SeanMC?  SeanMC?!?!?!  Oooh, I’m so impressed at his hipness and edginess!

Sean, I have a few things to say to you.

One:  The “average sports fan” (much like the “average man-on-the-street") has approximately the intelligence of a mentally-challenged dung beetle and the attention span of a hyperactive shrew.  Hockey goes too long without breaks (if played properly) and requires paying attention to understand, unlike football, which is broken up every 3.7 seconds for advertising and relentless replays of what just happened (like that stunning incomplete pass or the way his ankle flipped around in slo-mo before he was helped off the field), so it is impossible to not notice what is going on even though the game itself lasts almost as long as the interminable pre-game show.

Two: The “average sports fan” as you define it doesn’t exist.  There are too many teams, too many sports, and too many ways of being a fan to come up with an “average” that makes any sense.  Fragmentation of the market, Sean!  That’s why the networks are in trouble and no one watches the exact same show anymore - the death of so-called “appointment television.” There is no such thing as an “average sports fan” if by that you mean someone who watches everything.  Every sports fan I know has one or a few favorite sports and might watch a few others if their home team is in it, or it’s the playoffs, or they want to see a train wreck (hence the Detroit Lions).  Just because hockey isn’t your favorite doesn’t mean it isn’t the favorite of many other people.

Three:  Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s dead, Sean.  I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you really aren’t all that important.

(Oh, and the glowing puck was horrible.)

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 04/17/08 at 12:51 PM ET

Great, now everyone at work is going to wonder why I’m walking around grumbling.  Thank goodness none of my coworkers is named Sean! 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 04/17/08 at 12:58 PM ET

Sean may not have all the details or the right words Baroque, but the general statement he is making is pretty much correct.

This simple truth is that hockey is so low on most Americans that more people go to High School football games than hockey games most nights.  We’ve all heard the TV ratings too, about how this sport and that sport rated higher than a hockey game on any given night (I even heard that in one city, a Womens’ Softball game received more ratings).

And how do you fix it?  Hell if I know. I’m not going to pretend to know.  That’s Gary Bettmans’ job.  A job he gets gets paid VERY well to do.

My only thinking is maybe he should take one or two years off the TV deal, acutally pay a respectable Sports Network to put the NHL on the air frequently, and see if it draws interest.

Posted by 41 Long Ones from Edmonton on 04/17/08 at 01:03 PM ET

Was that three straight years of record setting attendance?

Posted by underthechestnuttree from LaSalle, Ontario, Canada on 04/17/08 at 01:10 PM ET

The average US hockey fan now hates hockey? Speaking as a US hockey fan, I still kinda like hockey and don’t consider it soccer.

And look there, a Versus-is-obscure rant! How new and original!

Posted by Tim on 04/17/08 at 01:25 PM ET

Thank god the sport is dead, there’s nothing I like more than ice skating zombies!

Can I be in the minority and say I wish hockey were a niche sport? I don’t need someone to say “Booyah” after a goal or a “Swami” to drop in and talk in rhyme for the finals, we already have Dick Vitale’s embryonic twin on NBC so please don’t overexpose the sport any further becasue I don’t need more two minute experts on the four letter network.

The number of dollars that goes into the owners pockets doesn’t affect my enjoyment of the game, so what do I care if it is ranked 1 or 100 by the media? I wish tickets were the same price as Arena Football.

Posted by Hockey1919 from Montreal on 04/17/08 at 01:28 PM ET

The NHL is doing just fine in Canada.

Just because it is in trouble in some, or even many, markets in the US doesn’t mean it is dead.

TV viewership of the NBA is down - they haven’t figured out how to generate interest, really, since Jordan retired.  Kobe is good, but not quite the same iconic figure.  LeBron James hasn’t won anything yet - and would have to win a lot to match Jordan.

If Tiger Woods isn’t playing, hardly anyone watches golf.

Baseball is huge in some markets, crickets in others (hello, Florida!).

Even Nascar is trying to figure out how to appeal to a demographic beyond it’s stereotypical “good ole’ boy” roots, and how to interest more African-Americans in a sport without a major black star yet and with many fans who still wave Confederate flags at events.

Hockey is no different than any other sport in the sense of spotty attendance - for a lot of reasons, depending on the location.

To just say “the NHL is dead, and I don’t know how to fix it” is not only a stupid pseudo-argument, but also abyssmally lazy.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 04/17/08 at 01:29 PM ET

True....record setting attendance...I would hope though that these cities that have millions of people in them can find twenty thousand (at the most for most arena’s) people 42 times a year to go.  Look at Detroits’ attendance this year, and the history they have, not to mention present day talent.  That building should be sold out for years to come.

Posted by 41 Long Ones from Edmonton on 04/17/08 at 01:31 PM ET

You know, I could care less if the NHL gets more popular in the USA.

The NHL is alive and well where it matters. If some teams go away that is even better as the talent pool will rise for the remaining teams.

Pandering to the non-fans is like standing in front of your store waving down new customers when you already have some in store waiting for service.

Take care of the customers you already have, they are for more valuable.

Posted by Laker from dapuddle on 04/17/08 at 02:06 PM ET

Ummmmm, I’d say the Detroit attendance problem is related more to the current economic problems than loss of interest in the sport.

Posted by EverRev on 04/17/08 at 02:09 PM ET

@Ever - I can buy that Tough to shell out $150 when you can’t afford food.

Posted by 41 Long Ones from Edmonton on 04/17/08 at 02:19 PM ET

Sportswriters’ columns about the business of sports are about as insightful as asking the ladies on The View to break down NHL line-matching strategy.

Posted by The Forechecker from Nashville on 04/17/08 at 02:58 PM ET

using sportscenter to gauge interest in sports is crap. its all a hype engine with ESPN going after the most $$

Why a multi-billion league like the NHL doesn’t get more attention is really ESPNs fault, not the fans, nor the leagues..

Show me the revenue stream for soccer and arena football, and show me how these leagues have greater value than the NHL..

screw ESPN..

Posted by canesice on 04/17/08 at 03:15 PM ET

canesice,

Couldn’t agree with you more. Anyone who says the NHL is “dead” in the states probably doesn’t start watching the NHL until forced to do so by an editor or a program director as the playoffs start.

Posted by Matt from Tampa on 04/17/08 at 04:50 PM ET

Don’t forget ESPN owns a stake in NASCAR and the AFL.  Why else do they broadcast AFL games and cover NASCAR like it’s the next NFL? 

Hey I have an idea!  Let’s ritualistically follow a sport that blatantly abuses a resource our country is killing foreigners for!

Aside from the fact that NASCAR and racing in general is boring (even with the crashes) I hate the fact that every races 20-43 guys go 250 miles at 180-200 MPH burning up gas/diesel/whatever and I have to pay $3.50 a gallon so Joe Schmo racing fan can watch Dale Earnhardt Jr. fail to live up to his father’s legacy.  Shut down professional racing before gas hits $4.00.

And by the way, the NHL is alive and well here in Pittsburgh for this stupid (probably) ESPN-junkie.

There I’m done.

Posted by Phil M on 04/18/08 at 10:45 AM ET