Lockout to have Devastating Effect on Cold Hockey Markets -NHL Update
Just when the National Hockey League (NHL) was penetrating markets it had never dared to enter before, the lockout came around and has seriously killed any hopes of expansion that they had.
After the Los Angeles Kings won their first Stanley Cup championship this year against the New Jersey Devils, a whole new following of fans came around from regions which hockey had never even touched.
The lockout is not as simple as many people believe it to be since there are a number of issues being faced by both sides that need to be cleared up, but as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman put his hopes of having a full 82-game regular season, fans were split
on being happy and optimistic or cautious of being reeled into a trap.
During the first lockout at the turn of the century, which caused the NHL to lose an entire season (2004-2005), the sport was not doing so well in terms of revenue generation and popularity. But these past few years have been without a doubt, some of the
game’s best in history and killing the momentum now has just eradicated all the hard work by team executives, players and the devoted fan base.
A place like Texas, a desert region where playing on ice is something not seen to be as common as either football or basketball, but the Dallas NHL franchise had gathered a fan base like no other with such a colourful history. Players like Mike Modano and
many others boosted the sport’s ratings in that area, but not the lockout is devastating it in every regard.
"There are other things in town for entertainment," hockey player Dave Burrows said, according to the Post Gazette. "If [the Stars] aren't that good, or especially if it's like now and they aren't even playing because there's a lockout, they might just get
lost in the shuffle."
Many of these states like Texas and California are filled with entertainment and sports is a big market for the NBA, NFL and MLB. The NHL still needs to work hard out in those areas to take a chunk of the pie, but as long as there is a lockout to break
up the momentum, hockey just might continue to struggle and stay last on the charts.
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