Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

[MountieBoyOz]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

Basketball fans are basketball fans and hockey fans are hockey fans.

That statement still makes me want to do an Occupy the NHL office style campaign.

 

[SteveP]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

Basketball fans are basketball fans and hockey fans are hockey fans.

That statement still makes me want to do an Occupy the NHL office style campaign.

So does having only one game on the schedule tonight and it's only available in standard def on Center Ice. Once again this season fans of Canadian teams are being ripped off.

 

[MountieBoyOz]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

So does having only one game on the schedule tonight and it's only available in standard def on Center Ice. Once again this season fans of Canadian teams are being ripped off.

Makes me want to run a cable across Lake Ontario to Kingston so I can get TSN, Rogers and the Score.

 

[Priceless]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

That statement still makes me want to do an Occupy the NHL office style campaign.

Since the commish is incapable, this is a great chance for NHL owners to fill their seats.

20	Anaheim		3		45598		15199		88.5
22	Los Angeles	3		46218		15406		85.0
23	Phoenix		2		28183		14091		82.3
24	NY Islanders	4		53505		13376		82.1
25	New Jersey	3		41977		13992		79.4
26	Washington	4		55518		13879		75.9
27	Boston		4		52695		13173		75.0
29	Dallas		4		37845		9461		51.1
30	NY Rangers	0		0		0		--

This is the bottom of the NHL in terms of capacity that also have an NBA team in the same market. In Washington, the same guy owns both the Wizards and the Caps. The same is true in New York, but James Dolan has shown pathetic business acumen (Let's hire Isiah again!) and it isn't obvious that the Rangers need help yet since they have yet to play a home date. But there is no reason these seats can't be filled with some aggressive marketing to displaced (and disgruntled) NBA fans. Especially in Dallas. That arena is half empty. Market to those fans. Sadly, a quick scan of their official website shows absolutely no attempt to go after those people....

 

[MountieBoyOz]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

Since the commish is incapable, this is a great chance for NHL owners to fill their seats.

20	Anaheim		3		45598		15199		88.5
22	Los Angeles	3		46218		15406		85.0
23	Phoenix		2		28183		14091		82.3
24	NY Islanders	4		53505		13376		82.1
25	New Jersey	3		41977		13992		79.4
26	Washington	4		55518		13879		75.9
27	Boston		4		52695		13173		75.0
29	Dallas		4		37845		9461		51.1
30	NY Rangers	0		0		0		--

This is the bottom of the NHL in terms of capacity that also have an NBA team in the same market. In Washington, the same guy owns both the Wizards and the Caps. The same is true in New York, but James Dolan has shown pathetic business acumen (Let's hire Isiah again!) and it isn't obvious that the Rangers need help yet since they have yet to play a home date. But there is no reason these seats can't be filled with some aggressive marketing to displaced (and disgruntled) NBA fans. Especially in Dallas. That arena is half empty. Market to those fans. Sadly, a quick scan of their official website shows absolutely no attempt to go after those people....

MSG usually is pretty full or close to full, but I think floating Knicks fans a 5 game pack to whet their appetite may work. Marketing to bball fans needs to happen. Priceless should be the marketing guy.

BTW, anyone have any funny Occupy style signs for my buddy traveling to NYC to stop by the NHL offices.

 

[MavHockey14]

Yeah! He scored for the first time in over 300 days!

I actually like how he has played, I just couldn't resist.

1 goal, 4 assists in 6 games

He's been great defensively too, so I'd say he's played well thus far in an early season.

 

[Priceless]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

MSG usually is pretty full or close to full, but I think floating Knicks fans a 5 game pack to whet their appetite may work. Marketing to bball fans needs to happen. Priceless should be the marketing guy.

I sent this to the Dallas Stars promotions department. Should be interesting to see if they respond...

Greetings,

I'm not particularly a Dallas Stars fan, but I am fan of the sport of hockey. Commissioner Gary Bettman has declared that the NHL will undertake no strategy to target NBA fans who have been displaced by the lockout. I believe this is a mistake. I do not live in Dallas but I'm sure there are difficulties marketing a sport like hockey in a market like Texas. The Mavericks have a fan base just waiting to be tapped. A few of the ideas I have:
- Offer NBA season ticket holders discounts on Stars season tickets, half-season tickets or other ticket packages.
- Additionally, offer season ticket holders a discount or give them a voucher for merchandise at the pro shop.
- Have a one-time sale where people can trade in their Mavericks merchandise for corresponding Stars merchandise.
- Invite displaced Mavs fans to enter a contest on your website for four free tickets to a home game. Feature them in on-ice promotions, maybe even have them do a promo for radio or TV.

According to ESPN, the Stars are last in the league in attendance so far, playing in front of 49% empty seats. Last season averaged over 81% capacity. Mavericks fans are a market that you can tap into to get attendance and revenue. Even if you don't win permanent converts, they will provide a temporary boost. I think hockey will win some converts. I also believe that once you have been to a game in person, it becomes much easier to follow the game on TV.

Take these suggestions for whatever they are worth. As I said, I'm not really a Dallas fan but we all want to see the sport of hockey grow.

Thanks for your time.

Edit: Maybe part of the problem for Dallas is that they put email addresses for the season ticket and promotion departments on their own website that aren't valid...

 

[SteveP]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

Makes me want to run a cable across Lake Ontario to Kingston so I can get TSN, Rogers and the Score.

Cheaper and easier to drive to Kingston, buy a Bell dish and sign up for their service. Hmmmm....

 

[aparch]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

Cheaper and easier to drive to Kingston, buy a Bell dish and sign up for their service. Hmmmm....

A little tougher to get away with that here in Chicagoland.


Speaking of that... Why can't DirecTV work like my XM? Why can't my family in Michigan add another receiver to their plan and give it to me (here in Chicagoland) so I can watch FSN-Detroit? My XM doesn't care where in the country any of my three receivers are.

*edit* Jesus! Bell makes it easy to subscribe to as little or as much as you want. I remember DirecTV used to be like that; stupid "competition" by the Cable monopolies to box people into buying all inclusive packages.

 

[Priceless]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

A little tougher to get away with that here in Chicagoland.


Speaking of that... Why can't DirecTV work like my XM? Why can't my family in Michigan add another receiver to their plan and give it to me (here in Chicagoland) so I can watch FSN-Detroit? My XM doesn't care where in the country any of my three receivers are.

*edit* Jesus! Bell makes it easy to subscribe to as little or as much as you want. I remember DirecTV used to be like that; stupid "competition" by the Cable monopolies to box people into buying all inclusive packages.

Money. DTV can make more money by signing both households up for service. But you could have used their referral program to get $200 off. Also, you wouldn't be able to access FSN-Detroit for Wings games because of blackout rules. Get NHL Center Ice and you can, but then you can watch all the games anyway.

 

[Priceless]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

I got two whole sentences in a reply to my email. The first thanked me for being a Dallas Stars fan (even though I said - twice - that I wasn't) and the second basically blew me off. Outstanding.

 

[MountieBoyOz]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

I got two whole sentences in a reply to my email. The first thanked me for being a Dallas Stars fan (even though I said - twice - that I wasn't) and the second basically blew me off. Outstanding.

And that's why hockey is struggling.

 

[Kepler]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

I got two whole sentences in a reply to my email. The first thanked me for being a Dallas Stars fan (even though I said - twice - that I wasn't) and the second basically blew me off. Outstanding.

I think you'll find that sort of treatment from every major sport franchise. If you don't have a luxury box, ef you.

 

[Rimbaud]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

And that's why hockey is struggling.

Even though it's not really struggling and has recovered way more than expected after the lockout, I'll respond. Maybe it's struggling because the fan base doesn't want other people to enjoy the game, even though they all say they want it to be the most popular sport out there. Case in point, certain people's response to Bill Simmons getting Kings season tickets. He talks UP the game every time he writes about it, only to get slammed by 'true' hockey fans. Like it or not, the dude has pull and people will watch if he talks about it so they can get more of his jokes. Then you have non-traditional markets where everyone freaks out at because hockey doesn't belong there!

From this board I gather that hockey won't be struggling as long as every city larger than 100K people North of 40 degrees has a professional team where the tickets are free so everyone can go to the game, and national blackouts to people living below the 40th parallel are mandatory.

 

[Twitch Boy]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

Even though it's not really struggling and has recovered way more than expected after the lockout, I'll respond. Maybe it's struggling because the fan base doesn't want other people to enjoy the game, even though they all say they want it to be the most popular sport out there. Case in point, certain people's response to Bill Simmons getting Kings season tickets. He talks UP the game every time he writes about it, only to get slammed by 'true' hockey fans. Like it or not, the dude has pull and people will watch if he talks about it so they can get more of his jokes. Then you have non-traditional markets where everyone freaks out at because hockey doesn't belong there!

From this board I gather that hockey won't be struggling as long as every city larger than 100K people North of 40 degrees has a professional team where the tickets are free so everyone can go to the game, and national blackouts to people living below the 40th parallel are mandatory.

I've heard UFC fans have kind of the same mindset. They want their sport to be genuinely popular on its own merits, but secretly don't want it to be "discovered" because they fear commercialization and watering down of what makes the sport great.

*sips PBR and adjusts Buddy Holly glasses*

 

[MinnesotaNorthStar]

Even though it's not really struggling and has recovered way more than expected after the lockout, I'll respond. Maybe it's struggling because the fan base doesn't want other people to enjoy the game, even though they all say they want it to be the most popular sport out there. Case in point, certain people's response to Bill Simmons getting Kings season tickets. He talks UP the game every time he writes about it, only to get slammed by 'true' hockey fans. Like it or not, the dude has pull and people will watch if he talks about it so they can get more of his jokes. Then you have non-traditional markets where everyone freaks out at because hockey doesn't belong there!

From this board I gather that hockey won't be struggling as long as every city larger than 100K people North of 40 degrees has a professional team where the tickets are free so everyone can go to the game, and national blackouts to people living below the 40th parallel are mandatory.

Ah, yes...the "Southern teams don't deserve hockey/Lord Stanley's Cup" crowd...

 

[MountieBoyOz]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

Even though it's not really struggling and has recovered way more than expected after the lockout, I'll respond. Maybe it's struggling because the fan base doesn't want other people to enjoy the game, even though they all say they want it to be the most popular sport out there. Case in point, certain people's response to Bill Simmons getting Kings season tickets. He talks UP the game every time he writes about it, only to get slammed by 'true' hockey fans. Like it or not, the dude has pull and people will watch if he talks about it so they can get more of his jokes. Then you have non-traditional markets where everyone freaks out at because hockey doesn't belong there!

From this board I gather that hockey won't be struggling as long as every city larger than 100K people North of 40 degrees has a professional team where the tickets are free so everyone can go to the game, and national blackouts to people living below the 40th parallel are mandatory.

I do think some people are snobs when it comes to hockey. I could care less where a team is as long as they make money and have the support of the community. It annoys me when a Southern market says they will support a team and then abandon it two or three years down the road. Quebec and Hartford never should've had their teams taken away, and it's annoying that a market like Hamilton doesn't get a shot because the league over a personal issue. I want it to succeed wherever it goes, but the wonderful commish expanded too quickly.

 

[bronconick]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

Hartford should never have had a major professional sports team. That failure was inevitable.

 

[UNH GH]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

Good win for the Bruins tonight. Seguin is playing consistently well. Very encouraging.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: Official 2011-2012 NHL Season Thread: 2 Sedins, No Cup!

I can't help but think that tomorrow's CBJ/DET matchup is a bit of a trap game for the Wings. C-bus has been in some close ones, and will want results vs. Detroit.

As for Phil Kessel against the Bruins...*crickets*