Hockey

[The Joker]

How is hockey a sport that pays it's athletes a ton of money.

NFL is nationwide.
NBA is nationwide.
NHL is not.

Isn't hockey mainly a northern sport?

NHL doesn't have as big of fan base - means less people seeing the commercials. Means less money circulating the league. WTF? Who are these sponsors getting a return on their investment? How? Why?

I am not saying NHL is a stupid sport. I love golf and the object of the game is dumber than NHL.

Are Canadians the biggest user of products pushed by the NHL? What the fuck are they selling? Parkas?

 

[kickserv]

Lots of questions.

My only reply is that all pro hockey players (NHL, AHL, etc, etc, etc,) should be paid more then any other athletes in any North American sport. What these guys go through on the ice is unreal, the beating they take is unreal. No athletes in North America tougher then pro hockey players, nothing comes close.

Of course the market determines how much one will get paid, pussy baseball players get a billion times more money then hockey players which is pathetic but that is what market dictates.

For the record my Toronto Maple Leafs are worth 1.3 billion dollars so ummm it isn't like the league is struggling. The NHL is a billion dollar industry, nothing close to NFL or MLB but it isn't like there is no money to be made.

Oh and NHL playoffs is huge in Canada absolutely huge, companies pay huge money to adverstise in Canada, huge.

Rogers (Canadian Company) paid 5.2 BILLION DOLLARS for TV rights to NHL here in Canada, yes you read that correctly 5.2 BILLION DOLLARS.

 

[kickserv]

Who are these sponsors getting a return on their investment?

Canadian companies fight to the death to advertise, trust me on that.

 

[kickserv]

NHL doesn't have as big of fan base - means less people seeing the commercials. Means less money circulating the league. WTF?

You can have a larger fan base but that doesn't mean a larger fan base would bring in more money. Yes of course the more fans the more who will watch commercials. But on the other hand you can have a large fan base that never spends money on teams jerseys, hats, shirts, etc, etc, and they never attend an actual game.

I have no idea what the numbers are but I'd figure the average NBA fan spends way less then an average NHL fan does. I do know of the NHL is number 1 North American sport when it comes to fans with a disposable income, that I do know.

 

[kickserv]

Oh and one more thing that can not be overlooked......females watch NHL more then any other sport except for NFL. Last years Stanley Cup playoffs the viewership was 41.6 percent female, and most of that audience was the coveted 18?49 age range, that is what advertisers love. Throw in the "disposable income" and NHL has some perks to work with when they try to attract advertisers.

Simply put it is not all about the total number of fans. It is what demographics those fans are made up of.

 

[yyz]

I know one thing. EVERYONE seems to be wearing a jersey at a hockey game! Can't say that about the other sports by a long shot!

 

[Mr. Poon]

How is hockey a sport that pays it's athletes a ton of money.

NFL is nationwide.
NBA is nationwide.
NHL is not.

Isn't hockey mainly a northern sport?

NHL doesn't have as big of fan base - means less people seeing the commercials. Means less money circulating the league. WTF? Who are these sponsors getting a return on their investment? How? Why?

I am not saying NHL is a stupid sport. I love golf and the object of the game is dumber than NHL.

Are Canadians the biggest user of products pushed by the NHL? What the fuck are they selling? Parkas?

I think you are wrong to view it as simply a Northern/Canadian as well as a sport not attended well. Here are the attendance for NHL and NBA (the sport it compares to often due to timing and similarities of seasons):

http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance

http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance

NBA is less than 2% higher for the most recent season. Go back one year and the NHL was 1% higher.

I don't have tv ratings info for you but I'm sure Kickserv can provide that.

 

[The Joker]

I think you are wrong to view it as simply a Northern/Canadian as well as a sport not attended well. Here are the attendance for NHL and NBA (the sport it compares to often due to timing and similarities of seasons):

http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance

http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance

NBA is less than 2% higher for the most recent season. Go back one year and the NHL was 1% higher.

I don't have tv ratings info for you but I'm sure Kickserv can provide that.

I did not know that.

 

[kneifl]

One other thing....

One other thing....

It's a competitive market for Hockey players, especially in the US. They are playing elsewhere and taking in more money. It's pretty damn fascinating to me, I know a few Eastern European and Russian hockey players that have went to the KHL and the US still may pay the most, but we traditionally tax income the most as well. FWIW, Alex Ovechkin (who I consider one of the best players) has played in both leagues.

kneifl

 

[kickserv]

I know one thing. EVERYONE seems to be wearing a jersey at a hockey game! Can't say that about the other sports by a long shot!

Very true.