| 24 October 2009
I was going to write a column discussing why people don't watch hockey, but immediately I knew the answer; ESPN. There's a lot of other smaller reasons, but when you look at the game and where it's at then it can be easily narrowed down to the "Worldwide Leader of Sports". The NHL has had some tough times because of lockouts, city relocations, gambling scandals, lack of scoring in the game and other factors that have contributed to it's downfall. One of the biggest problems hockey has had for years is that it was so difficult to follow the puck. We saw Fox's network try to highlight the puck, but that wasn't too great of an idea. Actually that might've been one of the worst television enhancements. What hockey really needed was high-def television. Well we got high-def television and people still aren't watching. I think out of any sport that hockey has improved the most just based on the picture quality of the game. We can finally see where the puck is at all times and actually watch how plays develop. Beforehand the game was just a back and forth affair where we would be hunting for the puck. Now we can actually see what's going on. The game's scoring has improved with the new rules and we have some of the biggest superstars with Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. We saw the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings play in back-to-back Stanley Cups, which is a remarkable feat in itself. So none of those things are the problem so it has to be that it's not seen by the masses. NHL is only on Versus, which has done a very solid job of displaying the game. Later in the season we will get an occasional weekend game on NBC and in the playoffs we get a few games on NBC as well. The problem is that hockey isn't on ESPN. I think most people can figure out by now that ESPN loves promoting themselves. If your sport isn't on their channel then you won't get much discussion about it. Sportscenter hardly ever displays a large section for hockey highlights and recaps of the games are very miniscule. We get a short thirty minute segment on Hockey at times. I'm not even sure when Hockey Night or whatever it's called is on. The NHL is just not promoted there. It needs to be. The game is too good right now to be put on the back burner and hopefully something changes soon. There's really not much that can be done though. The NHL has contracts with Versus and NBC through 2010-2011 season and then we can hope for some change after that. The NHL has made the necessary changes to get the game where it needs to be, having stars that are known around the world, and a product that is finally enjoyable to watch on TV. Now we just need to be able to watch it on a television network that is notorious for sports; ESPN. So the reason people don't watch hockey is ESPN, but it's the NHL's fault, not ESPN's.
