You know Bettman is RIGHT NOW sitting at a table sipping his morning coffee and staring at these ratings thinking… “I’m gonna have to do something about this.” No doubt he’s figuring out how he can suck dollar signs out of it and fuck over the average guy that just wants to watch hockey in his home without having to become a professional hacker.
Part of it was the historic aspect though? If Florida had lost this game, it would have been an incredibly rare, almost “once-in-a-lifetime” sort of event.
They suck period.
And for some stupid reason, they chose the power play to use it too.
The overhead views or behind the net views are fine for replays but give it a rest when the game is live.
Naaa it's kinda cool. Took me a bit to get used to it, but is cool on a power play or continuous high pressure play.
As pilots/AI get better and tech keeps improving this angle will just keep getting better and better
Same, I liked it to be honest. It made the passing and shooting lanes more visible I thought. Felt it way easier to see where the space is on the ice than the typical angles.
if the real NHL fans can bear with the stupid casual discussions they'll see the reward in massively increased ratings
tough to sell star power in the NHL but the action and fast paced skating is perfect for a casual audience...
like I said it just comes with the price of stupid people talking about the sport
the new TV deals and Vegas expansion... Gary boy's a hot commish as of recently huh guys...
>tough to sell star power in the NHL but the action and fast paced skating is perfect for a casual audience...
They need to combine the action and fast pace with star power and storylines. This finals, along with the 3-0 comeback, had McDavid and what a win would mean for his legacy as a main talking point.
ESPN's First Take spent the past 2 days talking about McDavid mostly. NHL needs more of this like the NFL and NBA have done with creating superstars. But Bettman still drones on and on about parity.
Auston Matthews and the Leafs in the finals next year (if somehow they get there) would do great viewership in both countries and also get this type of interest from the casuals. Obviously, I hope the Leafs lose and suffer heartbreak, but it would generate a ton of discussion among casuals.
You need star power, I don’t care how great the action is. Every other league has proven this time and time again. And there’s one element to the NFL that makes it king amongst the rest, and that is gambling.
Gambling is what has truly puts the NFL head and shoulders above every other league. It’s the dirty secret that is never discussed openly, but gives people reason to watch every second including the coin toss of every game.
Star power drives the marketing , the matchups from week to week.
With the salary cap, the league has done basically all it can in terms of parity. But the league really has done a shit job of elevating its stars and promoting storylines.
But I hate to say it the only thing that could ever enable the NHL to get the numbers the NFL does is if it was just easier or simpler to gamble on.
The reason why the NFL still get stupid numbers on these lousy Thursday night matchups is because of gambling.
>You need star power, I don’t care how great the action is. Every other league has proven this time and time again.
Gambling is a big reason, but both the NBA and NFL have made it easier with rule changes for their top stars to consistently go deep and win.
NFL has made it easier for passers and resulted in a couple dynasties with Brady and Mahomes bringing in a ton of interest.
NBA's probably overdone it with the lack of defence these days, but they do their best numbers when there are dynasties.
Very true. And the NHL is the only league that at times intentionally goes out of its way to allow their star players to get beat on just satisfy the old-school hockey patriarchy in Toronto. They still have one skate in the past for lack of a better term.
They love to see the grinder, be the star for a day. The guy who checks Hard, who goes to the crease who digs out the puck, who will lay flat in front of a 100+ mile per hour slapshot.
And there’s nothing wrong with those guys, we can all relate to the hell of a lot more than McDavid. That being said the NHL does a little bit too much to keep those guys included and let them steal a little bit of the spotlight away from the guys who really do carry the game and elevate it to places even the casual fan can appreciate.
Great season and certainly games being more available and TNT’s coverages helped. But this is like all of Canada added to it. The game is gaining popularity but clever number reporting.
Headline Should Read : "ABC HOLDS VIEWERSHIP HOSTAGE TO CRAPPY BROADCAST SO THEY CAN OVERCHARGE FOR COMMERCIALS" ! ! Putting the game on a Standard channel is fine, just Leave the Broadcast Team that did the Games ALL year in place, Or just Show the Canadian One, These clowns made Pea-Air McGuire look good !
Bah, leagues fine. Doesn’t need all this americanizing. You either like it or you don’t. That’s the problem with the world, you don’t need to sell it. You’ve just got to let it be, it’ll find a happy place all on its own.
Bettman thinks it's because of the parity. Before the finals started, he acted like it was a good thing it took McDavid a decade to make it to the finals, arguing it shows how much parity the league has.
Parity doesn't draw in viewers. Some drama mixed with top end stars draws in big ratings.
I only watched the first period. You could tell Edmonton looked nothing like they did the previous 3 games. And I'm sorry but the way the playoffs went for the Panthers screamed that they were the team that was designed to win the cup. These playoffs were about the most rigged series of sports I've ever witnessed and they didn't even try and hide it.
You’ll have to excuse the Bruins fan. He’s still trying to deal with the return for Linus being a bottom round 1st and a really bad backup goalie on a really bad contract.
I understand not many will share my opinion but I watched the whole bruins series and rangers series and the amount of calls that went the Panthers way vs the other teams was very skewed.
Gee, you mean more people will watch hockey if it’s available on network television and OTA? Who would have thought?!?
You know Bettman is RIGHT NOW sitting at a table sipping his morning coffee and staring at these ratings thinking… “I’m gonna have to do something about this.” No doubt he’s figuring out how he can suck dollar signs out of it and fuck over the average guy that just wants to watch hockey in his home without having to become a professional hacker.
This Stanley Cup Final Game 7 outdrew viewing of any *NBA Finals* or *World Series game* in the past *five* years.
Part of it was the historic aspect though? If Florida had lost this game, it would have been an incredibly rare, almost “once-in-a-lifetime” sort of event.
Well and also Canada having a chance to break the drought
Yep, the narrative was why we tuned in regardless of any interest in either team or players.
You spelled "Curse" wrong . . . Curse of St. Patrick (Roy) will not be lifted until 2093 !
Doesn’t matter how they did it.
Amazing!
They had great camera work
I hated the more overhead views at first but it’s does make the action easier to follow for people who aren’t used it.
They suck period. And for some stupid reason, they chose the power play to use it too. The overhead views or behind the net views are fine for replays but give it a rest when the game is live.
Naaa it's kinda cool. Took me a bit to get used to it, but is cool on a power play or continuous high pressure play. As pilots/AI get better and tech keeps improving this angle will just keep getting better and better
Same, I liked it to be honest. It made the passing and shooting lanes more visible I thought. Felt it way easier to see where the space is on the ice than the typical angles.
Yeah I feel like the overhead view is far better at showing the speed and skill of the game
if the real NHL fans can bear with the stupid casual discussions they'll see the reward in massively increased ratings tough to sell star power in the NHL but the action and fast paced skating is perfect for a casual audience... like I said it just comes with the price of stupid people talking about the sport the new TV deals and Vegas expansion... Gary boy's a hot commish as of recently huh guys...
>tough to sell star power in the NHL but the action and fast paced skating is perfect for a casual audience... They need to combine the action and fast pace with star power and storylines. This finals, along with the 3-0 comeback, had McDavid and what a win would mean for his legacy as a main talking point. ESPN's First Take spent the past 2 days talking about McDavid mostly. NHL needs more of this like the NFL and NBA have done with creating superstars. But Bettman still drones on and on about parity. Auston Matthews and the Leafs in the finals next year (if somehow they get there) would do great viewership in both countries and also get this type of interest from the casuals. Obviously, I hope the Leafs lose and suffer heartbreak, but it would generate a ton of discussion among casuals.
You need star power, I don’t care how great the action is. Every other league has proven this time and time again. And there’s one element to the NFL that makes it king amongst the rest, and that is gambling. Gambling is what has truly puts the NFL head and shoulders above every other league. It’s the dirty secret that is never discussed openly, but gives people reason to watch every second including the coin toss of every game. Star power drives the marketing , the matchups from week to week. With the salary cap, the league has done basically all it can in terms of parity. But the league really has done a shit job of elevating its stars and promoting storylines. But I hate to say it the only thing that could ever enable the NHL to get the numbers the NFL does is if it was just easier or simpler to gamble on. The reason why the NFL still get stupid numbers on these lousy Thursday night matchups is because of gambling.
>You need star power, I don’t care how great the action is. Every other league has proven this time and time again. Gambling is a big reason, but both the NBA and NFL have made it easier with rule changes for their top stars to consistently go deep and win. NFL has made it easier for passers and resulted in a couple dynasties with Brady and Mahomes bringing in a ton of interest. NBA's probably overdone it with the lack of defence these days, but they do their best numbers when there are dynasties.
Very true. And the NHL is the only league that at times intentionally goes out of its way to allow their star players to get beat on just satisfy the old-school hockey patriarchy in Toronto. They still have one skate in the past for lack of a better term. They love to see the grinder, be the star for a day. The guy who checks Hard, who goes to the crease who digs out the puck, who will lay flat in front of a 100+ mile per hour slapshot. And there’s nothing wrong with those guys, we can all relate to the hell of a lot more than McDavid. That being said the NHL does a little bit too much to keep those guys included and let them steal a little bit of the spotlight away from the guys who really do carry the game and elevate it to places even the casual fan can appreciate.
Great season and certainly games being more available and TNT’s coverages helped. But this is like all of Canada added to it. The game is gaining popularity but clever number reporting.
By comparison, the last Game 7 (2019, NBC) had 8.7 mil viewers. The last Game 7 with a Canadian team in it (2011) had 8.5 mil.
Headline Should Read : "ABC HOLDS VIEWERSHIP HOSTAGE TO CRAPPY BROADCAST SO THEY CAN OVERCHARGE FOR COMMERCIALS" ! ! Putting the game on a Standard channel is fine, just Leave the Broadcast Team that did the Games ALL year in place, Or just Show the Canadian One, These clowns made Pea-Air McGuire look good !
Even though Leon was a sunken ship?
Look, I'm a Flames fan so it feels like a sin to defend the Oilers in any capacity but the man was injured. That would cause anybody to slow down.
Bah, leagues fine. Doesn’t need all this americanizing. You either like it or you don’t. That’s the problem with the world, you don’t need to sell it. You’ve just got to let it be, it’ll find a happy place all on its own.
Bettman the bozo thinks it’s because people want to watch the Panthers.
finding ways to complain about good things is psycho behaviour...
Bettman thinks it's because of the parity. Before the finals started, he acted like it was a good thing it took McDavid a decade to make it to the finals, arguing it shows how much parity the league has. Parity doesn't draw in viewers. Some drama mixed with top end stars draws in big ratings.
Miami is making hockey great.
I only watched the first period. You could tell Edmonton looked nothing like they did the previous 3 games. And I'm sorry but the way the playoffs went for the Panthers screamed that they were the team that was designed to win the cup. These playoffs were about the most rigged series of sports I've ever witnessed and they didn't even try and hide it.
Keep crying you salty duck
You’ll have to excuse the Bruins fan. He’s still trying to deal with the return for Linus being a bottom round 1st and a really bad backup goalie on a really bad contract.
I understand not many will share my opinion but I watched the whole bruins series and rangers series and the amount of calls that went the Panthers way vs the other teams was very skewed.