[Dr. Sivana]

I don’t think it would be hard to eclipse hockey. I think dodge ball could do that.

Not a chance. Hockey is still really a regional sport, but the NYC area easily supports three franchises with healthy attendance, Boston, Detroit, Philly, Chicago, Buffalo are all thriving hockey cities. And of course, since basketball has Vancouver and baseball has Toronto, once we throw the big city Canadian hockey teams in, it isn't even close.

Unfortunately, the NHL is REALLY, REALLY bad at marketing hockey in the U.S. But hockey on its worst day with the most inept management will still appeal to more Americans than soccer times 4.

Basketball appeals to a specific demographic for its core audience. There happen to be plenty of people in that demographic.

This is the third wave of "soccer is going to finally take its rightful place in U.S. sports" eras I have lived through. It will remain a niche sport for little kids, Latinos and euro-weenies.

[dfwgator]

MLS teams just don’t have enough tradition....that’s why the smartest thing the MLS could do is resurrect the Cosmos franchise in New York...what the MLS misses is real rivalries.

Having lived in Fort Lauderdale in the late 70s, I remember the rivalry with the Tampa Bay Rowdies, made Yankees-Red Sox look like nothing.

[Alberta's Child]

The biggest problem with the NHL has nothing to do with marketing. It's the fact that hockey does not translate well to television at all.

I can remember about a half-dozen cases in recent years where I took someone (as an adult) to an NHL game for the first time in his/her life. In every case this involved a person who never liked hockey but was willing to give it a shot, and in every case these folks became instantly hooked on the game. One guy was an immigrant from Europe who had been a soccer fan all his life, and he's never been the same.

The thing that he finds most fascinating about hockey? The speed, first and foremost, but here's his money quote: "It's so neat the way the players come on and off the bench even while the game is going on and the puck is in play!"