How the NHL Should Market the Western Conference

At school, I work an overnight shift in dorms on Monday nights from Midnight until 8 am on Tuesday morning. During my shift, I have a lot of downtime so I read other blogs, main articles, etc. A couple weeks ago, I was reading the Pensblog and they had a link to sign up for the Puck Drunk Love newsletter. Once I signed up, I came across a post that really intrigued me. The post was "How the NHL needs to market the Western Conference."  With the Penguins playing the Rangers tonight at 7:30 on NBCSN, it got me thinking about this subject.

I am a senior in college and I'm studying Sport Management, so I have a little bit of expertise in this area. In my marketing class, we were taught that you have to go outside of the box sometimes in order to sell your product. The NHL does an outstanding job marketing their stars like Sidney Crosby, Henrik Lundqvist, Alexander Ovechkin, and Zdeno Chara, but they aren't the only superstars in the NHL. Think of some of the Western Conference teams and specifically the Pacific Division. Outside of the Chicago Blackhawks, what Western Conference teams actually get airtime on NBC and NBCSN? NBCSN has started a Wednesday Night Rivalry series where every Wednesday, they showcase a rivalry game, or a game that they want to be a rivalry. This, in my opinion, is a great marketing strategy to try to bring in new fans and expand the NHL brand and market. Wednesday Night Rivalry games usually consist of the Pens, Rangers, Flyers, Capitals, Bruins, Red Wings, Blackhawks, sometimes the Wild. The game usually starts at 7 or 7:30 and they usually end around 9:45-10.

I am also partially an NBA fan. The NBA does a fantastic job at marketing their teams, especially in the Western Conference. Think for a minute of some of the superstars in the NBA. Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce, Derrick Rose, and Paul George as well as up and coming stars such as Kyrie Irving. Those are some of the big names that are in the Eastern Conference in the NBA but this list is missing names like Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, Steph Curry, Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Dwight Howard just to name a few. The NBA reaches out and extends their market past the Eastern Conference by nationally televising Eastern and Western games. For example, tonight the NBA is nationally broadcasted on ESPN.  At 7:00, the Chicago Bulls travel to Indianapolis to take on the undefeated Pacers. That game is really no different than the Penguins and Rangers nationally broadcasted tonight. This next example is where the NBA is better than the NHL. After the Pens game, the NHL goes into a studio show in which Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick argue on who had worse career while the NBA will travel to Oklahoma City and broadcast the Mavericks at the Thunder. They do this every Wednesday. On Thursday the Clippers travel to Miami to play the Heat and then following that, the Lakers travel to Houston and both games are nationally televised on TNT. Why doesn't the NHL have two games on Wednesday nights and Thursday nights?

Imagine if after the Penguins game ended tonight, NBCSN went to a brief studio show to get ready for a Western game tonight between either Nashville and Colorado or Phoenix and Anaheim. Teemu Selanne is in his last season, shouldn't the NHL have more games on nationally? What about the Kings? They won a Cup two years ago and have some great talent on their team, people who don't have Gamecenter probably would love to see that. The Sharks are one of the best teams in the NHL right now and they are never on NBC or NBCSN. Colorado is 12-1-0, with great players like Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene plus a legend is coaching them. Why are teams like this not on TV more? The NHL is missing out on a huge market as well as extending their market even more.

This season, NBCSN will broadcast a total of SIX games between Pacific Division teams playing each other. These teams do make appearances on there, but usually those games are in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington.

Another part of where the NHL is really missing out is not broadcasting Canadian teams nationally to American audiences. Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Ottawa are some of the best teams in the league and the American audiences really only see them if they purchase Centre Ice, Gamecenter, or when those teams play in their city. TSN in Canada sometimes will put a Penguins-Capitals game on nationally just so that their fans can watch other teams. NBC also needs to make better use of their networks. As a college student, I only get ROOT and NBC. If I want to watch hockey, I have to either go to a bar, illegally stream it, or buy Gamecenter. Why doesn't NBC use NBC or MSNBC or CNBC like they do in the Playoffs and show more games?

I believe that if the NHL used these other markets to their advantage, they would increase revenues as well as sell more of their product that they continue are trying to grow. I know you guys probably all agree with me and would like to see more hockey than just teams in the Eastern Conference. I hope the NHL uses its market to their full advantage and starts selling their stars in the West just like they do in the East. It would be good for the game and it would grow the game in ways that they probably can't believe.

Be like the NBA and sell the game out West.

Go Hockey.