Quote:
Originally Posted by osmo
This thread just shows the collective average age of the Canada forum is 45-50+.
For young people locked into social media and reddit soccer and basketball rule. They are the most accessible content wise and playing wise most young people will have exposure to basketball or soccer at school in Canada versus any other sport.
Baseball isn't as easy to set up these days, hockey has prohibitive costs, football requires too many resources and many schools don't want to go through the liability steps. Every school has a gym with a hoop and every school has a patch of grass or something close to it which are all you need to play basketball and soccer (soccer and basketball are also gender balanced in the sense girls grow up playing he same style and rules of both unlike the variety of softball or ring hockey that girls play. When they reach HS the same hoop is there and the same box with its goal box is there on the pitch. Every school that has a male basketball or soccer team likely has a girls team as well which just adds to the exposure while young).
Again NBA isn't the top dog and still trails NFL and MLB in pure terms but the NBA has a larger upside with a YOUNGER fans base that is more global and more engaged via digital means.
NBA fans these days remind me of baseball and hockey fans when I was kid. Every young person was a fan of either. These days Steph Curry has replaced Ken Griffey as the coolest guy in sports. Hell, even Stephen Curry''s (Canadian) wife has made a name for herself with a widely popular cooking show and book.*
More examples. First, if you pop open Snapcaht the bulk of sports content is always soccer and NBA. Snapchat has the youngest core user base out of all the social media platforms. Second, NBA also recently did a collaboration with streetwise brand SUPREME which is currently the most hyped and hard to get clothing wear among the youth (where are the other leagues ? I could see MLB getting wise to do a collaborative project as the did do one with the Yankees a few years ago). Third, the NBA reddit has over a million subcribers and is the most popular reddit for all the major sports (reddit is another platform with a VERY young user base).
What will happen when these kids get older, turn into adults and start to get money? What sporting products will they support and consume?
Nothing against old people but the ignorance to not see this is astounding. Of course it must be some "conspiracy" that baketball is getting popular and not the fact that younger generations are just more into it along with soccer. Many on here sound old and out of touch with what is going on with the youth.
*Odd enough that many youth, their first exposure to NBA was Steve Nash and the Suns.
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Yeah I'm 22, and regardless I don't see how this affects the conversation. We're all in agreement that hockey is losing ground to other sports for both those born in Canada and immigrants alike. The question is more about whether this is a bad thing or not.
First, I'd challenge your premise of soccer and basketball being the most popular sports among the youth. Obviously this is regional and anecdotal, but stretching into the widest and loosest regions of my social network, I'd say that "don't watch sports" is on top, with the NFL, NHL, MLB all coming ahead of NBA and soccer in Vancouver. In Winnipeg, it seems to be NHL and CFL first, not sure what comes after that. I'll admit that I have little contact with the core immigrant groups that would be more into soccer and basketball so my perception is skewed, but I still can't imagine that if you did a survey of the entire population aged 12-18 or whatever you want to use that football or hockey wouldn't come out on top.
Now to address some of your points:
I don't see how the NBA or soccer is any more accessible content wise for the internet generation. I watch NHL, CFL and NBA and stream all occasionally, I have apps for all of them, etc.
And with regards to participation in these various sports, I've never played a game of ice hockey in my life yet I've been a fan most of my life. Also, we played a ton of street hockey in the school yard when I was little and that was very accessible - plastic stick from Canadian mufucka and a tennis ball. Football isn't the easiest sport to play either and yet i doubt it has as much trouble gaining popularity among immigrant communities in the US.
To your point about coolness and Snapchat and Supreme and what not, that's what we're talking about. Why is that allure so much more powerful than the natural cultural influence that can be produced at home? Why has that cultural influence fallen off in favour of these external influences?
All in all, I'm still confused about the actual point of your argument. We're lamenting the fact that basketball is more popular with young immigrants, you call us out of touch and proceed to state that basketball is more popular with young people? I honestly don't see where the rift is here. No one referenced a conspiracy - just if there's a culture war between Canada & hockey and external forces (US) & basketball, Canada's losing. I understand the reasons why, including those you mentioned, but also hip hop culture. But that doesn't mean we have to see that as a neutral development.