Recent news broke out that the NHL viewership this season is down by shockingly high numbers, and many community members have jumped in to put blame on the NHL and the companies who air the games on TV.
22% is a huge drop in viewership, with many fans complaining about blackouts, lack of games on streaming services, and expensive prices. A combination of all of that and your paying a lot of money to not even be able to watch your favorite team because of blackouts or because the service you pay for doesn’t even have the game.
There is more to it than just that though and that is where Carlo Colaiacovo jumped in calling out the NHL for awful marketing and the league not being run the right away. From a hated playoff format, to the lack of rivalries, to a lack of marketing, Colaiacovo hits all the key spots where the NHL is lacking.
From a fan perspective, I completely agree with him on all of these. The NHL does not do a good job of marketing star players or rivalries, and especially special events. The overseas games, the outdoor games, 90% of hockey fans don’t even hear about them till after the game already happens.
There is a lack of trades due to the extremely tight cap situation in the NHL.
The ads on the boards malfunction almost every single game and cause awful glitches.
The playoff format, well, most of us hate the playoff format, but the NHL lacks the ability to listen to it’s fans.
The scheduling is also terrible, there will be a night with 1 game, then the next night has 11 games, then the night after that has 3 games.
While these numbers don’t factor in people watching illegal streams, the game should be much more accessible for those who wants to watch hockey daily. The NHL also needs to do a lot more from a marketing standpoint considering the lack of interest currently from many of the fans.
