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  • #16
    But soccer's appeal has been growing across America every year to where they can even sustain a national league with a small TV contract (albeit mostly subscription/package based and in small arenas so far). If they could find some way to better integrate the appeal of the league with the huge glut of soccer fans in this country, especially most recent immigrants, they may have something in 10 years or so.

    Hockey's appeal has been dropping, if anything. I agree with Jukin that a 'ground strategy' of kids and camps would be money well spent by the NHL and their advertisers, but the sheer cost and production involved in maintaining a rink and hockey equipment somewhat limits its wide appeal to places where it is already entrenched (i.e. Canada and the northern US).

    At least people here can somewhat see the forest for the trees and not just go into endless tirades about the "Buttmanization" of the NHL is solely responsible for its decline and if we only allowed bloodier fights and called more hooking and obstruction and less instigator/ boarding penalties it would suddenly become a national sensation.

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    • #17
      BTW, hilarious image found from hockeyoutsiders, posted at flyersphans:

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      • #18
        Originally posted by ARCH
        But soccer's appeal has been growing across America every year to where they can even sustain a national league with a small TV contract (albeit mostly subscription/package based and in small arenas so far). If they could find some way to better integrate the appeal of the league with the huge glut of soccer fans in this country, especially most recent immigrants, they may have something in 10 years or so.
        Arch, I heard people say the same exact thing---------- oh, 40 years ago and 30 years ago and 20 years ago and 10 years ago---- and it always worked out like a good Russian five year plan did.

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        • #19
          Originally posted by 2nd and Arch
          BTW, hilarious image found from hockeyoutsiders, posted at flyersphans:

          Arch that's hilarious.

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          • #20
            The thing with soccer is that SO many kids play it when they're young, but the majority of those kids are what used to be the non-athletic types who otherwise wouldn't have played sports. Because at the youth level, it's impossible to tell a good player from a bad one, it's just a bunch of kids chasing and kicking a ball. It's a product more of every soccer mom wanting their kid to be an athlete, no matter how much of a spaz he really is. And i'm not saying it's a bad thing, anything that gets kids outside and competing athletically is good for them and their future.

            And i'm not bashing soccer as a sport, i can appreciate it and even enjoy it when played at a high level.

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            • #21
              Originally posted by MDFAN
              Originally posted by ARCH
              But soccer's appeal has been growing across America every year to where they can even sustain a national league with a small TV contract (albeit mostly subscription/package based and in small arenas so far). If they could find some way to better integrate the appeal of the league with the huge glut of soccer fans in this country, especially most recent immigrants, they may have something in 10 years or so.
              Arch, I heard people say the same exact thing---------- oh, 40 years ago and 30 years ago and 20 years ago and 10 years ago---- and it always worked out like a good Russian five year plan did.
              Maybe, but 20-30 years back there were not national World Cup ratings like there are now, there was no MLS like there is now, It was nearly impossible to get EPL coverage at all in the USA, and I'm curious what percentage of colleges and high schools had soccer teams back then (anyone?)

              Again, a lot of that can be chalked up to generally larger media overall and increased focused on very narrow demographics.

              I am not about to stake my life on soccer becoming a "Big 4" sport in the next 20 years, but I think it has the growth potential that hockey simply lacks for better or for worse.

              My main beef (which nobody has done here so far) has always been when people go into long cultural polemics -- both pro and con -- about why soccer is somehow incompatible with the "American spirit". Every criticism one could throw at soccer can be thrown at one or more of baseball, football, hockey, golf, etc. in some way.

              For my part, I follow international events and EPL but have not gotten around to keeping up with let alone ever going to MLS events. And a lot of that is admittedly diminished hype and lack of recognizable rivalries, histories, legacies, stars, etc. I'm hoping to see small improvements there over time.

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              • #22
                IMHO, hockey's lack of appeal as a TV sport is, more than any other factor, a result of the inability of the tube to effectively convey the speed, energy and general excitement of the game. If one has never seen high-level hockey in person, there is no way they can "get it" from the restricted perspective of the TV screen. In many respects, the game is too fast for television...the puck extremely difficult to follow. Once you've experienced the game in person, your mind can, to some extent, fill in the blanks in visual information that TV doesn't capture.

                The essence of both football and basketball can be shown effectively on TV. For the most part, the majority of the action, at any given moment, is viewable on the small screen. It also helps that the action in both is relatively slower than hockey, tends to move in a predictable direction, the ball can actually be SEEN, and the fundamentals are more easily grasped. That most Americans have also been exposed in person to both football and basketball is also key.

                I would argue that, if the same mass American audience was not exposed in person to baseball/softball, MLB...unlike footbal and basketball...would be faced with problems similar to NHL hockey, in that TV captures VERY little of the excitement and drama that make baseball such a great game to watch in person and, generally, such an utter bore to watch on TV.

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