Can’t We Just Accept The NHL The Way It Is?

The National Hockey League is apparently running out of gimmicks to market the game. This season’s attempt to make a splash is comprised of additional games to be played overseas.

I was really expecting the marketing brass at the league office to come up with something better than that. However, it may be just as well after the introduction of the RBK Edge jersey (which were not loved by the players) and the complete embarrassment of the league at the NHL Skills competition during All-Star weekend.

In some ways hockey is a renegade sport. There are legions of die-hard fans that were on the verge of mental breakdown during the lockout and then there are those who just don’t get the game and never will.

Somewhere in the middle is what the National Hockey League marketing department has been trying to cater to over the past few seasons. Frankly, that is the job of a business organization – gaining new customers.

But At What Expense?

The NHL has frequently flirted with changing some of the major rules of the game such as making the nets larger, but has settled for various “tweaks” that will increase scoring (what the NHL believes will attract more fans) without disgracing the game in the eyes of the traditional hockey fan. In my opinion, the NHL has done a fair balancing act in this regard, but who is to say that increased scoring is really what “non-traditional” hockey fans really want?

Sure there may have been some academic studies in this regard, but a casual observer might say that Soccer has the most fans of any sport in the world and Soccer games feature far less scoring than hockey games. The casual observer might also say that the non-traditional hockey fan gets more excitement out of a big hit or, god-forbid a fight, than an actual goal!

Is There Really Less Scoring?

I might even ask that you compare the number of scoring plays in an average NHL game versus the number of scoring plays in an NFL game. For the sake of argument, let’s use touchdowns versus goals because nobody gets really excited over a field goal unless it’s a game winning field goal anyway.

So, how many touchdowns are scored in the average NFL game? Between 6 and 8 would certainly be generous.

In the “new” National Hockey league, there are fewer games where less than 6 total goals are scored.  Early in this season there have already been 14 games where more than 6 goals were scored.

The NFL is highly watched and admired by fans and there is no reason why the NHL should not be as well.  In fact, when you add in the entertainment value of fighting into the game of hockey I would submit that an NHL game offers more entertainment value for the dollar than football does.  This is especially true given the cost of tickets to an NFL game…if you can get tickets to your favorite team’s games.

So What Is Wrong?

What is wrong with Hockey as a viable entertainment product?

What will it take to push hockey into the “mainstream” in the USA?

Where has the National Hockey League gone wrong over all of these years?