I'm thirty-seven years old. When I was a kid, the four major pro sports in the United States were (in no particular order) baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. Yes, I included hockey in that category.
I grew up watching Wayne Greztky break record upon record. I looked on in awe as Mario Lemieux played Robin to the Great One's Batman. I watched the New York Islanders tear my heart out (as a Rangers fan) year after year (until 1994, of course). The Stanley Cup had as much importance to me as a fan as any of the other championship trophies in sports.
I wish I could say the same thing today. I woke up this morning and turned on Sportscenter while I worked out. Did you know the NHL Playoffs started last night? I'm not asking that to be a wise ass. It's a serious question. And I ask it because the NHL has fallen so far off the radar screen that it's easy to forget about it, even if they do have two signature stars in Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.
I realize it's not like that in every city. In Chicago, the sport is making a comeback thanks to the improved play of the Blackhawks (there was a time when almost no one was watching the team). In New York, two of the three teams are in the playoffs (Rangers and Devils) while the third (Islanders) just landed the top pick in the upcoming draft.
But the NHL, now more than ever, has become a regional sport. it's popular in certain areas, non-existent in others. Fifteen years ago, the league was riding high. Now, NASCAR and Golf both outrank the league in terms of popularity. Why? How did this happen?
There are some who believe the NHL has suffered because ESPN has pretty much ignored them over the last four years. And, that is pretty much true. ESPN doesn't ignore Major League Baseball, the NBA, NFL, or NCAA. That's because they have a vested interest in those leagues. They have contracts with them to broadcast their games. If the leagues do well, ESPN will do well.
ESPN doesn't have a relationship with the NHL anymore, forcing Gary Bettman to take the league's television games to Versus. It's easy to find ESPN or any of their twelve sister networks. It's not as easy to find Versus, let alone Versus in HD.
And then, there's the NHL's over the air television contract. It's with NBC. No offense to The Peacock, but up until the NFL came back to NBC a couple of years ago, NBC Sports was a joke. Sure they had the PGA Tour and Notre Dame, but they didn't have much else. No one watches Olympic sports unless the Olympics are actually on. Extreme Sports is gaining in popularity, but right now it's still a niche sport. NBC didn't have what ESPN, CBS, or FOX did, and as a result they weren't taken seriously.
Like I said, there are those that blame the downturn in the NHL's popularity on lack of television exposure. But that's not the cause. That's not why the NHL has done a disappearing act. The real reason? The NHL itself.
The problems started with labor strife in the early part of the 1990's. They continued after the Rangers won The Stanley Cup in 1994 (the first time they won it since 1940). The Rangers were one of a handful of teams in the league that had a national following. the league could have - and should have - capitalized on that. Instead, they shot themselves in the foot. The Rangers won the cup in June of '94. The league locked the players out just months later. The 1994-1995 season didn't start until January of '95. Fans were angry. They never forgave.
Of course, the NHL didn't make it easy for them to forgive. The high scoring, wide open game that was the signature of the league in the 1980's and early 1990's left shortly after the lockout of 1994 ended. Teams like the New Jersey Devils would go on to win Lord Stanley's Cup by playing a defensive style (known as the neutral zone trap) that was absolutely boring to watch. I mean, watching paint dry was more entertaining than watching the Devils win their first Cup.
Unfortunately, New Jersey's style of play began to be copied by team after team after team. Scoring went down. 2-1 games were the norm, not the exception. Television ratings went down. By the time the league imposed another lockout in the early portion of this decade, fans had had enough. They were ready for the NHL to go away.
But, no one thought they'd go away for an entire season. Lose a couple of months and you can survive. Lose a season because millionaires are fighting with millionaires over money and you can right your own eulogy. That's what the NHL did by throwing away an entire season.
The league has tried to regain the fans. Crosby and Ovechkin are a joy to watch. The league has tried to open up the offense. The shootout was introduced. The Winter Classic is something that has caught on. The game, on the ice, is a lot more enjoyable than it was for much of the 1990's.
But still, the ratings are low (and I say that while acknowledging they are better than they used to be). Crosby and Ovechkin are the faces of the league, but they aren't the household names that stars in other sports are. Combine all the factors I've talked about and you have a pro sport starting their post-season that is flying under the radar. It wouldn't happen like that with any other sport.
And the NHL has no one to blame but themselves.
Click here for today's podcast!
No comments:
Post a Comment