Friday, January 23, 2009
NHL All-Star Game
Welcome to our class blog. The "test blog" topic is the NHL All-Star Game. You've been asked to watch either part of the Skills Competition or the All-Star Game OR to track the media coverage of the weekend (online, "SportsCenter," newspaper, etc.). From a business perspective, how effective was the NHL in promoting its sport/stars during its All-Star Weekend? In your response, offer at least one example from the coverage you viewed. You must also relate your response to a concept discussed in at least ONE of the class readings from either this week (Handbook Ch. 15 & 17) or last week (Wenner Ch. 1 & 3). All postings are due by Wednesday at noon.
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Personally, I am not a huge hockey fan. When the playoffs roll around, I will watch a few games and I will attend a few Quinnipiac hockey games this semester. With that being said if I were not enrolled in this class, I would have had no idea that the All Star game was going to be this past weekend. While not every one watches the NFL Pro Bowl and the MLB and NBA All Star Games, most sports fans know when they are taking place. This puts the NHL behind the 8 ball right away.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 3 of Media Sport, Eastman and Riggs had done a study on the viewing habits of fans. These five habits included, membership, connection , participation, reassurance, and influence. When you applied all five of these to hockey fans they all fit. So if hockey fans share in the same habits as football fans, why isn't hockey on the same level as it?
I think it purely comes down to the number of fans in hockey. That's why its All Star Game is on Versus and not ESPN, ABC, or NBC. Not enough people are going to watch it so it's not in those big networks bets interest to try and gain the broadcasting rights. Furthermore, the only people that were probably watching the game were hockey fans. At the end of the first period, they did a locker room interview with one of the players. I can not remember who it was or what team he player for, all I could remember was that he was a defenseman. Were this another sport like basketball, football, or baseball I would have been able to tell you his name.
Unfortunately for hockey, it will never pass the three sports I mentioned above in popularity in America.
I saw a lot of good and bad things with the all-star festivities this weekend. A lot of the competitions as well as the game went over well, with the players all appearing to have a good time. As far as I could tell, most of the players actually belonged there, unlike in some of the other all star weekends in other sports. The skills challenges were all entertaining, even though I felt that some of them were more complicated than they should have been. However, I did have a problem with the coverage of the game. I thought almost all of the interviews were poorly conducted. Most of the time you could see the frustration on the reporters face as he tried to ask players he spoke little English complicated questions. I also thought that the use of replays was horribly done. Half the time during the skills challenges a replay would be on while one of the competitors was in the middle of a drill. Compared to the coverage of the basketball and baseball all-star weekends, which I watch almost every year, the NHL is far inferior. It may just be that those sports are more popular in the US, but the NHL has a lot of work to do if they want to compete with other leagues in the future.
ReplyDeleteThe 2009 NHL All Star Game played out as expected, the East won in another non-dramatic shootout 12-11. I felt the NHL did a good job promoting the All-Star weekend and a big part of this was its location. The game promoted itself in away, it was in Canada, at the most historic NHL city ever, and featured today's young stars that are taking over the game. I only seen one commercial for the game and it was of Alex Ovechkin from last years skills competition. I thought this was a good commercial because they used one of hockey's most exciting players doing something that would catch the eye of any person, hockey fan or not. The NHL could have done a better job advertising the weekend and the fact that it was the Habs 100th season. I did enjoy that Kovalev got the MVP of the game which pleased the hometown faithful in Montreal. Because the game was televised on Versus certain companies were able to jump on the opportunity for affordable commercials and Toyota did a good job in marketing their automobiles in this tough economic time.
ReplyDeleteChris Myers
Watching the NHL All-Star festivities this past weekend was very interesting. Being that I worked at the MLB All-Star game last summer, I enjoyed seeing how the NHL promoted the big weekend. As Daniel Baker (in his post) said hockey is not as popular as the NBA,MLB or NFL but they did what the could to get the word out.
ReplyDeleteI watched the skills games on versus. Never seeing the skills games I was not surprised at the different competitions that took place. There was the shootout, shooting accuracy, breakaway challenge, fastest shooter etc. There seemed to be many advertisements all around the arena. Whereever the camera went there seemed to be one. As said in class they try to put a name on everything. In the accuracy competition the golden arches of Mcdonalds were on the wooden circles that the player would hit, which was very amusing to me.
Looking at the advertisements around the arena they all have different texts. Which is important according to our book. Wenner talks about how text should be relatilvy easy to spot/read. The texts had a variety but were all legible to read. When one looks at an advertisement they will remember what it is mostly because of the text/color used.
Overall I enjoyed watching and now that I am more aware of the medias influence on sports I am excited to watch the super bowl this weekend to see what they come up with.
Farrell Henneberry
Before getting into the the nuts and bolts of things here, let's just say one thing right off the bat. Whether or not you are a huge hockey fan, between the skills competition and the game itself, I'd say the weekend was an overall success for the NHL. First of all, the game was played in Montreal, the most historic city in the NHL, and this year is the Habs 100th anniversary which just added to the festivities.
ReplyDeleteHere's where the NHL has issues. First of all, it has a contract with Versus. No one watches Versus. The only reason I watch it is for some regional NHL games they'll show. So regardless of how many ads they show on that channel, the bottom line is no one really watches. The NHL and NBC have an agreement where they'll show games during weekends, and the Winter Classic this past year. The NHL should have gotten this game on NBC in order to make any kind of dent in the ratings. Being on during primetime on a Sunday night is great, and if it were on NBC, it would have really promoted the sport. But if you're showing the game on Versus, no one's really going to watch besides the audience you've already got.
And the NHL was making the effort to appeal to all of its markets. The league always brings at least one player from every team, so that team and area is represented. The only problem with that is many of the better players are left off the rosters. Keith Tkachuk? Mike Modano? Honestly? I get that Tkachuk is a name, and you need someone from the hapless Blues, but give me a break. I give the NHL credit though, because they are making an effort. Also, they did a nice job involving kids in both the skills competition and pregame ceremonies.
Kovalev is the hometown guy and gets the MVP, and rightfully so. I'm a huge hockey fan, so I found this weekend to be incredibly entertaining. But for a casual fan who doesn't pay attention to the game, they may not have even noticed it was All Star Weekend. For the league to get back into some level of relevancy, it's going to need to make a deal with ESPN in my opinion. ESPN is the place everyone goes for sports, and without a deal, the NHL has been put on the backburner and left for the end of Sportscenter where most people won't see highlights anyway.
-Jamie P
I, personally, am not a fan of the NHL at all.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I found this All-Star Game interesting because it was the 100th Anniversary of Montreal.
I didn't watch the skills competition, but I did watch a little of the game itself. The problem with the NHL is that many of the players chosen aren't deserving, and are taken in order to boost popularity in the event. Sydney Crosby was hurt and didn't want to attend, but the NHL pretty much forced him because of his name and popularity to the sport.
The text talks about how important it is to have advertisements that are clear and easy to spot. The game did a good job of this, providing a variety of spots, although clearly the media doesn't care too much about this event. The fact that it's on versus as opposed to say ABC or NBC is a big factor. ESPN covered the game almost a half hour into Sportscenter, which again emphasizes the lack of interest in the sport. It's just not popular in the US like the other main sports, and probably won't be anytime soon.
Like a few of the other bloggers, I’m not a big hockey fan either. With that said, I can certainly still appreciate the festivities of NHL All-Star Weekend! I really like the shoot-out and breakaway challenges. I think that the extra activities surrounding the game help to draw viewers in. Between the game itself and the various skills competitions, there’s sure to be something that will draw in any sports fan.
ReplyDeleteIn the first chapter of MediaSport, Wenner explains that the abundance of programming “provides encouragement for people to make more elaborate preparations for viewing.” This means that when an event like the Super Bowl (or All-Star Weekend!) rolls around, people are more likely to watch because it is a chance for them to share the viewing experience with others. People may attend a party or host one of their own.
Hockey fans must love seeing the athletes in a different setting. An event like All-Star Weekend allows fans to see their favorite players relaxing and having fun! In Chapter 3 of MediaSport, Wenner explains that people love the close-ups and interviews with players because it establishes “a kind of intimacy between the audience and the player.” When you watch the same players on TV night after night you feel like you know them – you know their tendencies, their strengths, their weaknesses... You know when they’re having a great night and you feel bad for them when they’re in a slump! I think that for a lot of people, this “intimacy” is only the beginning of fandom – it keeps fans attached… and loyal!
Chapter 15 of the Handbook deals with utilizing a TV sport for promotions. The NHL has had a hard time getting back into the minds of Americans since the strike a few years ago. It doesn't help that one of its main broadcasters is on a channel most people have never heard of, a channel that is most famous for airing rodeos and the Tour de France.
ReplyDeleteIf the NHL wanted to truly reach a national audience, they should have broadcast on NBC. Or, better yet, they should bite the bullet and take less money to be shown on ESPN. Though they'd be making less money on the television side, more exposure could lead to higher attendance figures and more expensive advertising.
That said, I found the All-Star Game to be very entertaining. I only caught the third period, overtime and shootout, but it was a great product. I just wish it could reach a larger audience.
I like sports a lot but not i'm really into hockey. I enjoyed watching the all star game and seeing highlights of the skill competition.
ReplyDeleteIn the first chapter of mediasport, it talks about how "print and broadcast press coverage leading up to the game set a tone by hyping the contest." I think the NHL failed to do this because if I did not have to watch it for class I would have never knew about it. I watch ESPN everyday and compared to the superbowl and the NBA all star game, the NHL got very little coverage. I never even heard of Versus before taking this class.
In chapter 3 of media sport it talk about Gender Relations and how females are portrayed in sports. I noticed that hockey do not have any cheerleaders, maybe having cheerleaders will increase ratings and get more people interested because as sad as it is, this day and time sex sales.
Overall, for this bening the first time I watched the NHL all star game i enjoyed it.
I am also not a knowledgable hockey fan or even know much about the sport, I didn't even know the All-Star game was this past weekend until this class assignment.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I talked with some of my friends who are die hard fans as well as checked the NHL website and found out that NHL did do a good job in promoting/advertising the All-Star game. They brought back old canadians and played up the 100 year anniversary of the montreal canadians. They used new stars of today while combining old time hockey. The game ended up with a shootout with Alexi Kovalev winning MVP.
In response to Andrew I completely agree with the idea of putting NHL on broadcast television network where more individuals have access to. NHL and the NBA have had a decrease in their ratings and it would be smart of them to promote the game where it can viewed widely.
Because of my lack of interest of the sport I did have to do some research on the game to be able to post on this blog.
Danielle Pouliot
I, myself am not a huge NHL fan, however I did think that the game itself was decently promoted because of the 100th year anniversary of the HABs season. Through talking to my friends who are avid hockey fans as well as watching sportscenter,ESPN, and going to nhl.com I was able to learn more about the history of the all-star game and the importance of the 2009 game.
ReplyDeleteI felt the NHL did an excellent job on playing off of the location of the game, Montreal, and returning the game of hockey to its "roots" with loyal fans to cheer the teams on. On nhl.com there were many articles that went into the games past, and more particularly the history of Montreal and hockey. In many of the articles, the players mentioned what it meant returning to Montreal to play, where many of them started their careers.
The outcome of the game was a shoot-out victory for the East conference, in a 12-11 win. I thought it was a good move on the NHL to introduce past canadian all-stars as a way to give more tribute to the game but also the history of it all.
In chapter 2, they discuss the sport dot coms, referring to espn.com and others affiliated with it. I was not impressed by the coverage on these general sites, and so had to turn to nhl.com to do more research. I think that the NHL still has a lot of ground to cover to reach a more general sports audience and broaden their coverage.
Whether its the NHL, NFL, MLB or any of the multiple athletic competitions in the NCAA, the main objective is to create a strong fan base so that no matter what network the game is on, there will be viewers. But how can these fan bases be created? In America, many young children grow up watching what other than America's past time...baseball. Many children grow up watching and playing sports; at least I did it. Baseball and basketball were the two in my house that were dominant; not once did my dad open up the sports section to look at the hockey scores, see when the Rangers/Islander were playing, and definitely never buy the tickets. Judging by the fact that the NHL All Star Game was on Versus and not ESPN, I know my family was not alone in their lack of love for hockey.
ReplyDeleteHad I not been asked to watch the game for this class I definitely would not have watched the game or even knew it was on. Hockey fans knew the time and channel but what about everyone else? I might have heard the information in passing, but why was it that I couldn't remember the day the NHL All-Star Game was on, but I could probably give you a brief summary of the 2001 World Series? I think personally that the answer is found in Wenner's chapter two. Television sports is referred to as the "male soap opera" and rightfully so : the bottom of the 9th home-runs, the buzzer beating half court shots, the hail mary throws. But the shoot-out victory? I don't think so. Call me biased but I thought that was both uneventful and a terrible way to end an all-star game (almost as terrible as the 7-7 tie in the 2002 MLB All-Star Game). I understand that is how all hockey games are decided when there is a tie, but where's the action, the excitement, the teamwork? Hockey is a team sport, right? So why is it up to only three players instead of the whole team going into another overtime? Maybe for the All-Star Game they can make an exception to the rule - they have already adjusted to the lack of fighting and hitting, and really doesn't that make for most of the excitement in hockey?
Maybe some things are meant to stay the same forever. One change that was very beneficial for the game was the interaction between the commentators and the players. I really enjoyed listening to Martin St. Louis as he joked around with the announcers. It made the game more personable and it is always exciting to hear from am All-Star, especially one who scores goals during the game . This is touched upon in chapter 3 during the discussion of the individual versus the group or team. In the research it was discovered that sports production focus more heavily on individuals, rather their team. Again, by speaking mostly to a few players it is really attempting to make a connection with the audience at home and the select players on the ice.
But is the attempt successful? I didn't really know who Martin St. Louis was before Sunday night, and even now I can't tell you he plays for. The only hockey figure I know is Wayne Gretzky, and if you do not know who he is you must not be a real sports fan, or just completely not care about hockey. But unfortunately, Gretzky's days as a hockey player are long gone, and quite possibly so might the chance for hockey to make an impression on sports viewers.
I am also not a hockey fan. That being said it was difficult for me to determine whether the all-star game and skills competition was a success. I was able to view parts of the skills competitions; the breakaway challenge and the McDonald’s accuracy challenge. The breakaway challenge was a very good way for the NHL to promote its players. And I think they executed that successfully. It was really interactive, not only did viewers text in who they thought was best, they had the results in less than an hour.
ReplyDeleteSomething I immediately noted as other people have written was the McDonald’s accuracy competition. The promotion for McDonalds was hard to miss since the event had McDonalds in the title and the players were shooting at McDonalds targets. There were also the various advertisements for other companies surrounding the rink.
Other things I noticed besides advertising, and whether the event was a success or not, was the international relations that were going on. During the coverage of the skills competition the commentators even commented on the fact that sometimes it was hard for everyone to translate what was going on, and interviewing the players from Russia and other non English speaking places. The text states, “One method often employed by the media to construct national identity involves the characterization of athletes from foreign nations in stereotyped ways.” I do not think this was a problem during the all star weekend as commentators remarked on how patient the NHL players were with translating. I never realized there was such a language barrier in the NHL, as a baseball fan I am very much aware of the language barrier in the MLB. Overall it was interesting viewing as an outsider.
The NHL All Star Game underwhelmed me. Being that I am not an NHL fan, watching the game was not so exciting for me. However, I did appreciate the Skills Competition, and how close the game turned out to be.
ReplyDeleteDuring the All Star Weekend, there was plenty of promotion throughout the Skills Competition and the All Star Game. It was the 100th anniversary of the HABs season so the location of the All Star weekend could not be a more suited venue for this event. The NHL All Star weekend was held in Montreal, where it seems hockey stars are bred. Also Alexei Kovalev was named MVP. Being that he is a Canada native, the event riled up the fans even more in Montreal.
The talk of the Skills competition however was Alex Ovechkin winning the breakaway challenge for the second win in a row. Ovechkin hyped up with crowd wearing sunglasses, and a hat with the Canadian flag attached to it. Because this form of humor and "playing gear" is not exactly the norm for hockey players, this particular instance will be remembered.
The NHL All Star Game is supposed to bring the best players from the East and West, to compete for dominance over each other in a competitive game. Because the teams possess the most skilled players from each side, it is hard to determine who will win and lose. In Chapter 3 of the Media Sport textbook, there is a section that talks about winning and success. The book brings up the points that success is weighted on competitive individualism and teamwork. The NHL All Star Game clearly backed this statement up by the team work and dedication the players showed.
-Katie Devlin
Being a hockey fan, I was looking forward to the All-Star Weekend. While I feel it was a success for the city of Montreal, I'm not sure it was as successful for the league as a whole. I watched both the skills competition and the actual game on Versus, and found that the telecast was more about superstar promotion than the actual event. For example, in the open of the skills competition, announcer Mike Emerick finsihed with, "OV [Alexander Ovechkin] is on Versus." Understandable, as Ovechkin is one of the most talented players in the NHL. I would have expected this in a Versus-televised Caps game, but the All Star Game should be about all 40 players involved.
ReplyDeleteAs Jamie put, as long as the NHL is on Versus, it is always going to have a problem promoting itself in the US. Most if not all of the people watching either the Skills Competition or the game itself would have been watching regardless of how much the coverage was being promoted.
Chapter 3 of the Mediasport Handbook talks about how networs combine live and taped segments to maintain a dramatic storyline. In the All-Star Game, the audience isn't necessarily looking for dramatics. However, Versus chose to run both live and taped interviews during the game, and thereby missing multiple goals that were scored. The All-Star Game is a chance for hockey fans to see skill they would never see in a regular game. But the constant bombardment of bench interviews deprived the audience of some great offensive action.
The real target audiences for the NHL, any sport for that matter, aren’t the fans anymore, but the people who cough up the sponsorship money that keep leagues afloat. It doesn’t matter that the ratings are not high. Honestly, when has the NHL gotten great ratings except when the Classic is taking place? Whether it’s the ASG, finals, or regular season, people just don't watch.
ReplyDeleteHowever, that is precisely what the NHL needs to concentrate on if they don’t want their league to fizzle out. You may have all the sponsorship in the world, but in the end, isn't the point of sports to fill up the seats at games? In Chapter 15 of Sports and Media, it states that "media drives fan behavior" (255) If the NHL wants to create a buzz about the game, their promoting tactics need to improve. Overall, ASG was well advertised. Considering it was honoring the 100th year anniversary of the Habs, they weren’t exactly lacking in opportunity to hype up the event. Internet promotion was well done, especially on NHL.com—providing information, facts and figures, and history that was interesting whether or not you were a hockey fan. Bringing back the retired Canadians during the game (not to mention packing the starting lineup with the Canadian stars of today) was great to see.
It is television promotions that could be handled better. Granted, the NHL dug their own grave when it decided to utilize Versus as one of its main broadcasters. If they’re trying to create enthusiasm for the sport, than it would have been better to choose a network that is well known.
Michelle Kokot
At first when we were told to watch the NHL all star game, I didn’t want to watch it because I really do not like hockey. I think the sport is boring, but after watching some of the game and some highlights online, I thought the game was very exciting.
ReplyDeleteI thought the media didn’t do a good job on advertising the game because if I was not told to watch the game I would have not known the game was even on TV. By the game not being on a bigger network people did not know the game was on Sunday.
In chapter 3 Wenner states “Media emphasis on success in sport can be seen in the focus on the game scores, team and individual victories, and championships. This emphasis on the bottom line of wins and losses reveals the business nature of sport.” I thought this state is defiantly true because the highlights I saw on “Sportscenter” and Espn.com only showed all the goals and some good moves by the so called best players in the game. I think it happens in ever sport because society was brought up on the fact you in need to win when playing sports. And everyone is worried about making good plays and winning the game.
Overall, I thought the game was fun to watch, but I still think I would not watch hockey on my free time.
It seems we don't have a lot of hockey fans around these parts. Well, count me in on that bunch.
ReplyDeleteI don't care for hockey on TV. I've never had a team that I really root for, and without a rooting interest, I can't delve into the sport like I sometimes wish I could. In person is a different story.
Hockey, though, is hurting it's own cause -- with Versus.
Versus, the network that carries games, especially the Skills Competition and All Star Game, is pretty obscure. In chapter 15 of the Handbook of Sports and Media, Andrew Billings argues that most "megasporting" events are purchased as a vehicle to promote upcoming programming.
For Versus, the Skills Competition and All Star Game are their "megasport." They bought the rights to air these games away from ESPN or any other network by overbidding. They promised the NHL more money, and for some reason, the league bit.
Versus wants to believe that after they aired this past weekend's events, that people will remember to flip to their channel for...well...whatever Versus airs.
A quick look at the programming schedule shows bull riding, cagefighting, Sports Soup and more cagefighting. The NHL made a big mistake signing to this network.
Due to Versus' inability to put forth any hard hitting or somewhat interesting programming, people barely know it exists. Because no one watches it, no one knew about the Skills or All Star game.
My roommate, who is a huge New Jersey Devils and hockey fan in general, didn't even think Versus was going to show the game.
The NHL has to know they made a big boo-boo when they chased the money. Billings notes that viewership in down for the NHL, while other leagues are seeing increases in audience size. Some people are handling their programming and their brand correctly, it's unfortunate that the NHL is not one of them.
I’ve seen my fair share of hockey games, but as for the skills competition, I have never watched it before or even heard much about it. It’s understandable that the NHL wants people to watch the skills competition and the All-Star Game, but it is definitely more difficult when they’re on Versus which is a network that most people don’t watch. So, in that respect I agree with Jamie and Corey that as long as the game and the skills competition is on Versus, the majority of the people watching would watch regardless of how it was promoted.
ReplyDeleteChapter 17 of the Handbook written by Michael Mondello mentions media coverage and how important it is and that the media represent vehicles for discussion. Also, that “sports are unique forms of entertainment, requiring the media to provide a combination of coverage and news,” (Coakley, 2004). Comparing my views to the Handbook, I do not think that the media did actually provide a combination of coverage and news. I think that they mainly provided coverage of the event, so I think that would make it hard for people to be very interested if they usually don’t watch hockey or the competitions altogether.
After watching the skills competition, I did notice that there was a lot of hype to get the crowd excited, especially with the huge performance that preceded all of the competitions. It makes sense that they want to get the crowd moving and enthusiastic about it all, but the people they seemed to target were already at the arena. Therefore, I feel as though they should have made a bigger effort to attract viewers that don’t usually watch the All-Star festivities or to at least get more people aware of it all.
Overall, I enjoyed the skills competition and thought it was interesting, but I just think they need to focus on who their target audience should be and aim to promote better. If they figure out a way to advertise and promote the event better, then I think they will attract a larger audience which will ultimately make more money.
The NHL scores big with Skills Competition:
ReplyDeleteThe NHL Skills competition was televised on Saturday January 24 in Montreal. I like to think of this event as a talent show for the best of the best. From fastest skater, to hardest shot, each player had a chance to shine. The players were introduced separately, with a brief description of their background in hockey. It’s a nice change of pace to see the players without their helmets. The players were able to show their faces as well as their personalities. This type of raw coverage helps the viewer to connect better with the players.
Our textbook Media Sport by Lawrence Wenner stresses the importance of focusing on the individual athletes, and their accomplishments. “Duncan and Brummett (1987) found that television productions of sporting events focused heavily on individual athletes rather than on groups or teams. They argue that this established a “kind of intimacy between the audience and the player.”
Another great promotion technique was giving well spoken players microphones while they were on the ice to allow the audience to enjoy the humor of the players. Chris Zelkovich labels 23 year old Alex Ovechkin, the "star," of the show, in his article, Hey NHL: Ovechkin's the star of the show. Ovechkin wore sunglasses and a floppy hat while scoring his breakaway goal carrying two sticks. There were television cameras on the ice with the players. The camera would often cut to segments of retired players the stands.
The NHL did an excellent job in connecting the hockey stars of tomorrow, today, and yesterday. Each commercial was linked to hockey keeping the viewer focused and refrained from changing the channel. The NHL did a very good job of promoting the broadcast, but they had it on the wrong channel. Many of us have never heard of the channel Verses. The fact that the Skills Competition wasn’t televised on regular television may have cost the NHL some viewers. Over all the NHL promotions for the All Star Game were extremely effective.
While I am not a huge sports fan I have seen my fair share of events on the major networks as well as on channels like espn and nesn. However, before coming to class last week I was unaware that there was a sports network called Versus, which can’t be a good sign for the network. I viewed part of the skills competition. The skills competition is a nice promotion since it holds entertainment value without the viewer having to know or even like the sport of hockey.
ReplyDeleteThe NHL All-Star game and Skills competition was exclusively shown on versus which may have had some draw backs when it comes to viewership. If it was to be shown on a larger network it may not pull a high enough rating to please such channels. Hockey has yet to reach the prestige level which sports like football and baseball have. In the handbook, Raney discusses the importance of the economics behind the industry in chapter 17, citing the major deals that channels like fox has with the NFL and how they have helped to improve struggling networks in their ratings. If NHL games don’t show a large improvement for the standings of a network then it doesn’t make sense for an already stable network with its fair of sporting events to strike deal with them. And as Andrew discussed in an above post, it doesn’t make sense for lesser liked station such as Versus to outbid others for the rights when they won’t benefit from it themselves. It just ends up being a waste of money for both the NHL and the network. The NHL needs to find a better way of promoting viewership by gaining more prestige and viewer interest on a more widely viewed network.
I feel it is only fair to say that I absolutely know nothing about hockey, other than the puck needs to get into the opposition’s net to score. No really, that’s just about the extent of my knowledge. In fact, I’ve been following the Australian Open more than the NHL. So please grant me a little grace if maybe my observations are not the most stimulating. But I think the NHL did an okay job of promoting the All Star Game, but just okay. First of all, it was on Versus, a station I had never heard of. I think that if the ASG was held on a bigtime network, there would have been more promotion, because that’s what the American media is all about for big sporting events.
ReplyDeleteAs Mondello says in Chapter 17 of the Handbook of Sports and Media, “Historically, the NHL has struggled to gain an identity in the United States both from a participant/spectator perspective and by generating a sustained television audience” (288-9). Having the game on Versus does not help this at all. Even in the online coverage I looked at on ESPN, the game seemed to go over well, just not that big of a deal to the average American sports fan. As someone already pointed out, is was just about half an hour into Sportscenter before the ASG coverage began, and that speaks volumes to how little most of this country cares for hockey.
Personally, I am not a big hockey fan. I enjoy sports like baseball and football far more than I do hockey, but how could you not be compelled by the events that took place at the 2009 NHL All Star game in Montreal. The hockey capital of the world truly did it right!The Handbook of Media and Sport mentions the tough times that hockey has competing with the other major sports for network times and advertising, and it showed when the game appeared on Versus, a channel predominately known for being obscure and a big advocate of rodeos, ultimate fighting, and sailing. Most people couldn't even find the game including some of my hockey diehard roomates. Other then that, the coverage on Versus and at the event was phenomenal. It was truly a lesson down the road of history for one and for all. Montreal held majestic pregame shows and introductions, and even brought back many famous players during media breaks in the action.
ReplyDeleteTo put the icing on the cake, it was a phenomenal game to watch at home or at the arena. The best players on the world skated and scored their way to an 11-11 tie into overtime. Most hockey fans were then treated to an outstanding shootout and finish as well in thrilling fashion. Versus and the NHL covered the game on the scene well but could have done better with the exposure.
This game could have and should have appeared on NBC or a channel that is recognizable to most Americans. It is also tough to get any coverage on the local sports segments as most networks have cut back on sports and don't have time to devout to hockey. Most channels and networks did a small piece on the game, and ESPN gives some attention to the game but for most, it is as if the event never takes place.
I personally will be watching the event next year as well and hopefully the NHL can improve on what happened this year and bring to next year so that they can increase awareness, publicity and revenue.
The NHL All Star game held this past weekend in Montreal was very enjoyable to me and only increased my interest in the NHL. I am a die hard New York Rangers fan and particularly after the lockout, have condsidered myself a big hockey fan. I'm not sure if a whole lot of other people felt the same way I did this weekend primarily because a lot of people did not know that there was an NHL all star game coming up.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 17 of the "Handbook of Sports and Media" it describes very accurately how hockey and the NHL have never been able to gain an identity in this country because of the lack of scoring and overall lack of excitement. I would compare the lack in popularity of hockey in the US to similar feelings towards soccer because of the continuous play aspect and as mentioned lack of scoring. However I feel that if more people actually got a chance some of the amazing athletes who play in the NHL and how exciting a great rivalry game can be between two hated opponents, they will gain interest in the league and watch it more oftenly. This was the case for me after the lockout as I had never been much of a fan previous to 2004 but after watching a few Rangers game I got instantly hooked and have been so ever since.
But having said this having the All Star game, a perfect oppurtunity to advertise your sprt, on a network such as Versus is the worst possible thing. I'm sure there were very few casual sports fans who put on Versus to see what was on. In fact I had to plead with my roommates to allow me to to watch the game on Sunday as they felt watching "The Dark Knight" for the fourth time was more entertaining than the all star game. Until that mindset changes the NHL will continue to have a big problem marketng their sport.
I'm a day late, however I did not forget! The skills competition was great to watch as was the game, but even as a hockey fan I can not say that I watched the entire coverage of either. The biggest problem with the NHL and their promotions for league events is that they don't pick the best time for the game.
ReplyDeleteESPN and the NHL have had a feud as of recently due to the strike during the 04-05 season when ESPN still had Thursday night hockey. Since then I don't believe ESPN has broadcast a game for the league. I'm not sure how this happened when planning the All-Star Weekend but ESPN had interests which were of greater importance to them because Winter X-Games XIII was in full swing on their airwaves as well as their parent network ABC. ESPN devoted time on the fan favorite show SportsCenter, each of the four nights of competition as well an hour long segment on both Saturday and Sunday night which recapped the day's competition.
ESPN gave minimial coverage for the game and I hadn't noticed any promotions for the ALL-Star game on ESPN airwaves until Saturday morning at about three in the morning. No matter what started the quarrel was that the two parties had they should work together and begin promoting the sport to its fullest potential. ESPN is the center of the sports univerise for the majority of fans, at all levels of interest.
Next year the NHL should make sure to seperate their event from the X-Games which is a huge event year in and year out for the network. The NHL brass can capitalize on an oppurtunity by really getting word out their and show the average person just how intricate and sophisticated the game of hockey is.
Next time I'll be on time, my bad!