HOCKEY GAINING IN POPULARITY AS STANLEY CUP FINALS APPROACH

You say you're not a hockey fan.  Because you just don't understand the game that well...or it seems boring, just not enough scoring for you.  If that's what's kept you from jumping on board and giving this truly special sport a try, give it up, because it's time.  Like in NOW... 

This past regular season might have gone down as one of the most competitive races in league history. Only five of the 30 teams were not involved in the race for post-season play, which made each and every game count.

Youth has been served, for sure.  New names (like Tyler Seguin, Vladimir Tarasenko and Sean Monahan),  keep cropping up on the scoring sheet, which in turn has brought the level of play to a competitive balance.   Oh sure, some of the oldies are still there, the Alex Ovechkin's, Steven Stamkos' and the Rick Nash's of the world, but the guard is changing.  The new faces are coming from the Kontinental  Hockey League (KHL) a league  comprised of  28 member clubs based in Belarus, Croatia, Finland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Russia and Slovakia is offering up much of the new faces... and it intends to expand to more countries.  It is widely considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in Europe and Asia, and second in the world behind the NHL.

Ducks starting to take control of series with Hawks

                                                 
Let's fast forward since regular season's end to the current state, the finals of the Eastern and Western Conferences.  Tampa Bay Lighting against the New York Rangers and the Anaheim Ducks tangling with the Chicago Blackhawks.

In the East, the young Lightning are making things difficult for the veteran and favored Rangers.  Thursday evening's 6-5 OT Tampa Bay win comes two days after they pounded New York on the Rangers home ice.  With consecutive wins, Tampa Bay has a chance to go up 3-1 in the series before returning to the Big Apple this weekend.  Tyler Johnson has clearly been the dominant player for Tampa.   On May 18th,  Johnson became the first Lightning player to score a Hat-Trick (3 goals) in the playoffs, and score a Short-handed goal and a Power-play goal  in a single playoff period. 

Johnson centers a line that has been the most prolific in these playoffs and was arguably the NHL’s best during the regular season.  Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat have combined for 17 goals and 14 assists in 13 postseason games.  Johnson has scored three game-winners among his league-leading eight goals, and he is tied for third in points, with 12.  And all of this from a little 5 foot 8 inch dude, who went undrafted by the NHL and is 24.  And in only his second full season in the league.  If, Tampa Bay is able to hold home-ice advantage they will provide an exciting piece to the Stanley Cup Finals.  Tune in....The Rangers clearly are on the cusp and must play desperate hockey.  Game 5 should be a Donnybrook on ice.

As if the Tampa Bay-Rangers series hasn't been enough, the Anaheim-Chicago series has been equally interesting.  The Blackhawks won a 3-2 3OT game in Anaheim on Tuesday evening (err..... Wednesday morning) to even the series at 1 apiece...but then stubbed their toe on Thursday night dropping a 2-1 contest.  Now that Anaheim has home-ice back, they will be tough to contain.  Chicago on the other hand has the experience necessary to come back and advance to the Finals.  Saturday night's game at the Madhouse on Madison will be key.  If the Blackhawks lose Game 4....the Ducks will no doubt move on. 

Back to my original statement.   So hockey has a devoted following, much like auto racing. Unlike auto racing, it hasn't had peak year where popularity spiked. Polls show hockey is gaining steam.  OK, it's a bit of wishful thinking to say pucks are as popular as roundball.  A more accurate headline might be: "Don't tell ESPN, but new poll finds hockey as popular as basketball in U.S. (in that they're both not as popular as football)"

Every metric from TV ratings to gate attendance to national media attention to star power tips in the favor of pro hoops. And while the Stanley Cup Playoffs are, in our completely biased opinion, the greatest annual tournament in sports, there are probably a few more March Madness brackets in circulation inside U.S. offices than Stanley Cup fantasy pools.  And while Hockey might never surpass March Madness, coming in second wouldn't be all bad. 

Check out the Stanley Cup playoffs this weekend.  Just listening to the great Mike "Doc" Emrick and Ed Olczyk call the action on NBC is worth it.  Their excitement in play calling is off  the charts.  Not to mention, they'll provide you with some great memories this Memorial Day Weekend.

Thanks for reading,

John   

SPORTS, SPORTS AND MORE SPORTS.........

If you're a sports junkie, last weekend had to have put you on a ledge bordering between euphoria and insomnia.   

Let's see....there was the Kentucky Derby, the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, the NHL and NBA Playoffs, Major League Baseball, the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Match Play,,,,,,Nascar Sprint Cup Series at Talledega...oh, and let me not forget three days of the NFL Draft. 

Here were some OF the rumblings headed into the world of sports FANDOM.
 
The weekend "is going to be spectacular," said SportsCenter's Steve Levy, who was  to anchor shows in both Chicago (home of this year's NFL draft) and Las Vegas (site of the fight). "We've been planning for this month since about the time we left the Super Bowl."

"It's like nirvana for sports fans," added Ed Mitzen, founder of Fingerpaint Marketing. "You've basically got Super Bowl weekend spread across 10 different venues." 

 

A horse race right down to the end of the weekend

 

Not surprisingly, networks were betting on huge ratings.  Last year, 15.3 million watched the Derby, while 45.7 million tuned in for the 2014 NFL Draft coverage on NFL Network, ESPN and ESPN 2 over its three days, with 32 million watching Round 1 alone.  Despite its hefty PPV fee ($89.95 for standard definition, $99.95 for high definition), Saturday night's Mayweather-Pacquiao telecast was expected to draw a record PPV audience of up to 4 million homes. 

 

But not so fast.  The horse race more than held its own.  Over 170,000 were on hand in Louisville to catch the Derby.  The TV audience tuned in for the race and a whole lot of something else.  

"This event is so much more than just a horse race, and you don't have to be a sports fan to know of Churchill Downs and the images it conjures up," said NBC Sports Group coordinating producer Rob Hyland. "The Kentucky Derby is the ultimate bucket list sporting event."

NBC's Derby coverage included commentary from Bob Costas and 14 others, including Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski, who returned for the second year as Derby fashion and lifestyle experts. "This event is just so much more than" just the race, said Tara Lapinski. "You have the hats and the fashion and the mint juleps, and it's just such a big, fun, social event."

 

NBC gave ESPN a run for its money on Saturday, with a Washington Capitals-New York Rangers NHL playoff game at 12:30 p.m., its Derby telecast at 4 and World Golf Championship Cadillac Match Play coverage at 7:30.

 

For all networks, coordinating coverage of all the weekend's major sports events "was a massive logistical challenge," said one ESPN executive. 

 

The unprecedented sports weekend also provided an enormous marketing challenge for brands looking to make a splash. "You can't play everywhere, because it's impossible," said Mitzen. "You can't make a dent in all of these things, so you have to pick your spots and where you have relevancy and where you feel like you can get noticed

 

Back to the games themselves....last weekend's three-game series between the Yankees and Red Sox was widely viewed on FOX, ESPN and MLB Network.

 

Saturday's game, broadcast on FOX, was the most-watched non-primetime regular season MLB telecast on the network in more than three years with 4.10 million viewers, counting the other parts of the country that saw San Francisco and Philadelphia.  The last FOX non-primetime telecast to record higher numbers also was Boston vs. New York -- and the Cubs and Cardinals -- on July 5, 2008. ESPN's Sunday night game between the two rivals was the most-watched ESPN baseball game in more than four years with 4.72 million average viewers. The last time ESPN had a larger audience for baseball was June 3, 2007, when the two teams squared off.

Some sports saw a drop off though...NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Talladega drew a 3.8 overnight rating on FOX Sunday afternoon, down 5% from last year (4.0), down 14% from 2013 (4.4), and the lowest overnight for the spring Talladega race since at least 1998 (excludes rainouts). The previous low was last year’s 4.0.  Overnights have now been the lowest over that span in each of the past three years.

 

Another drop off came in hockey...Game 2 of the Capitals/Rangers Stanley Cup playoff series earned a 1.2* overnight rating on NBC Saturday afternoon, down 14% from both Canadiens/Bruins last year and Red Wings/Blackhawks in 2013 (1.4 both years). Coverage both this year and last aired prior to the Kentucky Derby; the 2013 telecast aired prior to The Preakness Stakes.  NBC has now had declines for all six playoff windows that can be compared to last year.

 

And perhaps the biggest loser of all.....Game 1 of the Wizards/Hawks NBA playoff series earned a 2.6 overnight rating on ABC Sunday afternoon, down a third from Nets/Raptors Game 7 last year (3.9), down 32% from Grizzlies/Thunder Game 1 in 2013 (3.8), and the lowest overnight for a playoff game on ABC since the network resumed airing games in 2002.

 

The previous low was a 2.7 for four other games, including Wizards/Cavaliers Game 1 in 2006 and Bucks/Hawks Game 7 in 2010. ABC’s six lowest rated playoff games in the metered market have been Eastern Conference contests.  It is highly likely that the 2.6 is the lowest ever for an NBA playoff game on broadcast TV.

Thanks to TV you might have an opportunity to view most or all of the events listed.  However, guys....unless you're single or have a girl friend or wife that shares your sports fanaticism,  you've probably got some fences to mend. 

Maybe that's why Mother's Day is up next.  Just saying....