
You can't tell me there are only 611000 hockey fans in the US.
But the NHL would have to truly slip out of the conciousness of the world for it to not be on TV. You can watch CFL games on US TV for cryin' out loud!!
Still a FlameFan
NHL isn't going away. It will always be there in some form and as long as I have a satellite dish, I'll be able to watch. I came to the conclusion quite a while ago that hockey will never be a big deal here. You'll have Michigan, Massachussets, and Minnesota as well as small pockets of intense fans but that'll be about it. Sure, the Hurricanes have created a buzz in their market and perhaps a few people there will become hockey fans. This is what happened when I lived in Dallas when the Stars had their run. Happened in south Florida for a season and a couple of years ago in Tampa. But it won't get much bigger than that. People outside of these hockey towns don't really know/care about hockey....so don't watch. And next season, when the Canes are lame again (or even very good) you'll see them playing in a half empty stadium.
But it'll still be on the tube in some form. Back in the day, it was covered on the USA Network. I'm not even sure if they're still around. Some network, no matter how big or dinky, will broadcast it. And ratings will stink. Such is the plight of the NHL in America......
But it'll still be on the tube in some form. Back in the day, it was covered on the USA Network. I'm not even sure if they're still around. Some network, no matter how big or dinky, will broadcast it. And ratings will stink. Such is the plight of the NHL in America......