Raps worth over 1B more than Leafs/Jays.

[alpngso]

I mean look at the money players are making. NBA just better at printing money

[xAIRNESSx]

Kind of surprises me that Bettman is still commissioner. He’s done a terrible job growing the game.

[-Blitz-]

I wonder how much the 2019 chip affected these numbers. We probably attracted a **** load of bandwagoners from that year.

[akakalakin]

so this is pro Spicy?

[HiJiNX]

It’s pretty simple. Look at the demographics of our city, North America, most of Western Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia…and then look at the demographics of hockey players. Hockey’s issue is it has made no attempt to bring in a more diverse fanbase, which limits its popularity. It has a very rigid and exclusionary culture. And of course it’s very expensive to play, so there’s definitely a factor of existing wealth gaps between demographics, which is another way diverse communities face barriers to the game. Put all this together and the game has failed to grow while the NBA (and MLS) has.

I’ve always held that Gary Bettman is a terrible commissioner and his staunch traditionalism is holding back the sport. Are the players still mandated to wear suits to the games or did they relent on that yet?? These aren’t the players of yesteryear. They listen to hip hop and are more integrated into mainstream culture and modes of expression. Social media is a thing. And with that, content creation. Let the players have some charisma about them, some swag. Attract more young people to the game and more demographics.

And of course, subsidize community leagues so more kids can play.

In short, once hockey takes the stick out of its own ass and makes the game more accessible and relatable it’ll start to see a rise in popularity. Until then, guys are gonna keep going to arbitration every offseason to fight for $500k while players of other major sports are spending that at the bar on their birthdays.

[WuTang_CMB]

The Raptors are sitting pretty nice in evaluation .. also considering we generate CAD dollars vs US

Toronto is such a strong market. Masai has done well building this evaluation in a decade from where it was

[Darkseid]

That's right the Raptors piss on the Jays and **** on the Leafs

Number 1 sports franchise in Canada

[dTox]

Kudos to Masai Lowry and Tim Leiweke, who were instrumental in this team's rise in valuation.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[OakleyDokely]

It’s pretty simple. Look at the demographics of our city, North America, most of Western Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia…and then look at the demographics of hockey players. Hockey’s issue is it has made no attempt to bring in a more diverse fanbase, which limits its popularity. It has a very rigid and exclusionary culture. And of course it’s very expensive to play, so there’s definitely a factor of existing wealth gaps between demographics, which is another way diverse communities face barriers to the game. Put all this together and the game has failed to grow while the NBA (and MLS) has.

I’ve always held that Gary Bettman is a terrible commissioner and his staunch traditionalism is holding back the sport. Are the players still mandated to wear suits to the games or did they relent on that yet?? These aren’t the players of yesteryear. They listen to hip hop and are more integrated into mainstream culture and modes of expression. Social media is a thing. And with that, content creation. Let the players have some charisma about them, some swag. Attract more young people to the game and more demographics.

And of course, subsidize community leagues so more kids can play.

In short, once hockey takes the stick out of its own ass and makes the game more accessible and relatable it’ll start to see a rise in popularity. Until then, guys are gonna keep going to arbitration every offseason to fight for $500k while players of other major sports are spending that at the bar on their birthdays.

The lack of personality of their players, which is a combination of hockey culture and the NHL wanting to promote a certain image is a huge problem for them, it's even bigger than access to the sport. This generation follows sports through social media and they have little presence there. Nobody really knows who the top players are unless you're a hardcore fan..

F1 is a sport that 99.99% of the population will never be able to compete in because you need access to millions of dollars, but they've done an amazing job lately promoting their drivers, their teams, their personalities and they've created a soap opera around the sport, much like the NBA does. They're using social media and streaming platforms like Netflix to garner huge fan interest despite the fact you're never driving a racing car at a high level.

Until the NHL figures out that what happens off the ice is as important as what happens on it, they're going to continue to fall behind the major sports and will be passed by others, like MLS.

[whysoserious]

Kind of surprises me that Bettman is still commissioner. He’s done a terrible job growing the game.

He got them the cap, controlled all the owner costs and the valuations are now skyrocketing. I hate Bettman, I think he's actually been a terrible commissioner, but he met his mandate an got the owners the hard cap and broke the union and got rid of Bob Goodenow. Seems like that's what got him a lifetime contract.

if you put in context that the Oilers have the best player in the world, their valuation is over 1.3 billion and their top player makes 12 million, you can see why the owners love him.

NHL needs a tax system added to it's cap and some level of equalization for taxes across teams. You can't change the weather but you can equalize unfair advantages.

[whysoserious]

The lack of personality of their players, which is a combination of hockey culture and the NHL wanting to promote a certain image is a huge problem for them, it's even bigger than access to the sport. This generation follows sports through social media and they have little presence there. Nobody really knows who the top players are unless you're a hardcore fan..

F1 is a sport that 99.99% of the population will never be able to compete in because you need access to millions of dollars, but they've done an amazing job lately promoting their drivers, their teams, their personalities and they've created a soap opera around the sport, much like the NBA does. They're using social media and streaming platforms like Netflix to garner huge fan interest despite the fact you're never driving a racing car at a high level.

Until the NHL figures out that what happens off the ice is as important as what happens on it, they're going to continue to fall behind the major sports and will be passed by others, like MLS.

I'll never forget the NHL traditionalists that came to **** all over Subban who was actually doing exactly what the NHL needed.

[Backcountry]

The biggest thing holding back hockey is the marketing. The players are almost unrecognizable off the ice due to wearing helmets and faceshields during the games. Basketball and soccer obviously very easy to market as they are always exposed (this isn't a comment on the Josh Primo thread...). Football they take off their helmets as soon as they get to the bench, and the cameras have lots of time to feature everyone as nothing is happening in the game most of the time. Baseball players wear the hats, but also take them off in the dugout and have even more time for exposure than football as it is the slowest team sport on earth (and they hardly ever sweat due to low exertion). Remember when the players didn't wear helmets? Guy Lafleur with the flowing locks flying down the wing, mullets everywhere, plenty of toothless grins.

Hockey also has less strutting around than the other sports - it's more of a culture thing - if you start flexing in someone's face in hockey, you're going to eat it either right away or shortly after. So you don't have that personality to market.

For hockey, the other thing keeping valuations low is the continued attempt by Bettman to put franchises in non-hockey markets like the southern states. The richer franchises are forced into a low salary cap to help out the poor franchises, and on top of that they have to subsidize them as well.

Still, as much as I love basketball, for me hockey is the most fun game to play and watch.

[Mattd97]

gary bettman is the greatest thing to ever happen to the nba

[TheGeneral99]

Makes sense.

NBA is a global league now whereas the NHL is popular within selected areas (Canada, coastal US cities, and eastern/northern Europe).

In the GTA itself basketball is pretty much on par with hockey among younger generations. Hockey is still the most popular outside of the GTA.

[Mattd97]

The biggest thing holding back hockey is the marketing. The players are almost unrecognizable off the ice due to wearing helmets and faceshields during the games. Basketball and soccer obviously very easy to market as they are always exposed (this isn't a comment on the Josh Primo thread...). Football they take off their helmets as soon as they get to the bench, and the cameras have lots of time to feature everyone as nothing is happening in the game most of the time. Baseball players wear the hats, but also take them off in the dugout and have even more time for exposure than football as it is the slowest team sport on earth (and they hardly ever sweat due to low exertion). Remember when the players didn't wear helmets? Guy Lafleur with the flowing locks flying down the wing, mullets everywhere, plenty of toothless grins.

Hockey also has less strutting around than the other sports - it's more of a culture thing - if you start flexing in someone's face in hockey, you're going to eat it either right away or shortly after. So you don't have that personality to market.

For hockey, the other thing keeping valuations low is the continued attempt by Bettman to put franchises in non-hockey markets like the southern states. The richer franchises are forced into a low salary cap to help out the poor franchises, and on top of that they have to subsidize them as well.

Still, as much as I love basketball, for me hockey is the most fun game to play and watch.

i really think the helmets thing has just always been an excuse for bettmans ineptitude and hockeys refusal to grow. they wear jerseys, people know who they are. If theres a difference between hockey and the nfl/mlb its not the close ups clarity but rather the structure of the game keeping players in general positions on the field. But i really think thats incredibly minor compared to hockeys desire to hold down and smother any possible star

[Jadoogar]

The biggest thing holding back hockey is the marketing. The players are almost unrecognizable off the ice due to wearing helmets and faceshields during the games. Basketball and soccer obviously very easy to market as they are always exposed (this isn't a comment on the Josh Primo thread...). Football they take off their helmets as soon as they get to the bench, and the cameras have lots of time to feature everyone as nothing is happening in the game most of the time. Baseball players wear the hats, but also take them off in the dugout and have even more time for exposure than football as it is the slowest team sport on earth (and they hardly ever sweat due to low exertion). Remember when the players didn't wear helmets? Guy Lafleur with the flowing locks flying down the wing, mullets everywhere, plenty of toothless grins.

Hockey also has less strutting around than the other sports - it's more of a culture thing - if you start flexing in someone's face in hockey, you're going to eat it either right away or shortly after. So you don't have that personality to market.

For hockey, the other thing keeping valuations low is the continued attempt by Bettman to put franchises in non-hockey markets like the southern states. The richer franchises are forced into a low salary cap to help out the poor franchises, and on top of that they have to subsidize them as well.

Still, as much as I love basketball, for me hockey is the most fun game to play and watch.

i really think the helmets thing has just always been an excuse for bettmans ineptitude and hockeys refusal to grow. they wear jerseys, people know who they are. If theres a difference between hockey and the nfl/mlb its not the close ups clarity but rather the structure of the game keeping players in general positions on the field. But i really think thats incredibly minor compared to hockeys desire to hold down and smother any possible star

I think there's only so much the commissioner can do. The sport is limited by other factors, especially globally. You need ice, you can't really play outside in most climates, there is an insane amount of equipment required, etc. Hockey is popular in Canada because it's ingrained in the culture (like football in the US). Problem is, Canada is 1/10th the size of the US.

F1 is was actually a pretty great comparison. It's a sport that most of the viewers can't play but people still enjoy. F1 blew up in NA after the Netflix show that allowed them to better market their drivers. NHL could consider going this route internationally to make the sport more exciting for people who'll never play it.

[Kingsway_fan]

Kudos to Masai Lowry and Tim Leiweke, who were instrumental in this team's rise in valuation.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

Nah. Thank superstar Vince Carter. Without his sports defining impact in Toronto and Canada, we would be the Las Vegas Raptors... long time ago.

[sbsat]

Kudos to Masai Lowry and Tim Leiweke, who were instrumental in this team's rise in valuation.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

Nah. Thank superstar Vince Carter. Without his sports defining impact in Toronto and Canada, we would be the Las Vegas Raptors... long time ago.

Tim Leiweke is a top tier sports executive... We were lucky to have him and was instrumental to mlses gorwong valuation and the fact we won a championship. He changed so many things on his brief time here.

[Mattd97]

I think there's only so much the commissioner can do. The sport is limited by other factors, especially globally. You need ice, you can't really play outside in most climates, there is an insane amount of equipment required, etc. Hockey is popular in Canada because it's ingrained in the culture (like football in the US). Problem is, Canada is 1/10th the size of the US.

F1 is was actually a pretty great comparison. It's a sport that most of the viewers can't play but people still enjoy. F1 blew up in NA after the Netflix show that allowed them to better market their drivers. NHL could consider going this route internationally to make the sport more exciting for people who'll never play it.

Pretty great this article came out right after Bettman left the NBA for the NHL. https://vault.si.com/vault/1994/06/20/hot-not. The NHL was right there with the NBA for a very long time. Granted demographics have changed a lot, winter sports and rink time and equipment costs hurt, but hockey could have done a lot more to evolve with them. It just steadfastly refuses to. Sure its probably never a huge sport in Africa/South America/Southern Asia etc with ice requirements, but Europe and North America has more than enough room for success. They just suck at it. And Bettman is the leader of that suck.

[sbsat]

I think there's only so much the commissioner can do. The sport is limited by other factors, especially globally. You need ice, you can't really play outside in most climates, there is an insane amount of equipment required, etc. Hockey is popular in Canada because it's ingrained in the culture (like football in the US). Problem is, Canada is 1/10th the size of the US.

F1 is was actually a pretty great comparison. It's a sport that most of the viewers can't play but people still enjoy. F1 blew up in NA after the Netflix show that allowed them to better market their drivers. NHL could consider going this route internationally to make the sport more exciting for people who'll never play it.

Pretty great this article came out right after Bettman left the NBA for the NHL. https://vault.si.com/vault/1994/06/20/hot-not. The NHL was right there with the NBA for a very long time. Granted demographics have changed a lot, winter sports and rink time and equipment costs hurt, but hockey could have done a lot more to evolve with them. It just steadfastly refuses to. Sure its probably never a huge sport in Africa/South America/Southern Asia etc with ice requirements, but Europe and North America has more than enough room for success. They just suck at it. And Bettman is the leader of that suck.

There is a systemic cultural problem with hockey mainly that it continues to carry some sort of racist undertone. There is no excuse for the lack of diversity in the league especially considering the diaspora of immigrants are a generation Further along and massive amount of wealth exists there (ie its not an affordability issue as much anymore). This goes deeper than bettman although its probably best.of the league he goes away.