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-   -   The Great Canadian Sports Attendance, Marketing and TV Ratings Thread (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=228928)

isaidso Feb 8, 2019 6:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack (Post 8466065)

In the future I know hockey won't be (close to) THE ONLY GAME, but I honestly can't see where in the future one single other sport will be more popular than hockey in Canada overall.

Hockey will likely conserve a kind of plurality status as the most popular sport.

If the last 40 years have shown us anything it's that a cultural institution that was a very big deal can slip completely off the radar in 2 generations. That's precisely what happened to football in Toronto.

Admittedly Toronto is an extreme case and not representative of Canada but it does show how fragile culture can be. Immigrants are heading to cities beyond the Big 3 (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver) in ever increasing numbers and cultural preferences are shifting. Sporting interests amongst millennials/Generation Z is very different than that of Bommers/Generation X.

We should expect what's playing out in Toronto to be repeated in cities and towns nationally to varying degrees. It may seem implausible today but I can see a time when hockey isn't #1 nationally. By 2050 (only 31 years away) I can see it dropping to 3rd behind the NBA and MLS.

Hackslack Feb 8, 2019 7:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by isaidso (Post 8466589)
If the last 40 years have shown us anything it's that a cultural institution that was a very big deal can slip completely off the radar in 2 generations. That's precisely what happened to football in Toronto.

Admittedly Toronto is an extreme case and not representative of Canada but it does show how fragile culture can be. Immigrants are heading to cities beyond the Big 3 (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver) in ever increasing numbers and cultural preferences are shifting. Sporting interests amongst millennials/Generation Z is very different than that of Bommers/Generation X.

We should expect what's playing out in Toronto to be repeated in cities and towns nationally to varying degrees. It may seem implausible today but I can see a time when hockey isn't #1 nationally. By 2050 (only 31 years away) I can see it dropping to 3rd behind the NBA and MLS.

Bold prediction, considering there is only 1 NBA team in Canada, that gets mediocre tv viewership at best, which the majority likely come from the Toronto region. I think it’s more realistic to consider the NBA to continue to be behind 1) NHL 2) CFL 3) MLB 4) MLS.

I can see MLS taking off, as they are already rooted in Van TO and Mtl. However currently the interesting that league is abysmal currently considering the tv viewership, which like the Raptors, get the majority of viewers from their respective region.

My opinion of course!

Acajack Feb 8, 2019 7:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by isaidso (Post 8466589)
If the last 40 years have shown us anything it's that a cultural institution that was a very big deal can slip completely off the radar in 2 generations. That's precisely what happened to football in Toronto.

Admittedly Toronto is an extreme case and not representative of Canada but it does show how fragile culture can be. Immigrants are heading to cities beyond the Big 3 (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver) in ever increasing numbers and cultural preferences are shifting. Sporting interests amongst millennials/Generation Z is very different than that of Bommers/Generation X.

We should expect what's playing out in Toronto to be repeated in cities and towns nationally to varying degrees. It may seem implausible today but I can see a time when hockey isn't #1 nationally. By 2050 (only 31 years away) I can see it dropping to 3rd behind the NBA and MLS.

This would mean that we would become an even more un-rooted and TV-based sports culture than we are already, as I don't see either the NBA or MLS having 7 or more clubs in Canada like the NHL currently has. It's far from a sure thing that the NBA will ever add more clubs in Canada and I also doubt MLS will expand in Canada that much. (MLS, which looks reasonably solid at the moment, could even conceivably flounder, as other soccer leagues that looked pretty good like the NASL have in the past.)

Generally speaking, aside from the CFL, I still see the NHL as being the pro sports league with by far the most clubs across Canada in the future. My guess is that in 2050 we'll still have between 6-8 clubs minimum. Local clubs are a huge driver of interest - look at interest in the NHL in the U.S. It's primarily about areas where there are clubs. How many people pay attention to the NHL in Memphis vs. Nashville? Or Columbus vs. Cincinnati/Cleveland?

The future Canada you're depicting is a Canada where everybody just sits in front of their TVs watching the various Toronto entries in U.S. leagues, and almost no one outside of the GTA (and once-in-a-lifetime "splurge" fan trips) ever goes to games in person.

VANRIDERFAN Feb 8, 2019 7:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by isaidso (Post 8466589)
If the last 40 years have shown us anything it's that a cultural institution that was a very big deal can slip completely off the radar in 2 generations. That's precisely what happened to football in Toronto.

Admittedly Toronto is an extreme case and not representative of Canada but it does show how fragile culture can be. Immigrants are heading to cities beyond the Big 3 (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver) in ever increasing numbers and cultural preferences are shifting. Sporting interests amongst millennials/Generation Z is very different than that of Bommers/Generation X.

We should expect what's playing out in Toronto to be repeated in cities and towns nationally to varying degrees. It may seem implausible today but I can see a time when hockey isn't #1 nationally. By 2050 (only 31 years away) I can see it dropping to 3rd behind the NBA and MLS.

The latest recreation document for the city of Regina mentioned building Cricket Grounds. There is actually quite the active cricket league there.

esquire Feb 8, 2019 8:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN (Post 8466709)
The latest recreation document for the city of Regina mentioned building Cricket Grounds. There is actually quite the active cricket league there.

I would think many Canadian cities have long histories of cricket dating back to the British colonial era. These days, it's dominated by the South Asian community, although I'm sure there are a few transplanted Brits and Aussies involved too.

VANRIDERFAN Feb 8, 2019 8:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire (Post 8466719)
I would think many Canadian cities have long histories of cricket dating back to the British colonial era. These days, it's dominated by the South Asian community, although I'm sure there are a few transplanted Brits and Aussies involved too.

The only one that really comes to mind is Victoria at Beacon Hill Park.

Acajack Feb 8, 2019 8:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire (Post 8466719)
I would think many Canadian cities have long histories of cricket dating back to the British colonial era. These days, it's dominated by the South Asian community, although I'm sure there are a few transplanted Brits and Aussies involved too.

I spent much of the 70s, 80s and a good part of the 90s in various cities in Ontario and the Maritimes, and I can't say I ever noticed anything resembling a cricket culture in any of them.

Perhaps it was there and I just didn't notice, but I am generally a pretty observant person.

Other fringe (for Canada) sports like rugby and even lawn bowling had a much more visible presence in most of these places. You couldn't really miss them even if they weren't mainstream.

esquire Feb 8, 2019 8:44 PM

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying cricket is popular in Canada because apart from the South Asian community and a handful of expat Aussies and Brits, it isn't. I'm just saying that cricket generally and cricket facilities specifically are not new and that most cities have had them for a long time.

Acajack Feb 8, 2019 8:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire (Post 8466787)
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying cricket is popular in Canada because apart from the South Asian community and a handful of expat Aussies and Brits, it isn't. I'm just saying that cricket generally and cricket facilities specifically are not new and that most cities have had them for a long time.

I honestly wasn't even aware of any facilities anywhere growing up, and couldn't point to or name any such facility in Ottawa today.

But I've known for quite some time that there is a rugby park (probably multi-field) called Twin Elm somewhere in the rural southwest of Ottawa. And I don't follow rugby at all here in Canada.

esquire Feb 8, 2019 9:04 PM

^ I googled Ottawa cricket and you guys have a lot going on... multiple clubs dating back to the 1800s, active leagues, way more than Winnipeg on that front.

I guess it's a bit of an under the radar thing... probably like handball or water polo, if you aren't actually playing the sport you don't give it a second thought.

Acajack Feb 8, 2019 9:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire (Post 8466811)
^ I googled Ottawa cricket and you guys have a lot going on... multiple clubs dating back to the 1800s, active leagues, way more than Winnipeg on that front.

I guess it's a bit of an under the radar thing... probably like handball or water polo, if you aren't actually playing the sport you don't give it a second thought.

I just checked out the Twin Elm Rugby Park. It has several fields and one of them has a grandstand that can seat 6,000 people. Not bad.

khabibulin Feb 8, 2019 9:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack (Post 8466792)
I honestly wasn't even aware of any facilities anywhere growing up, and couldn't point to or name any such facility in Ottawa today.

But I've known for quite some time that there is a rugby park (probably multi-field) called Twin Elm somewhere in the rural southwest of Ottawa. And I don't follow rugby at all here in Canada.

Ultimate Frisbee is a niche sport that seems to be growing in Ottawa. There is even a professional team in Ottawa! Their division includes Toronto, Washington, New York, Philadelphia and Montreal. And that is just 1 of 4 divisions spread across Canada and the US.

https://theaudl.com/outlaws

JHikka Feb 9, 2019 6:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hackslack (Post 8466669)
Bold prediction, considering there is only 1 NBA team in Canada, that gets mediocre tv viewership at best, which the majority likely come from the Toronto region. I think it’s more realistic to consider the NBA to continue to be behind 1) NHL 2) CFL 3) MLB 4) MLS.

Right...but it's 2019 and there's more ways to consume a sport than simply watching on TV. TV ratings are only going to offer a sliver of what a sport can capture in a given market, and they're a poor way of gauging a team's overall popularity if used as the only figure. Just because the Argos get four times the TV viewers of the Raptors doesn't mean there's four times the number of Argos fans, and vice versa.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hackslack (Post 8466669)
I can see MLS taking off, as they are already rooted in Van TO and Mtl. However currently the interesting that league is abysmal currently considering the tv viewership, which like the Raptors, get the majority of viewers from their respective region.

There'll be more than just the MLS for soccer in Canada in a few months, so we'll have a better idea of what the landscape is like when CPL kicks off. Again, it's probably unwise to look at things only through the lens of TV ratings and leaving the conversation at that.

It's only one sliver, but all Canadian MLS teams have more twitter followers than CFL teams, as an example of looking at available data beyond just tv ratings. The same can be said when looking at Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit...

NHL condensed game highlights on Youtube get 20K-50K viewers or so.
MLS game highlights on Youtube get 15K-40K viewers or so.
NBA game highlights on Youtube (on a non-official channel) get over a million within a day.

This Lakers/Celtics 10 minute highlight package from two days ago has four million views, and it's not even an official NBA video. The NHL only has two videos near four million views - one from five years ago and one from nearly a year ago. That's the NBA's impact on social media and alternative viewing platforms that aren't TV. The NBA dominates every other league when it comes to online activation, including the NFL.

The thing with MLS is that it's not going to be expanding to any other Canadian markets so they're stuck with whatever market penetration they have right now in Canada. They can do as well as they want in VAN/TO/MTL but they're not going to have much impact beyond those cities. This is presumably where CPL can step in and fill the gaps.

JHikka Feb 16, 2019 6:19 PM

via q12 over on the Halifax subforum:


q12 Feb 16, 2019 6:26 PM

Another logo off their new website:

http://halifaxthunderbirds.com/wp-co...board-1@4x.png

halifaxthunderbirds.com

elly63 Feb 17, 2019 11:39 PM

Holy crap, Stephen Colbert has the CFL trending on YouTube
Drew Edwards 3downnation.ca February 17, 2019

There’s an old adage that you shouldn’t read your press, you should just weigh it and for the CFL, going viral weighs 20 pounds of poop.

Late night talk show host Stephen Colbert does a bit on his show called “Meanwhile,” which he describes as the “ransom note of news.” And the No. 2 item on Friday night? Poop Johnson.

“Meanwhile in sports news, the Canadian Football League has announced – and let me pause right there, first of all there is a Canadian Football League and the cheerleaders are here tonight evidently – well they’ve been up to something. Specifically, that a defensive tackle with the actual name Poop Johnson has signed to play with the Toronto Argonauts. And where did Poop get his nickname? The answer will make you say, ‘ yeah that makes sense.’ You see a defensive tackle, needs to stay heavy and when asked about his weight by sports reporters, Johnson once said ‘he can weigh anywhere between 280 to 300 pounds depending on the day.’ How? ‘I guess because I poop so much.'”

“Twenty pounds! That’s what you want on your defensive line, you want a guy who can line up look his opponent in the eye and say ‘I crap three babies a day.'”

Colbert wasn’t the only media outlet to try and, uh, squeeze a couple of laughs out of Poop Johnson. The website Deadspin, which writes about both poop and Poop with, uh, regularity also did another riff after his signing.

But Colbert is another thing altogether: he currently has the highest-rated late night talk show, beating both Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel. The clip that includes the Poop joke had almost 400,000 views on YouTube by Sunday afternoon and was No. 11 on the trending list.

We can debate the relative merits of this kind of exposure – does the eyeballs the league gets from having its logo in front of millions of viewers outweigh that Colbert is taking a couple of shots at the CFL – but one thing is for sure: ‘I crap three babies a day’ is some funny… shit.

MonctonRad Feb 18, 2019 1:12 AM

:previous:

There's no such thing as bad publicity (unless you're a rapist or child molester)........

elly63 Feb 18, 2019 1:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad
There's no such thing as bad publicity

I was thinking the very same thing.

isaidso Feb 18, 2019 1:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack (Post 8466773)
I spent much of the 70s, 80s and a good part of the 90s in various cities in Ontario and the Maritimes, and I can't say I ever noticed anything resembling a cricket culture in any of them.

Perhaps it was there and I just didn't notice, but I am generally a pretty observant person.

Other fringe (for Canada) sports like rugby and even lawn bowling had a much more visible presence in most of these places. You couldn't really miss them even if they weren't mainstream.

I agree with all of that. I don't think cricket ever had much of imprint despite the strong English ties. Rugby was the dominant football code up until the 1880s. Canadian football supplanted it and will likely be the dominant football code for the forseeable future.... even with the growth of soccer.

isaidso Feb 18, 2019 1:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hackslack (Post 8466669)
Bold prediction, considering there is only 1 NBA team in Canada, that gets mediocre tv viewership at best, which the majority likely come from the Toronto region. I think it’s more realistic to consider the NBA to continue to be behind 1) NHL 2) CFL 3) MLB 4) MLS.

I can see MLS taking off, as they are already rooted in Van TO and Mtl. However currently the interesting that league is abysmal currently considering the tv viewership, which like the Raptors, get the majority of viewers from their respective region.

My opinion of course!

My view is that the preferences of Canadian youth and immigrants will eventually translate to the overall preferences of Canadians. It's predicated on following generations also favouring basketball and soccer (over football, baseball, hockey). It's also on the assumption that the NBA will match the penetration of MLS: teams in Canada's big 3 cities. I view expansion to Montreal and return to Vancouver as more of a 'when' than and 'if'.

Basketball is more suited to Canada than soccer imo. It's an indoor sport and we have a plethora of arenas built nationally. You're correct that NBA television audiences in Canada are relatively small and heavily southern Ontario. I'd be shocked if it remains that way over the next 30 years. The sporting landscape in Canada is undergoing a big shift. It's most pronounced in Toronto but I view it as the canary in the coal mine.


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