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Gold Cup final destroys Stanley Cup in ratings

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by kingcreole, Jun 26, 2007.

  1. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    I think it has more to do with the number of spanish language-speaking people living in this country more than anything else. Just my opinion. Spanish speaking shows count for roughly half of the top ten shows in Los Angeles in any given week, now that they are counted in the Nielsens.

    I watched it on channel 34 (Univision, I think) since I don't get FSC.... But I don't think a ton of others other than the hardcore english-speaking soccer fans.

    That rating is based mainly on the changing demographic of this country. Just my opinion.
     
  2. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    Unless I'm in Detroit, New York or Boston, I can't imagine sending a beat writer on a road trip at this point. How do ratings compare between NHL on Versus and Arena Football on ESPN2? I have to imagine they're comparable, and who in their right minds sends a beater on an AFL road trip?
     
  3. John

    John Well-Known Member

    I think you're right. That was what I immediately thought when I saw the article.
     
  4. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    Bettman, with his infatuation with the South, handling of the lockout and his refusal to pay ESPN to broadcast games after the lockout ended, has killed the NHL in the States.
     
  5. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member

    <i>That pretty much goes from inconveniencing the fans to giving them a "Fuck you to the 100th power."</i>

    They don't get that message when they get "convenience fees" tacked on their ticket prices and pay $8 for a beer?
     
  6. GB-Hack

    GB-Hack Active Member

    I don't think there's much doubt this is due to the changing landscape of America.

    If Mexico isn't in the final, it doesn't matter who the U.S. was playing. The rating isn't going to be this high.
     
  7. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    It bothers me somewhat when numbers like this are used as the lead to the story.

    They're not wrong per se, but when you have so few people watching either event, the percentages sound more meaningful (or ominous) than they should.

    As an extreme example, suppose you have 100 million TV households.

    10 watch the Stanley Cup Finals.

    30 watch the Gold Cup Final.

    You could say, "200 percent more households tuned into Gold Cup final than Stanley Cup final." Sounds significant.

    But it's also true that . . .

    99,999,990 households didn't watch the Stanley Cup

    and 99,999,970 households didn't watch the Gold Cup.

    Which makes the difference in the sports' appeal pretty much insignificant.
     
  8. WazzuGrad00

    WazzuGrad00 Guest

    It's a comparison between the two. It doesn't really matter who didn't watch either one.

    1,000 percent more households watched "American Idol" than the Gold Cup final, the number is 1,600 percent for the NHL.
     
  9. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    Right now the NHL is in the "if a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it make a sound?" syndrome.

    Bettman didn't realise when he and his handful of troglodyte owners wanted to crush the NHLPA that there's no free lunch.

    And now they're paying for it.
     
  10. Freelance Hack

    Freelance Hack Active Member

    Wow, who would have thought that a couple million Spanish-speaking Mexicans living in America would watch their national team take on Los Gringos in la Copa de Oro final? I'm shocked. Shocked, I say!

    How many Canadian-Americans actually cared about Canada's sixth NHL team (in more ways than one) making the Stanley Cup Final? Very few did.

    How many Americans actually cared about LeBron James making his NBA Finals debut? Again, very few did.

    Comparing a game involving a national team in a final with one involving a local team in a final is an apples-and-oranges comparison. It's not just hockey's problem, although it is worse for them. The World Series and the NBA Finals have been dealing with slumping ratings for years.

    You want a true comparison? What was the rating on the US-Canada gold medal game from Salt Lake City? Or, if Univision shows the MLS Cup final, tell me what its rating was for that.
     
  11. kingcreole

    kingcreole Active Member

    Apples to oranges perhaps, but the point of the comparison is that the soccer game was on Univision and did not take into account the Fox Soccer viewers, while the Stanley Cup Finals were on NBC. Not everyone has Univision, and even many who do don't realize it. NBC ... everyone has that.
     
  12. Freelance Hack

    Freelance Hack Active Member

    OK, how many Spanish-speaking stations are there on cable or local access? A couple in most markets, a few more obviously in major markets like LA. Fewer stations means you're going to get a higher share of the viewers, especially when your network is showing the big game. And, I'd assume most Hispanics who have access to cable know that they have Univision. Hell, I know I have it and I don't speak a lick of Spanish.

    Now, how many English-speaking channels are there? In most homes, there's at least 25, and many have 50 or more. So someone who doesn't have a vested interest in either Anaheim or Ottawa can watch pretty much anything they damn well want. It's not like it was 30 years ago when most people only had four or five stations from which to choose.

    Hell, on most nights there are at least three or four different sports options available to most cable viewers. If I'm a Reds fan, I'm watching them play over two teams I don't really care that much about in the Stanley Cup. I'll flip between innings and I'll tune in late if it's close, but if it's not, I won't bother. It doesn't mean I don't like hockey. It means that I don't care about the game being offered to me.

    Yes, hockey has relegated itself to niche sport status. No one will argue against that. But the comparison you were making was disingenuous at best.
     
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