Thread: Growing the game

I was watching Despierta America (Univision) this morning and noticed the NFL had an ad for "Futbol Americano". It got me to thinking about a prior post in the forum. The NHL has done a pretty good job of increasing the visibility of the sport in Europe and the Sun Belt. Good, not great. Now I see everything from MMA to NFL to the NBA trying to cater to my uncle Jaime. Where is the NHL in all this ? Maybe someone who has run a marketing campaign can make sense of it. I have yet to see a Kings ad in Spanish. I know they did radio broadcast in Spanish years ago.

And no, I will not take "There are no brown people playing" or "Its not a native sport" as an answer because if that were the case the NFL and MMA would not be making inroads. Last time I checked, there were more Mexicans in the KKK than on the Lakers and Raiders but my people still cheer them on.

I'm going all over the place but I would like to see the NHL and the Kings in particular branch out some. I know they don't want to spread their ad dollars too thin and yes, I know it's still a niche sport but it would still be nice to see. Its more physical than basketball, more action than football and faster than soccer. Who wouldn't like that. Yes, you can steal that, just give me credit.

I would just love to see the collective Canadian heads explode with that. Some already have a problem with hockey being catered to Americans, I can only imagine their angst over the game being spread to Latin America. Maybe I'm off base but I would foresee a percentage of the worst throwing racial epithets and nationalism against an ad campaign like that. Not saying it can't work, but it will always struggle to catch on at first and that will just feed their cries of, "SEE! IT'S OUR GAME! STOP CHANGING OUR CANADIAN SPORT FOR AMERICAN DOLLARS!"

Of course, our American views are not much different. I don't really pay much attention to the other sports but I know there is consternation over the influx of non-Americans in football, basketball, and to a lesser extent baseball (which has for a long time had a high percentage of Caribbean and increasing Asian players). And we all know the fall back excuse for American non-hockey fans is the xenophobic "I can't pronounce anyone's name!".

I think to spread to areas that don't already have a hockey culture you need to give access to play the sport in the most cost effective manner possible: street hockey. It starts their. I don't imagine the average family in Mexico has money to spend on gear for their child, let alone hunt down a local ice rink (which may not exist, or does but is miles away).

ETA: All that being said, I think it behooves the league to make sure it's markets are secure before growing to other nations. Until Phoenix, Long Island, Florida, and Dallas are secure, I don't think the NHL should be in the business of staging games in Puerto Vallarta. Take care of home first.

Originally Posted by UnholyGoalie

I would just love to see the collective Canadian heads explode with that. Some already have a problem with hockey being catered to Americans, I can only imagine their angst over the game being spread to Latin America. Maybe I'm off base but I would foresee a percentage of the worst throwing racial epithets and nationalism against an ad campaign like that. Not saying it can't work, but it will always struggle to catch on at first and that will just feed their cries of, "SEE! IT'S OUR GAME! STOP CHANGING OUR CANADIAN SPORT FOR AMERICAN DOLLARS!"

Not sure of your point here. CBC broadcasts games in Punjabi and I beleive there is also a Mandarin pbp available. I find it really surprising the Kings haven't already targeted the Hispanic community. Maybe the Kings should get Torres and Gomez.

Now if by "catering" to Hispanics you mean "a siesta after the 2nd period and a large fence being built at centre ice" then sure, we might collectively explode. ADVERTISING however isn't catering. But when you hear half assed discussions like "4 quarters so the US audience will get it" or "a glowing puck!" then allow us a little rage. Don't fear though, our explosions aren't very scary.

I may have been arguing a different aspect of this. I was referring to staging NHL games south of the American border. That's a little different than target marketing the sport to minorities, much less Canadian minorities. Obviously, every major metropolitan city has a large diverse culture, from L.A. to Toronto. Marketing the game to the minorities within those cities is smart business and I don't think anyone has a problem with that (all that being said, I think that's a regional marketing issue that's the individual team's responsibility, not the league's).

Now, imagine staging the Winter Classic (or Heritage Classic) in Mexico City. You don't think there would be an uproar in Canadian nationalism? Heck, look at any debate in any forum anywhere on the web about Phoenix and you will see a segment of Canadians bitter that the team was moved from a Canadian city in the first place and that the team has no business being where it is. And I'm certainly not saying we Americans are any better. Imagine staging the Superbowl in Mexico City. There would be mass hysteria.

I would also like to point out that as a half-Mexican goalie, I was not referring to calling the intermissions "siestas" or referring to hat tricks as "sombrero borracho", although that would be ALL KINDS of awesome.

Sombrero borracho?

Orpheus no es un macho.

Solamente es un borracho.

I agree with the OP. The Kings should increase their marketing to the Hispanic community. You don't have to play the game to enjoy the speed and hitting in it. I've never actually played ice hockey, but I love the sport.

I would not suggest moving the Coyotes to Buenos Aires or Tijuana. Although it would be hilarious. I was thinking of putting Kings signs in Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese, etc. around the city. Seeing as how Comcast owns NBC, VS and Telemundo, maybe seeing some games broadcast in Spanish (on Telemundo ofcourse). Again, I don't know the numbers involved but it seems like a reasonably cheap thing to do that can pay dividends down the road. It seems to work for basketball and football and those sports suck.

I thought I saw Kings signs on Buses a few years ago in Spanish?
Maybe for Mexican heritage night or something?
Or maybe an advertisement for the outdoor rink in Pershing Square
that had a picture of a then current King player?
It could've been a hallucination though.

When it comes to ads in Spanish I'm of the opinion that it couldn't hurt.

If you look at the crowd at Staples , I think it's representative of all peoples that make
up the population of Los Angeles.
Maybe not in great numbers but we are all there.

Hockey is a niche sport and tickets are expensive so I don't think the Kings are interested in venturing out of the demographic. I've called them out in the past for not getting out in the non hockey community, they get very defensive, but the truth is the truth. Heck they have let three or four local roller rinks die instead of investing in them. That is the real way to build the sport through the youth, oh I forgot we have Baily for that!