How do get people to tune in?
Something that has always bothered me, is T.V. ratings for the NHL. In the U.S., hockey is a tough sell. It was reported that the XFL had higher ratings than the NHL last season. There is something wrong with this picture.
Don’t get me wrong, the NHL is in no danger of elimination like the XFL, but we need more viewers in the U.S. I’ve been a hockey fan all of my life. That came from being raised in a great hockey market; the philly area. Places such as Philly, Detrot, Chicago, and N.Y. are easy hockey sells. We need to sell it to the rest of the country as well.
Most of my friends are huge football fans (I rarely watch football anymore). I try and sell the NHL by telling them that instead of watching 30 seconds of action followed by 2 minutes of standing around, why not watch constant action all game long?
Most non-hockey fans say that they don’t understand the rules. ESPN has helped tremendously by adding NHL Rules shows. As a hockey fan, I can’t stand to watch the broadcast because they explain things I already understand. But for a hockey virgin, if you will, it helps.
I took a friend to see a Idaho Steelheads game last year. He’s from Iowa and didn’t know much about hockey. He loved it! The passion of the fans, the action, the atmosphere, everything. But that was one man. How do we convert the rest of the country and have them tune in to the greatest sport on earth?