Is Hockey One Of The Four Major Sports In North America?

[IPostedWhat]

I was recently a guest of the Sports Bash with Mike Gill on 97.3 ESPN Radio and the classic debate arose: What are the four major sports in North America? I was shocked to hear his response; “Hockey is definitely the fifth major sport… possibly even sixth behind NASCAR.”

As a lifelong fan of the National Hockey League, I was saddened by Mr. Gill’s outlook, which was supported by many of the listeners calling/texting/tweeting into the show. Although the National Basketball Association has risen to prominence above hockey, I argued that the NHL still belongs amongst the top four. The sport hosts some of the best athletic talent throughout the world with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos and Claude Giroux from Canada; Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk from Russia; Henrik Zetterberg, Henrik Lundqvist and the Sedin twins from Sweden; and Ryan Kesler, Zach Parise and Patrick Kane from the U.S.A.

The league has the ultimate parity between its teams, as there are a new batch of teams making the playoffs from year to year. To even earn a spot takes a stellar record–unlike the NBA East for instance. A major network (NBC/NBCSN) carries 100+ games to a national audience. Yet based on the numbers we see below, hockey does seem to be the low man on the totem pole.

What has happened to make this great sport fall in the eyes of the viewing public?



The 2004-05 Season Lockout

The 2004–05 NHL lockout caused the cancellation of the 88th season of the NHL. It was the first time the Stanley Cup was not awarded since 1919, the first time a major professional sports league in North America canceled a complete season because of a labor dispute, and the second time after the 1994-1995 Major League Baseball strike that the playoffs of a major professional sports league in North America were cancelled. This did not sit well with many hockey fans and it is obvious some never returned to their fandom. The lockout lasted 10 months and 6 days starting September 16, 2004, the day after the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NHL and the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) that resolved the 1994–95 lockout expired. With such a long layover, many laymen sports fans turned towards the NBA and never looked back. The negotiating teams finally reached an agreement on July 13, 2005, and the lockout officially ended 9 days later on July 22, after both the NHL owners and the NHLPA ratified the CBA. However, the damage was done.

ESPN drops the NHL

During the layoff, the cable sports giant opted not to pick up NHL games for the 2005-06 season. Some of this had to do with the upheaval going on in the league at the time, plus the lack of security that there would even be a season in the fall. The real reason hockey died on ESPN is still up for debate. The World Series of Poker boom served as the Grim Reaper. ESPN was making boat-loads of money airing this annual event from Las Vegas in place of the normally scheduled NHL season. When the sport returned, they scoffed at bringing back hockey.

The NHL turned towards a new up-and-coming cable channel, Versus (later to be bought by NBC and converted to NBC Sports Network). The NHL does owe this network a debt of gratitude for rescuing the league. Gary Bettman honored this debt when ESPN came calling in 2011 to work out a new deal. On top of being dropped, Bettman did not like the level of coverage that was offered prior to the lockout.

“While the games themselves were first-rate, production-wise, and ESPN had a group of dedicated broadcasters who loved the game, it was when things went back to the studio for SportsCenter that the game was treated like a red-headed stepchild, always way down on the pecking order of sports highlights. The NHL almost never led off the SportsCenter broadcast – unless there was some horrible disciplinary incident – and usually found itself somewhere between bowling and poker highlights on the countdown,” Adrian Dater, The Denver Post, April, 2011.

Expansion

Many feel the league has expanded too far, leaving the competition way too thin. Obviously, I am not one of these naysayers based on my previous argument of league parity. The NHL has had several rounds of expansion and other organizational changes during its nearly 100-year history. The league now sits at thirty teams: twenty-three in the U.S. and seven in Canada. With the most recent wave of expansion, teams arose in Florida, California, and Arizona (typically non-winter sports areas). Some say these non-traditional hockey markets drag down the entire league, but let’s look at one in particular–the Los Angeles Kings. They are now the proud recipient of the Stanley Cup twice in the past three seasons. Their home games are always sold out. The team’s broadcasts pull tremendous ratings in the Los Angeles market (even with the likes of the Dodgers and Lakers).

Clear Cut Representative

Here is one argument that does bear some weight: The NHL currently does not have that one clear cut representative from each team that fans can look up to and admire. The National Football League has Peyton Manning; Major League Baseball has Derek Jeter and Mike Trout and the NBA has LeBron James. The closest the NHL has is Sidney Crosby, but his poor attitude and demeanor soil his tremendous talent. During its hay-day, the NHL had Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux as representatives. These two men were the epitome of excellence on and off the ice.

Until the league finds a new figurehead, it will lag behind the other leagues. As co-host of a hockey show and an overall advocate of the sport, I feel it is my civic duty to raise the overall fanfare of the sport I know and love. With each year, I am confident hockey will grow and flourish, once again climbing back towards the top of the four major sports.

Has Hockey Fallen Out of the Four Major Sports? - Last Word On Sports

 

[pixburgher66]

The average attendance factor is really affected by the number of games and arena size. Each NFL team has 8 home games in 60K+ stadiums. 17K isn't bad for hockey. Consol only sits around 18K+. However, the other numbers have some weight. It sure doesn't feel like a non-major sport, but I live in a town surrounded by hockey fans.

 

[dash]

First off, I'm shocked that the CFL actually made an appearance. As far as whether or not the NHL is still a major sport, it really doesn't matter that much to me (and I'm not trying to be a smartass about it either). The league seems to be thriving despite troubles in some markets and the game has recovered from the dead-puck era where games were tough to watch. That's all that really matters to me.

 

[Phantomphan]

What is the criteria for determining a "major" sport?

The two things that hurt hockey are both tv related. The first is the low tv revenue for the sport. The other is that it is much harder for a casual fan to follow the game on tv. It's easy to keep track of a football or basketball, but a puck - not so much. I think the networks do a good job with it but hockey more than most sports, you need to understand the strategy and be able to follow the flow of the game away from the puck to get what's happening on the ice. Not a lot of casual fans bother with that.

Having said all that, hockey is definitely a one of the four major sports. It's certainly above NASCAR and I'm assuming MLS was the other sport.

 

[Otis B. Driftwood]

First off, I'm shocked that the CFL actually made an appearance. As far as whether or not the NHL is still a major sport, it really doesn't matter that much to me (and I'm not trying to be a smartass about it either). The league seems to be thriving despite troubles in some markets and the game has recovered from the dead-puck era where games were tough to watch. That's all that really matters to me.

And... I would add that the marketplace will dictate whether it is a "major" sport. The perception I get down here in the lower portion of the lower 48 is that interest is still present and well. Crowds are still doing fine at the minor league level and "speaking provincially" the local NHL side is recovering from the disaster that was the end of the Tom Hicks regime. The 2014 playoffs seem to have kickstarted passion for the game again.

I think it's fair to call it "major". Don't see anything that would keep me from it. But - as you note - we're fans and don't really care what the leering press chooses to label it.

 

[Phantomphan]

Otis brings up a good point about the minor leagues. Only baseball has a minor league ciruit that is close to what hockey has. I'm not sure how many minor hockey leagues there are in NA, but certainly the quality of play in the AHL is very good. And, AHL teams have had great success in "non-traditional" markets.

 

[HUBSTER]

I'd say so. The NHL has been around long enough and has 30 teams spread throughout North America.

 

[Otis B. Driftwood]

Otis brings up a good point about the minor leagues. Only baseball has a minor league circuit that is close to what hockey has. I'm not sure how many minor hockey leagues there are in NA, but certainly the quality of play in the AHL is very good. And, AHL teams have had great success in "non-traditional" markets.

I think that (minors) has to be taken into account. It's a significant part of the fan base (unlike football and basketball) and can't be overlooked. When I go down to Austin and wear my Stars gear, I get the random "Have you been to Cedar Park" questions. There is a solid base down there. Nothing that is ever going to bounce the NHL TV ratings there to the same levels of Spurs ratings but I don't thing that's any more their interest than it is mine up here. As long as the product continues to be good, it will grow.

 

[dare2be]

...Sports Bash with Mike Gill on 97.3 ESPN Radio...

That's where I stopped reading. Of course in the eyes of ESPN and its viewers/listeners, NHL is no longer a major sport because E$PN doesn't cover it nor make much money from it. They will talk down the sport any chance they get unless at some point they have a TV contract with the league, then all of a sudden, it will be "pertinent" again.

 

[forty_three]

I think it's fair to call it "major". Don't see anything that would keep me from it. But - as you note - we're fans and don't really care what the leering press chooses to label it.

And where is it written in stone that there can only be four sports labeled "Major"? Why are we always so concerned with the "4"?

ESPN treated it like crap and there were struggles with availability of NBCsn and all the previous iterations like Vs and Outdoor life. But the production quality is high and the broadcasts are well done (Milbury and Pierre aside). But he doesn't account for the fact that ESPN never had the NHL network to tell the fringe stories to the hardcore fan. NBCsn doesn't need a sportscenter program because those who want the info go to the NHL Network or the web. Honestly, outside of it being on while I am eating wings at Rooster's, I have not seen Sports Center in years. It is completely irrelevant. Hockey fans wouldn't be looking at Sportscenter if the NHL was on ESPN. So stop using that as a metric.

Expansion. Yes, they over expanded. And some choices weren't wise. But some were bang on. The proof is in the USA Hockey registration increases in every place but south Florida and Phoenix. They can fix those problems without expanding more. 2 less than total successes does not mean the entire exercise failed. Expansion has been overall incredibly positive for the league. Anyone want to call Minnesota, San Jose, Columbus, Ottawa or Nashville failures?

No "representative". That is a failure of the league marketing department. There are plenty of choices of good guys the league could promote, but they latched onto Sid in Junior and refused to be budged. They have tried to force him onto everyone so much that some people rank him in the top ten most hated of all time when he's a whiny superstar at best. The league should have tried to tell every story and see which one rises above instead of pointing to a 17 year old and saying "Him. That's the one".

Pretty sure Jeter (and Ripken before him) were never labeled the "Saviour" of a sport. They came in, played and earned the right to be revered, and the league told their stories. But they never latched onto only them.

 

[Phantomphan]

I think that (minors) has to be taken into account. It's a significant part of the fan base (unlike football and basketball) and can't be overlooked. When I go down to Austin and wear my Stars gear, I get the random "Have you been to Cedar Park" questions. There is a solid base down there. Nothing that is ever going to bounce the NHL TV ratings there to the same levels of Spurs ratings but I don't thing that's any more their interest than it is mine up here. As long as the product continues to be good, it will grow.

The minor leagues are very important to hockey (and baseball). They bring the sport to a wider audience and fans get to see players competing before they make it to the parent club. And, it's damned affordable. I used to share season tix to the Phantoms when they first started out - first level, eleven rows behind the Phantoms bench at the Spectrum. No way I'd be able to afford that for the Flyers. I do miss that.

 

[Abe Vigoda]

I dont want it to be "major"

I like the "cult" like following

 

[RP-29]

Most of the people I talk sports with in my neck of the woods don't give the slightest crap about the NBA and would love to trade the Milwaukee Bucks for one of the floundering NHL franchises south of the Mason-Dixon line. Meanwhile, I'd expect the majority of those polled who rate NASCAR over hockey live south of the Mason-Dixon.


Also, I don't particularly agree with the concept of the NHL needing an individual face of the league. One thing that greatly attracts me to hockey is that it is the ultimate selfless team sport where players sacrifice themselves at all costs for the benefit of the team and the players that don't get exiled. It puts me off when a player's individualism and ego infiltrates and dissipates team unity. I say keep hockey about the team.

 

[elocomotive]

And where is it written in stone that there can only be four sports labeled "Major"? Why are we always so concerned with the "4"?

Because of the base 10 number sys... no, that doesn't work.

Maybe because in fairy tales and stories things always happen in thre... oh shoot, no again.

Hmmm... good question!

 

[RP-29]

I dont want it to be "major"

I like the "cult" like following

I agree with this. Look at the terrible things "mainstream" does with other forms of entertainment.

 

[Abe Vigoda]

I agree with this. Look at the terrible things "mainstream" does with other forms of entertainment.

I dont ever want to be mainstream or on the grid.......but I did love Wisconsin and Milwaukee

 

[elocomotive]

Interesting stuff in any case, IPW. Thanks for the post. I'm only suprised the PGA wasn't included.

 

[dare2be]

I'd expect the majority of those polled who rate NASCAR over hockey live south of the Mason-Dixon.

Or watch ESPN.

I agree with this. Look at the terrible things "mainstream" does with other forms of entertainment.

Yep.

 

[forty_three]

Interesting stuff in any case, IPW. Thanks for the post. I'm only suprised the PGA wasn't included.

Did you just unlock the "Golf is not a sport" box?

YOU MONSTER

 

[Comeds]

I have to read more before I make my decision, but if the NHL drops out of the top 4 I will stop following it.