The Greatest Sport You’ll Never Know
They are some of the most finely conditioned athletes in the world. They glide, stop, sprint, hit, punch, lunge while trying to guide a small black disc past a heavily-padded goaltender.
This is not soccer or lacrosse, but hockey. Hockey’s season, which stretches from October to June (isn’t a 9-month season a little excessive?) just ended with Detroit snaring Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Unless you live in the Northeast or Midwest, you’ll hardly grow up following hockey. The NHL, however, has nearly 30 teams in such hockey strongholds (yeah, right) as Columbus, OH, Nashville, TN, and Tampa, FL. I watched most of the Stanley Cup final between Detroit and Pittsburgh yet the regular season did not register. I live in Austin, Texas (not exactly hockeytown, USA), but it is a city with a large number of northern transplants. Hockey’s marketing push, however, is silent in this Central Texas town.
I think some regular season games are on NBC and Versus, although the days, times, and teams involved as a mystery to me.
My point is this: Hockey is an exciting, fast-paced and compelling sport, yet no one knows about it. There are a large number of hockey fans in Austin, Texas, but this audience gets ignored when it comes to marketing of the sport. How’s hockey going to stay relevant in the next 10-15 years with this silent marketing push?
Until next time,
Dan Naden
Naden’s Corner
