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Women's Hockey Attedance
- Thread starter AtlanticCanuckFan
- Start date
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
I've talked to a lot of people (excluding UNH fans) who are going to see the women's game and aren't sure if they'll even stay for the men's at Fenway. There are people who don't even care about hockey that much who were planning on going!
I've talked to a lot of people (excluding UNH fans) who are going to see the women's game and aren't sure if they'll even stay for the men's at Fenway. There are people who don't even care about hockey that much who were planning on going!
Hux
Alfond to Ridder & rinks in between
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
Yeah, the masses started streaming in about 15 minutes after the game. I think had it been warmer, as it was on Thursday night, a lot of those people would have come for the third.
Yeah, the masses started streaming in about 15 minutes after the game. I think had it been warmer, as it was on Thursday night, a lot of those people would have come for the third.
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
The thing about the event was it scheduling it for a weekday diluted some of the availability of some of the fans. Obviously women's attendance is hurting it overall. But had they scheduled it for a weekend, I'm sure it could have drawn better. In retrospect I'm not entirely sure it made sense to make it a doubleheader. People who just wanted to see the men's game would buy tix and thus that prevented people who might to go the women's one from going.
As a side note it was good to see more fans around at Yale's New Year's Day matchup.
The thing about the event was it scheduling it for a weekday diluted some of the availability of some of the fans. Obviously women's attendance is hurting it overall. But had they scheduled it for a weekend, I'm sure it could have drawn better. In retrospect I'm not entirely sure it made sense to make it a doubleheader. People who just wanted to see the men's game would buy tix and thus that prevented people who might to go the women's one from going.
As a side note it was good to see more fans around at Yale's New Year's Day matchup.
Hux
Alfond to Ridder & rinks in between
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
I agree. Had this been a Saturday game, with the women playing at 3:00PM and a separate gate, I think the demand was high enough that attendance would have been double.
On the plus side it garnered National attention on an otherwise slow sports night, and was the featured prime time event on NESN here in New England and the NHL Network everywhere else. Tough to beat that.
I agree. Had this been a Saturday game, with the women playing at 3:00PM and a separate gate, I think the demand was high enough that attendance would have been double.
On the plus side it garnered National attention on an otherwise slow sports night, and was the featured prime time event on NESN here in New England and the NHL Network everywhere else. Tough to beat that.
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
I definitely noticed more fans arriving as the game went on, especially in the 3rd. We had a lot of BU fans milling around our section, which makes sense given that it was the UNH/BU section. After a rendition of "The Song" by the Litterbox, many of these Terrier fans starting cheering for UNH.
I definitely noticed more fans arriving as the game went on, especially in the 3rd. We had a lot of BU fans milling around our section, which makes sense given that it was the UNH/BU section. After a rendition of "The Song" by the Litterbox, many of these Terrier fans starting cheering for UNH.
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
I have been viewing womens hockey for 17 years and mens for 55 years and I love hockey. I have played and coached. I love watching hockey from mites to the pro's. I do not mind watching a womens game but I cannot get any of my friends to go to a womans game. The reason its too slow, the no check rule is abused by ref's who have little experience and many do not know or understand the game at all. The truly great women skaters are basically shuned because they are too fast for the average womans team and many of them skated with boys early on and don't play well with slower girls.
Hockey USA is a joke including the selection of their "national team" which is politics at its best. The teams' play reflect the USA hockey's position, weak.The Olympic coach should not be affiliated with any college hockey program taking the bias out of selecting and have legitmate try outs!
To bring attendance to womens hockey, you need a fast, hitting game, you do not need full check but something that will bring some excitment to the game. In a mens game they can push off bump each other; they skate with their heads up;in the womens game especially at the collegiate level alnost every bump is a check. If a girl falls down and an opposing player is next to her its a trip. Male ref's in Div I take years to reach that level. In women's DI women ref's are fast tracked to Div I play with little experience.
The 98 olympic team was good hockey, fast alive hitting, the teams since do not even come close.If you want to get attendance up you have to open up the game otherwise it is what it is, slow dull and only those of us who just love hockey will watch regardless of who plays.
The only reason that the attenance was high for the "winter Classic" was that everyone came to watch the mens BC/Bu game and some got their early. No one I mean no one except parents , friends and relatives come to a womens game and it the same for soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, softball, or any womens sport. That just the way it is and it isn;t goingto change. When it comes to hockey you have to really love the game to watch womens hockey.
I have been viewing womens hockey for 17 years and mens for 55 years and I love hockey. I have played and coached. I love watching hockey from mites to the pro's. I do not mind watching a womens game but I cannot get any of my friends to go to a womans game. The reason its too slow, the no check rule is abused by ref's who have little experience and many do not know or understand the game at all. The truly great women skaters are basically shuned because they are too fast for the average womans team and many of them skated with boys early on and don't play well with slower girls.
Hockey USA is a joke including the selection of their "national team" which is politics at its best. The teams' play reflect the USA hockey's position, weak.The Olympic coach should not be affiliated with any college hockey program taking the bias out of selecting and have legitmate try outs!
To bring attendance to womens hockey, you need a fast, hitting game, you do not need full check but something that will bring some excitment to the game. In a mens game they can push off bump each other; they skate with their heads up;in the womens game especially at the collegiate level alnost every bump is a check. If a girl falls down and an opposing player is next to her its a trip. Male ref's in Div I take years to reach that level. In women's DI women ref's are fast tracked to Div I play with little experience.
The 98 olympic team was good hockey, fast alive hitting, the teams since do not even come close.If you want to get attendance up you have to open up the game otherwise it is what it is, slow dull and only those of us who just love hockey will watch regardless of who plays.
ARM
Fan of chipmunk-like mascots.
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
I like the game. Maybe it is due to the team I watch, but I don't find it to be slow nor dull.
5 4 Fighting
New member
moose97
New member
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
I don't know how many of you have ever had CBC, but it's amazing to see how that channel (I know it's government controlled and has to abide by Canadian-content laws) pushes amateur sports on its weekend broadcasts. If you grow up watching, say, the Alberta Provincial curling championships, then the Ontario sled hockey championships, then the Canadian bobsleigh championships, then the Canada/US women's hockey game every weekend, you're gonna start caring about just about everything Canada... And, they do each broadcast as a mini-Olympics - doing a profile on the athletes too. Throw in a zenophobic Don Cherry on HNIC (not to mention the patriotic all-Canada nature of those broadcasts), and it's not hard to see why people get behind "Team Canada."
I don't know how many of you have ever had CBC, but it's amazing to see how that channel (I know it's government controlled and has to abide by Canadian-content laws) pushes amateur sports on its weekend broadcasts. If you grow up watching, say, the Alberta Provincial curling championships, then the Ontario sled hockey championships, then the Canadian bobsleigh championships, then the Canada/US women's hockey game every weekend, you're gonna start caring about just about everything Canada... And, they do each broadcast as a mini-Olympics - doing a profile on the athletes too. Throw in a zenophobic Don Cherry on HNIC (not to mention the patriotic all-Canada nature of those broadcasts), and it's not hard to see why people get behind "Team Canada."
ARM
Fan of chipmunk-like mascots.
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
I agree with that; most of the people who have a complaint with the caliber of the game haven't watched it.
ManBehindTheCurtain
Great and powerful wizard
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
Most days I would give anything, anything at all, if just one channel would put a game of some kind on.
I was in France a couple of years ago. I don't speak French. I flipped on the TV in the hotel room in Nantes. All day long the programming on EuroSport was coverage of the European weight lifting championships. The occasional coverage this sport receives on USA TV is insulting compared to the coverage granted by European TV. It was a fascinating competition and I did not understand a word said by the commentators.
I am pretty sure that given exposure there are many sports, not the least of which is women's hockey, which would enjoy a considerably larger following. The problem is that the corporate controlled media gives exposure only to those events for which profits are pretty much guaranteed.
If you can't get on TV in the first place you can't ever establish a place in the marketplace. And you can't get on TV in the first place if the corporate media want you to watch the national football league and little else.
Today's programming on ESPN and ESPN2 was dominated by former NFL football players TALKING ABOUT football.
Most days I would give anything, anything at all, if just one channel would put a game of some kind on.
I was in France a couple of years ago. I don't speak French. I flipped on the TV in the hotel room in Nantes. All day long the programming on EuroSport was coverage of the European weight lifting championships. The occasional coverage this sport receives on USA TV is insulting compared to the coverage granted by European TV. It was a fascinating competition and I did not understand a word said by the commentators.
I am pretty sure that given exposure there are many sports, not the least of which is women's hockey, which would enjoy a considerably larger following. The problem is that the corporate controlled media gives exposure only to those events for which profits are pretty much guaranteed.
If you can't get on TV in the first place you can't ever establish a place in the marketplace. And you can't get on TV in the first place if the corporate media want you to watch the national football league and little else.
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5 4 Fighting
New member
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
Well said and very true. Unfortunatley we have to endure "Road to Avonlea" to get to the weekend...
Well said and very true. Unfortunatley we have to endure "Road to Avonlea" to get to the weekend...
moose97
New member
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
Heh... Yeah, I switched to Dish Network over this past summer, and didn't consider not having CBC (NHL Network HD has NHIC) for the Olympics for the first time in over a decade...
Missing Road to Avonlea, or Emmerdale? - Can't say I've even noticed 
I did enjoy Father Ted in the late '90's, but the Channel 4 in the UK can take credit for that (and the CBC just picked it up)...
Heh... Yeah, I switched to Dish Network over this past summer, and didn't consider not having CBC (NHL Network HD has NHIC) for the Olympics for the first time in over a decade...
Missing Road to Avonlea, or Emmerdale? - Can't say I've even noticed I did enjoy Father Ted in the late '90's, but the Channel 4 in the UK can take credit for that (and the CBC just picked it up)...5 4 Fighting
New member
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
Sadly were both right.
Oletimer is on to something. I find the reffing in the female game to be inconsistant and credit this to be mainly due to the subjectivity of the Body Check rule. I've seen two players collide in mid ice and because one of them fell down...the arm goes up. I've seen two players battling for puck possession, one goes down and ...the arm goes up. I'll ask again "What is the definition of a body check in female hockey"?
The Officials seem to be compelled to call something any time somebody goes down. This in effect slows things down, makes players tentative, confuses most people watching and tends to make the game less appealing to the masses. If you were to define the body check rule as no boarding and no open ice hits then let them play the game it was intended to be played the attendance numbers would rise. My buddies might even come out...
Sadly were both right.
Oletimer is on to something. I find the reffing in the female game to be inconsistant and credit this to be mainly due to the subjectivity of the Body Check rule. I've seen two players collide in mid ice and because one of them fell down...the arm goes up. I've seen two players battling for puck possession, one goes down and ...the arm goes up. I'll ask again "What is the definition of a body check in female hockey"?
The Officials seem to be compelled to call something any time somebody goes down. This in effect slows things down, makes players tentative, confuses most people watching and tends to make the game less appealing to the masses. If you were to define the body check rule as no boarding and no open ice hits then let them play the game it was intended to be played the attendance numbers would rise. My buddies might even come out...
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
Re: oletimer-- Geez, who knew Harry Reid was a hockey fan?
I agree with most of what Ol’T writes, and I like it even more because of Ol’T’s stats on this board: 22 posts in five and a half years! ‘Only speak when you’ve got something to say’ is good advice…
I also agree with Moose97…wouldn’t it be great if PBS had a second channel, national feed, devoted to amateur sports? I thought going to digital broadcasting was supposed to open the spectrum up to just that kind of programming innovation.
And finally, really, do athletes play sports because they get an audience, or because they love the game? If women’s college hockey draws few fans, who cares? Let the colleges carry the cost, because it contributes to the totality of the athletes’ higher education…is there any other reason for colleges to expend ANY non-gym physical activity costs?
Re: oletimer-- Geez, who knew Harry Reid was a hockey fan?
I agree with most of what Ol’T writes, and I like it even more because of Ol’T’s stats on this board: 22 posts in five and a half years! ‘Only speak when you’ve got something to say’ is good advice…
I also agree with Moose97…wouldn’t it be great if PBS had a second channel, national feed, devoted to amateur sports? I thought going to digital broadcasting was supposed to open the spectrum up to just that kind of programming innovation.
And finally, really, do athletes play sports because they get an audience, or because they love the game? If women’s college hockey draws few fans, who cares? Let the colleges carry the cost, because it contributes to the totality of the athletes’ higher education…is there any other reason for colleges to expend ANY non-gym physical activity costs?
notfromaroundhere
A visitor in any town!
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
Geez I always though ESPN stood for Every Sunday is Poker Night. I can't imagine how Poker is a sport. The only physical skill there is in poker is keeping a straight face. Does that mean acting is a sport too??? I guess then ESPN can become a movie channel.
I agree that it would be nice to see "real sports coverage" on ESPN in addition to the sports news feed. I cant imagine they can't get enough good feed from womens hockey or even curling or target sports.
Geez I always though ESPN stood for Every Sunday is Poker Night. I can't imagine how Poker is a sport. The only physical skill there is in poker is keeping a straight face. Does that mean acting is a sport too??? I guess then ESPN can become a movie channel.
I agree that it would be nice to see "real sports coverage" on ESPN in addition to the sports news feed. I cant imagine they can't get enough good feed from womens hockey or even curling or target sports.
Hux
Alfond to Ridder & rinks in between
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
Has nothing to do with feeds, and everything to do with pennies. A friend was a producer at ESPN, and a big fan of hockey. Even when ESPN was carrying NHL games, they took a back seat to baseball, and college football and hoops because those sports had better ratings, thus generating more money.
Later, when poker and other junk sports took over, he said it was because it cost little to produce and generated more revenue than hockey. (the Disney bean counters were very diligent) He also attributed the short shrift given hockey to the predominance of folk at ESPN from non-hockey regions who favored hoop especially, and had little interest in the hockey.
Has nothing to do with feeds, and everything to do with pennies. A friend was a producer at ESPN, and a big fan of hockey. Even when ESPN was carrying NHL games, they took a back seat to baseball, and college football and hoops because those sports had better ratings, thus generating more money.
Later, when poker and other junk sports took over, he said it was because it cost little to produce and generated more revenue than hockey. (the Disney bean counters were very diligent) He also attributed the short shrift given hockey to the predominance of folk at ESPN from non-hockey regions who favored hoop especially, and had little interest in the hockey.
notfromaroundhere
A visitor in any town!
Re: Women's Hockey Attedance
Yes ESPN looks at eyeball count too much without regards to which eyeballs are watching. By and large hockey fans earn more than most other sports fans, but are fewer in number and are not uniformly distributed around the country. However, regional sports networks tend to cater to the local hockey markets in some areas exploiting that niche (note the local coverage of the non-NHL outdoor games in Boston). Unfortunately, you can never find these networks at any hotel when you are on the road.
Yes ESPN looks at eyeball count too much without regards to which eyeballs are watching. By and large hockey fans earn more than most other sports fans, but are fewer in number and are not uniformly distributed around the country. However, regional sports networks tend to cater to the local hockey markets in some areas exploiting that niche (note the local coverage of the non-NHL outdoor games in Boston). Unfortunately, you can never find these networks at any hotel when you are on the road.