Sunday's game, though sorely disappointing to USA fans was certainly an exciting event. According to various reports, there were 27.6 million viewers tuned in to the edge of your seat action. Brian Tuohy of the bleacher report stated that this is the third highest viewing of a hockey game, to the "Miracle On Ice" and the consequential gold medal game of the 1980's. What does this mean for the NHL though?
The NHL is hopeful that the buzz and hype around the Sunday's game and the hockey portion of the winter Olympics will draw more attention to the NHL and the rest of the season. With stars such as Sid the Kid making the winning shot, and becoming a nationally celebrated hero, more viewers will tune in on a regular basis to see what he can do. The Olympics also brought to attention more minor names in the NHL; Ryan Miller's fantastic saves, Zach Parise's goal to tie the game within the last thirty seconds, and even Bryan Rafalski stepping up to the plate for team USA created a buzz and a new fan following.
Honestly, it's a great campaign that is done for free. The league takes off 2-3 weeks for the Olympics, and get national appraise and exposure to nations all around the world. They also appeal to people that may not regularly watch NHL games, but choose to watch the Olympics. Games such as Sunday's only intrigues and excites. Both the USA and Canada teams had a whole roster of NHL players, so on each pass, shot and save, a name representing the NHL was out there.
The NHL is considering a pass on the 2014 Olympics since games will be played in the middle of the night/early morning and not get as much exposure to U.S. audiences. I think they will be losing out on a huge marketing opportunity and there will be some not so happy players and fans. I know I will be up in the middle of the night rooting for team USA!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment