Hockey is no longer a major sport in the US

[Ming]

Bettman is a moron... and the only person dumber is Wirtz. He killed hockey in Chicago. Hell, the Wolves draw better than the Hawks... which proves hockey is still strong in the city. Hopefully, when he croaks, his son will do a better job.

[Asher]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Well damn, it's more bad news.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NHL_on_NBC

For Game 3 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, NBC got a 1.7 overnight rating, with one point equaling 1% of the USA's 77 million overnight TV households. That was down from a 2.0 for Game 3 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals. Out of four television networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox) broadcasting programming on Saturday, June 10, NBC came in dead last. Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals earned a mere 2.88 million viewers, and a 1.1/ 4 among adults 18-49 from 8-11 p.m. Game 4 (June 12) earned NBC another fourth place (technically, fifth place if you count TNT the season premiere of The Closer) finish. Game 4 got a 2.6 rating (with a 1.5 in the 18-49 demo) with only 3.85 million viewers.

The only possible conclusion is that Yanks are retarded when it comes to sports.

Perhaps the men's hockey team can whip up a miracle at some near point in time, and then we can have another blip of support.

The poor ratings have to do with watching Edmonton play. Come on, even Canadians are yawning.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Oh, and who was blaming this on Edmonton being in the Finals?

Eat my shorts.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/martzke/2003-06-03-martzke_x.htm

Disappointing ratings have required ABC and ESPN to provide compensatory ads during the NBA and NHL playoffs, advertising and network officials said Tuesday.

ESPN's projection of a 3.7 cable rating for the NBA conference finals fell short by 32%, and ABC's projection of a 7.0 rating was off by 40%. In the Anaheim-New Jersey NHL Finals, ABC's two games have slipped 32% from last year to a 2.3, and ESPN's two games tumbled 55% to a 1.23.

Ed Erhardt, president of advertising sales for ESPN and ABC Sports, said, "We anticipated the rating challenges for the NHL and have been able to accommodate advertisers who have guarantees."

— Rudy Martzke

[joncha]

I think it's been a great finals, despite having two teams in it that nobody cares about.

[Ninot]

Originally posted by joncha
I think it's been a great finals, despite having two teams in it that nobody cares about.

I think for the people who DO bother turning it on...

To see the awesome crowds of Rexall and RBC Center being as loud as they can be must be convincing that this is a fun sport. And the product HAS been good. It could have been worse, with a Devils vs. Anaheim final, maybe.

[Terra Nullius]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
I've been aware for 2 weeks...

Sorry to hear that mate.

It's a sad loss for the legal profession.