The NHL’s Moment
On Monday, something happened that hasn’t occurred in as long as I can remember that personally made me very happy. SportsCenter, all 3 shows on WFAN radio in New York, Around the Horn, Pardon the Interruption and Daily News Live all started their shows by talking about hockey. Hockey also made the cover of all four local newspapers in the New York and New Jersey area, as well as being the headline story on Espn.com. It also made the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated. Hockey! Unbelievable! It’s the first time this has happened in ages. It hasn’t even happened after the Stanley Cup Finals. Commissioner Gary Bettman had his hands full with all of the interviews he gave to news outlets around the country Monday, trying to promote his sport. The USA vs. Canada gem on Sunday afternoon was the highest rated non-football sporting event since 2008. It got a higher rating than any NBA Finals game last year, any World Series game, and beat most primetime shows for the week. Not only did lots of people watch the game, but they were treated to an instant classic; it was the perfect game to use to showcase the sport to a casual fan. The entire day was perfect for the NHL in every possible way. The question now becomes how to capitalize on a one time phenomena. Here’s a few ways to keep the momentum going.
1. Turn the Team USA Stars into actual Superstars
The top three stars of the USA team that people will likely remember are Zach Parise, Ryan Miller, and Patrick Kane. Parise’s goal with 24 seconds left in the gold medal game turned it from a well-played game into an all-out classic. Miller’s outstanding play in goal throughout the games garnered him MVP honors for the tournament as well as much-earned respect across the nation. Kane’s consistent offensive pressure made him the biggest scoring threat for the team, and added a level of excitement each time that he went on the ice. It’s time for the NHL to make sure that everyone knows their names. Kane and Parise play in markets that are accessible to major marketing campaigns. Why can’t there be a poster of Zach Parise in New York City, potentially even near Madison Square Garden in midtown Manhattan? He plays on the outskirts of NYC with the Devils, but he’s close enough that he can be turned into a much bigger star. With Kane, how about posters in Chicago near Wrigley Field? But most of all, a television marketing campaign is where this needs to get done. The NHL should be marketing their players on other sporting events that aren’t hockey games. How about an NHL commercial during an NBA game? Why not buy some ad time from CBS during March Madness and promote the stretch run, with these players in mind? It may not be in the NHL’s control for this to happen, but what about getting these guys advertisements that will make the products being promoted and themselves more popular in the process? Gillette is looking for a new spokesman, now that they’ve dumped Tiger Woods. How about Ryan Miller? He has a beard. He can shave. Right now, they are using Roger Federer and Thierry Henry as spokesmen. Why should a tennis player from Switzerland and a soccer player from France have promotional deals and not American hockey players that play in big cities?
2. Make more out of Versus and NBC
This may be easier said than done, since surely there are contracts involved that I don’t know the full details of. That being said, Versus should be showing games that have direct implications on which teams make the playoffs for the next month. The thing that people loved about Sunday’s game was the desperation that all of the players showed, since their entire tournament was on the line. Versus needs to show as many games between teams on the bubble of making the playoffs as possible. This isn’t the place to pick games that will showcase stars, since diehard fans watching Versus don’t need that. They need to see games that will directly impact who will make the playoffs. Versus should make their own version of March Madness in the next month. Why not show one game a night between two teams that could make the playoffs but aren’t assured of it? There needs to be more of a spotlight on the desperation that makes some games amazing to watch. There should be very few games between one top team and one team fighting for the playoffs. What fun is it to watch one team scrape for goals while the other team is resting players and making sure that they have all their ducks in a row for the playoff run?
As for NBC, they should take a different approach. Since they only have one game a week, it might not make sense to show teams that are scraping for the playoffs, since it would require the casual fan to have a detailed knowledge of the standings, and it isn’t logical to showcase teams that might not be alive come playoff time. So, for NBC it would make sense to show potential playoff matchups and promote players that can become stars, like Parise, Miller and Kane. The Red Wings vs. Blackhawks game on Sunday is a good start, since Kane is involved and the Red Wings need a push to make the playoffs. How about a Devils/Rangers Sunday afternoon game, where Parise can be showcased along with Henrik Lundqvist and Team USA members Chris Drury and Ryan Callahan? What about featuring the Los Angeles Kings, one of the surprising teams this year that have emerging stars in Anze Kopitar and USA’s Dustin Brown? Perhaps they can face the San Jose Sharks, among the best teams in the league and also had an astounding 5 players in the gold medal game. Versus should be about detailing the race to the playoffs on a daily basis, and NBC should be used to highlight the best players and teams, so that people can be fully prepared for a great playoff run.
This may turn out to be the defining moment of Gary Bettman’s run as commissioner. He’s had a few ups (the Rangers’ Stanley Cup victory, the Outdoor Classic) and some downs (I can’t list them all here without you thinking that I use parentheses too often), but that can be erased right now. He has never had a bigger opportunity fall into his lap. If it can be used to significantly increase hockey’s ratings and raise the public awareness of the league, the NHL may finally have the potential to become the strong 4th national sport. If not, the league may be stuck being an afterthought to most of America. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s a fate that we will have to accept as a fact. It’s time to take action right now, before the classic that everyone sat through is forgotten as just another Olympic memory. If it isn’t capitalized on, it will be a long four years before another opportunity arises.
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[...] right after the amazing amount of exposure given to hockey after the gold medal game, I wrote this column about how the NHL could capitalize on its uptick in popularity. They’ve completely ignored [...]