frisky Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 Europe and NHL I thought this would be an interesting discussion on here as I read it in the Snooze blog. I think European expansion for the NHL is not a good idea. Even in 10 years. But, they seem hell-bent on expanding into Europe. Although it's different than there expansion into the South, it just seems like it would be more trouble than it's worth. The logistics seem crappy, can Europe support teams in the NHL environment, etc etc. I just think they have enough problems with prompting the game at home and I also think that the NHL with the rising cap etc is headed for an implosion like the housing market. Down later in the article, it seems the Southern Ontario thing is still looked on favorably but Wayne and others. We've had that discussion before. Any one else think expanding or playing more regular season games in Europe is a good idea? Heck, why not even play a playoff series in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two or less Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 The economy in Europe is unbelievable. It's no secret NHL and NBA want to go there badly. Europe has alot of money while the American economy is coming down. Just look at soccer in Europe. Each stadium filled with 30k for 25 home games per season (roughly). TV contracts are huge. The german soccer league for example attendance is unreal, like average 50k per game, all season sold out in every stadium and it's TV deals rivals the one NFL has with the major networks here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 IMO...Expanding into Europe won't happen. If Bettman is seriously considering this, he needs to fire all his current advisors and then step down himself. I am sure they can come up with better ways to "grow" the game. PS I don't even like the idea of playing a couple of regular season games over there. <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two or less Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 IMO...Expanding into Europe won't happen. If Bettman is seriously considering this, he needs to fire all his current advisors and then step down himself. I am sure they can come up with better ways to "grow" the game.PS I don't even like the idea of playing a couple of regular season games over there. <_< Times are changing. Every league in the world will explore such moves eventually. I know it sucks for the diehard fans but this is all a business, we always forget. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksabre Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 The economy in Europe is unbelievable. It's no secret NHL and NBA want to go there badly. Europe has alot of money while the American economy is coming down. Just look at soccer in Europe. Each stadium filled with 30k for 25 home games per season (roughly). TV contracts are huge. The german soccer league for example attendance is unreal, like average 50k per game, all season sold out in every stadium and it's TV deals rivals the one NFL has with the major networks here. That's soccer though. Everyone loves soccer in europe. What is to say that hockey can have the same success? The NHL needs to make sure it has its act together here first before it starts trying to grow too far. Over expansion is never good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 How would you feasibly do a Euro division/conference? For teams from NA to go over and play regularly the travel would be brutal and would cost an arm and a leg, given the gas prices, and regularly scheduling teams to go to Europe and Russia to play would be a scheduling nightmare. The only way I could see it happening would be if you made a Euro Conference with a high number of teams - 18-20 or more - and they played each other, had their conference playoffs while the NA Conference played, and then the winners meet for the Cup. But there would be a lot of details to be ironed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 Times are changing. Every league in the world will explore such moves eventually. I know it sucks for the diehard fans but this is all a business, we always forget. lol They can "explore" all they want. Lets see which one of the big 4 leagues makes the move first to expand into Europe and when they do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two or less Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 They can "explore" all they want. Lets see which one of the big 4 leagues makes the move first to expand into Europe and when they do it. NFL and MLB will never leave US soil to "expend" but both leagues play games outside the USA/Canada. NBA i think will be the first league to expand into Europe though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwcolour Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 The logistics of having a permanent team in europe would be really really hard to figure out if not impossible. I think at the most they could do something like the NFL and simply play a few games there possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobody Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 Basketball is very popular in Europe so I'd say they will be the first to add a European conference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two or less Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 Basketball is very popular in Europe so I'd say they will be the first to add a European conference. Basketball is very popular in South Eastern Europe and Spain. Hockey is just as popular overall, except in Northern parts and the old USSR. Overall popularity is probably the same. If not more for hockey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobody Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 I'll still stick with the NBA as the frontrunners. NBA Europelive2008 A game each in Barcelona, London, Paris & Berlin. Euroleague - Even have a team from Russia, Turkey, Poland, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two or less Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 I'll still stick with the NBA as the frontrunners. NBA Europelive2008 A game each in Barcelona, London, Paris & Berlin. Euroleague - Even have a team from Russia, Turkey, Poland, etc. Euro League is a tournament with league champions, thus you have teams from Turkey and Poland. I also think NBA will do it first, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabregoats Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 the euroleague is the equivalent to uefa champions league, and the eruocup is the equivelent to the uefa cup. The best teams from previous years in domestic leagues are selected to play in these two championships. These are competed at the same time as the domestic leagues with group phases and knockout phases that are similar to international Soccer tournaments. Anyone interested in league formats like me should check all these tournaments out the way these "international leagues" are run is extremely interesting and makes from some really controversial international decisions. These tournaments add a whole extra layer to sports. The european league format (developed mostly in England) is really interesting and it is too bad that the increased commercialization of sport is starting to erode the foundation of their lower tier leagues. The popularity of the euroleague leads me to believe that any attempt of the NBA to expand into europe would most likely end in failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 I think a Euro Division would be successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad1 Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 How would you feasibly do a Euro division/conference? For teams from NA to go over and play regularly the travel would be brutal and would cost an arm and a leg, given the gas prices, and regularly scheduling teams to go to Europe and Russia to play would be a scheduling nightmare. The only way I could see it happening would be if you made a Euro Conference with a high number of teams - 18-20 or more - and they played each other, had their conference playoffs while the NA Conference played, and then the winners meet for the Cup. But there would be a lot of details to be ironed out. That would work until Edmonton played Bonn for the Cup and the U.S. ratings fall (even further) through the floor, forcing the NHL to pay the Lifetime channel to air their games for the next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 That would work until Edmonton played Bonn for the Cup and the U.S. ratings fall (even further) through the floor, forcing the NHL to pay the Lifetime channel to air their games for the next season. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloFan32 Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Am I the only one who likes this idea? There should definitely be a Euro Division. Teams in Moscow and St. Peterburg would make huge amounts of money. The Russian league is already stealing NHL players to bring people to their brand new and awesome stadiums. I believe the owner of the St. Perterburg team is super super rich and would know how to make something like this succeed. Don't forget about the exchange rate either. The teams selling a lot of tickets and signing to other tv markets is good but there is value in just getting other currencies as payment instead of US and Canadian Dollars. Right now the Dollar is weak compared to a lot of other currencies, especially in Europe. The scheduling would not be that bad. The Sabres are already playing with only 3 home games this January. Make one road trip like that to Europe every year and make it during football season. You might miss a few games because they will be in the middle of the night but I am sure most of us miss a few away games every year anyway. A lot of players would actually like these road trips better ebcause more of their family and friends could see the games. That being said, I think the NBA will do it first because the NHL is slow moving and conservative. I could see MLB expanding to Japan or Mexico City (one of the biggest cities in the world) but not anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two or less Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 That would work until Edmonton played Bonn for the Cup and the U.S. ratings fall (even further) through the floor, forcing the NHL to pay the Lifetime channel to air their games for the next season. LOL That is true. The NHL would be better off. More money for owners, more money for players and such, but interest in Non-hockey markets in USA would drop rock bottom for sure. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 LOL That is true. The NHL would be better off. More money for owners, more money for players and such, but interest in Non-hockey markets in USA would drop rock bottom for sure. lol Yep. More money for the Ponzi scheme. Sucker some new owners into paying exorbitant new franchise fees, everyone gets richer in the short term, and the league eventually collapses into itself. Wait...that sounds familiar. Maybe when this happens the league can get a bailout from the federal government. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Am I the only one who likes this idea? There should definitely be a Euro Division. No, you are not the only one. I think the league expanding into europe would be a great thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 It is a fantastic idea, but the logistics of just a European division -- 4-5 teams -- seems mind-boggling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frisky Posted October 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 Here is an interesting blog from the Puck Daddy about declining print coverage. http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_dadd...?urn=nhl,111634 The reason I post it here being that obviously hockey coverage is lacking in the traditional print outlet. Although, I think the print media is a dinosaur heading toward extinction, I think it may be an indicator that hockey has lack of interest down in the non-traditional hockey markets. Perhaps, that coverage and exposure would be much greater in Europe. However, I still don't see Europe as a positive for the NHL at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frisky Posted October 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/Default.aspx?i...=headlines_main Some fallout opinions from the great European trek of 2008. Sounds like Melnyk and some other may be getting ahead of themselves. May be it is possible but to think that a regular franchise will have the type of enthusiasm that was seen as a special event in the places they were is another thing altogether. I think Paul Kelly likes it just because it means more jobs which of course is his job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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