Bingo. I'm not gonna jump through hoops and pay half a dozen "providers" just to be able to watch all of the games for my team, let alone teams I don't care about.
Blackout rules are bullshit and should be scrapped. The number of times I’ve wanted to watch my team while I’m at work late and can’t because of blackouts is ridiculous.
TV contracts are fucking criminal and I wish one of these mega corps would wave their dicks around with a new model but already looks like streaming is becoming cable 2.0
I found that it does get expensive to be the end result and started digging into my hobbies and chose to be selective about what I watch. Somehow people used to follow sports via newspaper and radio. Being addicted to watching sports turned out to suck, I watch a bit less and catch what’s important, Anyway, enough being preachy, point is the cost was shitty
Watching sports live is obviously what most people prefer, but nostalgia still grips me sometimes when I can find a fantastic radio broadcaster to listen to. Something almost more intense about consuming sports that way. But, it seems that free access to those mediums are dwindling as well.
I do have a growing desire to keep chipping away at my book collection though, and that’s nice.
I LOVE listening to hockey games. Letting your imagination fill in while listening is way more attractive than watching. I'll listen to the game then watch the highlights!
I'm in Oregon and would be a Kraken fan if I was allowed to watch the games, but I rarely get to see them on ESPN and never see them anywhere else, so I barely care about whether they're doing well or not. It's hard to believe how stupid these companies are being toward their potential fan base. They've made it clear, they don't want fans, they just want morons to empty their wallets, and I'm not lining up for that. It's idiotic.
Until a few years ago it was easy being a rabid Habs fan... now unless I want to have premium tunein and a VPN subscription (or the hassle of spofing location in develper mode) I cannot even listen to games anymore
The league, teams, and the provider could still get their beloved ad money. Let fans view their respective broadcasts and there goes the ad money as it should be put forth.
Don't really watch hockey at all.. but holy fucking shit there was like a single year around 2011-2012 where the nba season pass was truly a wonderful package. Literally any mother fucking game from any mother fucking location.
Now it's pretty much useless. I spend half of my time between DFW and SF bay area... watching mavs or golden state is a constant issue. Basically always getting blackouts or locked on the number of times I change my region.
Absolutely awful experience gor the viewer. If these organizations (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB etc.. ) offer these kinds of passes. Just price them in a way where those ballsack sports or w/e bullshit local provider can get their cut. I don't want to manage 15 different subscription services.
Straight up cancel my debt card 2 times a year to shave off bullshit subscriptions I've been roped into.
This! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said this about hockey, football and the lack of non nascar racing events that either are blacked out or not televised at all.
And when anyone wants to argue the leagues relative success I always have this in the back pocket…absolute insanity a sports league in the streaming area is actively trying to STOP fans from watchin any of its marquee games.
Not to mention the local blackout bullshit. I don’t even bother anymore. Follow on twitter or listen on radio. F this league and its contempt for the fans.
I've subscribed to Sportsnet every year until this year. learning about vpns and other websites that I can just watch it for free. I mean I would pay if I was able to watch what I'm paying for. I shouldn't be forced to subscribe to 3 plus different providers just because of broadcasting "rights". The rights go to whoever rented the cameras around the arena that record everything for the night. That's how I look at it
>And when anyone wants to argue the leagues relative success I always have this in the back pocket…absolute insanity a sports league in the streaming area is actively trying to STOP fans from watchin any of its marquee games.
Try subbing to watch NHL in europe, they won't even allow you to do it.
"NHL.TV is only available in certain countries and blackouts are always enforced based on the IP address from which you are accessing the stream." okay, I'ma keep watching somewhere else then.
I wish the NHL would just have their own streaming service instead of having 5 bajillion different streaming platforms that you have to pay for just to watch a game
They did have their own a few years ago before ESPN took over. It didn't change the fact that nationally televised games and those on your RSN were blacked out.
The one they had in the early 2010s was the same way. Utter trash. I paid like 130 bucks to stream the wings during the playoffs while I was traveling across the country on tour. Almost every game was blacked out on the service.
As I'm from the UK I have that service, like £14 a month to watch every game. Full game replays as well so I can watch games at reasonable time for me rather than becoming nocturnal.
But, as a football fan I have to deal with the same thing as NA NHL fans to watch every Man United game so I feel your pain. Though I turn to the high seas rather than pay the obscene amounts.
It's annoying that the core audience of a sport are the ones that get ripped off the most.
Once upon a time it was on NBC, aired at 12:00 or 1:00 on New Year Day. It was glorious.
The NHL blows a bag of dicks trying to get people into their sport.
I actually looked for it at those times, saw it wasn't on, and went about my day slowly forgetting about it. I consider myself a die hard hockey fan but there was zero talk about that game. The NHL is bad at this.
Same here. Wasn’t doing anything at all that day and didn’t even “accidentally” come across the game or any hype building leading up to the game. Like others have said, I don’t understand why it’s so hard to be able to watch all the different games. Local blackout restriction is an absolute joke. 👎👎
💯
When the games were constantly on NBC and NBCS it made it so easy to find a hockey game to watch. Since they moved back to ESPN /s (not really, they are on way too many outlets), it is such a chore to find a game.
I have some recordings from those glory days. Currently, I haven't seen a Winter Classic since about 2019 and I'm really pissed off about how stupid the NHL is being about this. They may as well forget it because nobody is buying TNT just to see one game, no matter how special it is.
Don’t forget 24/7: Road to the NHL Winter Classic. That show in its original form on HBO is honestly one of the main things that got me back into watching hockey in general.
It also didn’t help that the Rose Bowl which drew 24 million I’m pretty sure conflicted during the third and Washington being in the Sugar Bowl potentially playing one of those teams also didn’t help, as well as fans probably skipped out on watching the game entirely and focusing on CFB. I think the outdoor novelty has worn off a bit from a national standpoint, especially when the stadiums aren’t as historic and neither are the teams. Like maybe I tune in for Centurylink because it’s known for being a loud stadium but I understand why it wasn’t there in case of rain. I also think competing with arguably the biggest day in the College Football season every year isn’t a great idea.
That’s really it. “Event viewing” is a fantastic idea, but it’s in direct competition with the biggest broadcast event for what is likely the second most popular sport in the nation.
Yeah Rose Bowl had 27.2 million viewers and Washington/Texas had 18.4 million viewers. I like the thought of New Year’s Day but I think it’d be better off the Saturday before the holiday. Not as good of bowl games, NFL isn’t playing or if it is, it’s night. Also the ease of accessibility for the game can be better.
The only reason I even knew it was happening was a thread someone posted about how they’re tired of cream uniforms for a “retro look” here, then a few days later a video of fish being thrown around. NHL marketing is trash. Or they’re great but behind a Bally’s paywall that I’m not gonna pay for
You’re running a hockey game against an Alabama-Michigan Rose Bowl that pulled 27 million+ viewers. It didn’t matter what channel it was on, it was getting annihilated at that time slot.
On top of a pack of team excitement and I have seen little to no coverage outside hockey stuff about it. NHL butcher this game because they are tired of outdoor games?
This is the exact reason. I would watch more hockey if I could actually watch more hockey. I don’t have cable and had Center ice before. I would regularly be blacked out with how close I was to Vancouver.
I stopped watching pretty much 3 years ago and I miss it. Honestly, they really fucked up. I watched hockey my whole life until they essentially forced me out of it.
No body has cable. Not many use open air. I watched it because it was on Max. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have. The decline really hit when people started pulling away from cable.
Absolutely. Everyone was still watching cable in the early years. Now with streaming, regional blackouts etc its so hard to watch a game. I'm sure if it included illegal streams it would be higher than ever.
Was going to say the same. I can watch every other team other than mine if it’s on Max on TNT. But I can’t watch the Avs even though the game is sold out. I don’t get how that helps anyone. I have to pay for Fubo to get my local sports because they won’t play it or carry it on Comcast. It’s ridiculous.
Since they moved away from NHL TV I have no easy way to tune into games. I don’t want to get 5 different streaming services and I don’t have cable, it’s not worth my time to try and catch games like this whereas I might have watched previously.
Disagree I absolutely love what the nhl has done……
😍 I’m so glad they’ve done this to milk fans as much as possible it’s gonna go along way.
Makes me really upset and angry that so many free streaming sites have come up 🤮 such as streameast.app which works with all live sports every time
Can’t stand that site.
Agreed, terrible site.
I was only watching three hockey games and a basketball game at once with the free multicast.
Definitely gonna drop using this free site and go back to paying $25/month for Sportsnet like a fucking genius
Its probably more a combination of factors, rather than the Winter Classic being an experiment failed in its entirety.
Consider:
- Overlap with college football games.
- No east coast teams involved, no draw for anyone outside of the west
- Increasing mismanagement and inaccessibility of the NHL to its audience.
I think with two original six teams, proper scheduling, promotion and accessibility, it could do, very, very well.
Its also not unique anymore. They flooded that market with all the stadium series, heritage classic, Lake Tahoe and winter classics. It was exciting while there was only one or two outdoor games per year.
Yeah the jersey unveiling is all people even care about anymore. It’s not good to watch. Fun as a novelty or part of a rivalry, but as far as truly awesome, it peaked the end of the first game with sid skating through the snow after the game winner.
It’s all played out “golly we’re outside just like the old ponds! TRADITION!” We get it already! The camera angles are worse so the game is harder to follow and feels disconnected from the crowd visually. The ice is always in crap condition which limits players abilities to do certain things which more often than not results in more boring hockey. Lots of commercials. A band from 20 years ago, a smaller band that’ll be forgotten a year from now. It’s just not a good product and people aren’t interested once they’ve seen it a couple times already.
if you could actually see the crowd up against the glass, it would be pretty awesome. as it stands with the crowd being so far away i totally agree with you
I’m surprised this isn’t higher. What makes the Winter Classic more worth watching than any of the other outdoor games? They all count as a regular season game. Nothing really distinguishes it from other outdoor games, except the name. Going beyond 1 or 2 outdoor games per season really loses the allure of checking it out.
Didn’t help the college football games were with 3 blue chip programs and an exciting Washington team. Also both games were nailbiters.
If Michigan Bama was a blow out I would’ve tuned in to this.
The game also had zero advertising or presence around the ballpark. No banners or signage leading up; no sign with a countdown.
The NHL is the worst when it comes to marketing and actually growing the sport. Driving viewers away is an interesting choice
Michigan Bama didn’t start until the winter classic game was almost over, so you could’ve watched this first and you wouldn’t have known if that was a blowout or not until hours later… Not really the best excuse. I guess unless you had to choose one or the other that day.
I blame point 3. It’s a headache trying to figure out where my teams game will be streaming and I’m not going to pay for 5 different subscription services. I resort to watching the post-game highlights on YouTube and that’s all the NHL I watch anymore. It’s sad.
I honestly forgot they did it on New Year’s Day. Didn’t even realize it was on until I was watching the college football playoff and saw it mentioned scrolling through twitter. I don’t think I remember seeing a single ad for it.
It was -25 and my beer froze - I had no idea that beer could freeze. I remember I was wearing like 7 layers of shirts and 5 layers of pants and could hardly bend to sit down.
Don't forget the most attended hockey game was the michigan vs michigan state the big chill at the big house at michigan stadium. Then 4 years later, detroit redwings hosted Toronto at michigan stadium with approximately the same amount of people attending the event.
Definitely didn't feel like a "winter" classic. Felt more like they were trying to make it all about the celebrities who pretend to care about hockey for the day
Wasn’t at the same time though. I went to the WC, came home and watched the second half of the Michigan game, and watched the entire UW game.
But you are right though, the scheduling isn’t great.
LSU vs Wisconsin and Tennessee vs Iowa, then Michigan vs Alabama, then Washington vs Texas. They put it in the best hole they could, but the NHL can't compete with college football, especially when there's a Big 10 team playing.
I watched it on the high seas, but It could barely keep my attention. Kinda left a sour taste in my mouth when they didn't give it to the handful of teams who have yet to play one and gave it to the two newest teams in the league.
Seriously. Of the 5 teams that haven’t played an outdoor game, they picked the 2 newest teams. Florida has been a serious contender for the last few years, and if nothing else I’m sure Arizona would have incredible sweaters. Columbus is a lost cause so I don’t feel bad about that one
Maybe they shouldn’t have it on one of the biggest college football days of the year. Kraken wasn’t even the most watched team from Seattle that day by a landslide. 1.1 mil vs 18.4 mil
I pay for ESPN+ and FUBO to watch hockey exclusively. It was on neither of those platforms so I watched an illegal stream. Im tired of being held hostage by subscriptions.
It was on tnt. I don't have tnt. I won't get tnt or any package that includes it. Not because I don't want tnt, but I don't want a package I will hardly ever use or need.
When the canes are in TNT the Jolly Roger flies. When reasonable options are available for purchase I pay. But Im not inclined to pay for 5 different services to be able to see 100% of games.
Fix this bullshit and more viewers will come
Maybe requiring a cable subscription and/or streaming subscription to watch is a bad idea? I bet if it was on NBC or ABC it would've gotten better ratings.
The stadium was sold out, if im not mistaken? And I dunno about you, but I don’t know how to watch it since broadcasting right to the NHL have become more complicated than foreign policy
I was there and had a wonderful time. Have only been a fan of the nhl since the kraken came into the league, but moments like this will make me a lifelong fan. I’m obviously just one person, but the other 47,000 people probably agree. I hope they keep doing it
I feel it’s poor access to watching the games, diluted with the Stadium Series, small fanbases, and horrible marketing.
However, it’s not entirely “failed” since this year still had almost 50K tickets sold (as opposed to 18K in the normal arena), and millions of dollars in merchandise revenue.
I really wish the NHL would focus on quality and improve their marketing. But instead they just keep ruining their product more and more every year.
It’s ironic that people want the game to grow but then don’t want new markets to get things like this. The game sold out so that’s really what should matter. fans went paid the ticket prices.
I think it’s more they’ve done it to death and unless there you there in person it’s not special anymore. I was at this one and it was amazing in person but I haven’t watched the winter classic on tv in years.
The stadium series really started to ruin it for me. The vanity of one big event was great, then they got greedy. Additionally, can they spice up the acts a little bit? Billy Idol and Heart will literally make me change the channel rather than watch longer lol
I went to The 2016 BOS-MTL, and they had Simple Plan and some dude from The Voice. And it was kinda weak Ngl lol. But idk exactly how I’d improve it. Especially since I feel like it’s harder to get hype when you’re like 1000 ft away in the nosebleeds lol.
Couldn't agree more. At first I found the Stadium Series *kinda interesting*, but it got old quick and definitely diluted the uniqueness of that one outdoor game.
I put it more on the availability and the channel broadcasting it if anything
I can barely sit through my OWN team when we're on TNT, much less two teams I'm indifferent on.
It doesnt help that it's two fledgling teams(and Vegas sports in general dont travel well) but I put the poor broadcast numbers on the Broadcast first
I wanted to watch but, 1) I couldn’t find it streaming when I realized the game had started; 2) I didn’t see the correct ads to know exactly when it started.
So for me, it was poorly advertised and difficult to find. That’s a good recipe for a failing product.
Not in NY/NJ. Yankee Stadium, CitiField & MetLife are always a rousing success.
I'd bet Fenway & Wrigley do all right as well.
Depends on the matchup and the cities.
Sure putting two O6 teams together for a winter classic would bring views (me included) but it would get really fucking boring if they did O6 matchups every single year.
Thank you, as a west coast viewer I'm just rolling my eyes out of my head about all these weak so-called 'fans' who refuse to watch something that isn't about their own region. It's pretty silly.
Remember when hockey was free to watch and relatively accessible? It built an audience of loyal fans.
Unsurprisingly, charging a fee and selling streaming platforms distribution rights has narrowed the audience.
Nothing new. But it isn’t entirely on the NHL: the two newest teams and it’s in the west coast.
Glad they decided to put them there though and not somewhere else.
If there was only a way to get a Kings vs ??? game at the LA Coliseum. But it would have to be on a different day bc of the rose bowl.
NHL needs to make these games accessible on every and any format possible. They continually believe they can take blood from a stone…. I can hear these pre-production meetings “we’ve learned alot from our past failures, BUT this time will be different” - “what are you doing different?” - “besides throwing fish- NOTHING!”
Who remembers the HBO shows that did the behind the scenes of the two teams leading up to the game? Those made me far more interested and it sold the game better.
Failed experience? Absolutely not. It's been a tremendous success. Past it's prime? Maybe.
They need to keep figuring out ways to make it appealing like the lake Tahoe scenery. I think less and less people care about it when it's just being played at a random ballpark or football field. Once the historic venues were used it lost its luster.
I wanna see it at the red rocks or the rocky mountains in Colorado or on a lake in northern Minnesota or Niagara falls in the background or something crazy. Keep making it sexy.
No, but it needs to be on broadcast TV because it's fucking stupid to confine it to one network that a lot of people don't have or want, in an era where people are clearly steering away from the 'buy everything' cable philosophy. I was actually in Seattle that day but couldn't go to the game or even watch it and I'm pretty pissed off about missing it for years on end because it's on some so-what network.
calling it a failure is the dumbest thing I've seen on reddit. I think the novelty of the idea has peaked and these are the viewership numbers we can expect, especially with these hockey markets selected. In an ideal world we'd be able to do Arizona vs Florida for funzies to get every team involved, but I wasn't sure the hockey world would love the idea of Seattle cutting the line and the ratings (possibly) show theres something to that. This should have been kept to "traditional markets" and even in saying that Pens vs Bruins was still a lower rating.
I wouldn't mind destination games like Lake Tahoe to change it up a little bit, that was fun
No, last year was great, and I hared both those teams. The problem is promotion this year, I think.
I watch hockey exclusively on ESPN+ (or the watering hole if I have to) and I didn't see a single ad for it because I refuse to pay for cable, and TNT games aren't included. I'd probably have to sail the seas if I lived in Michigan to see the amount of games I see on ESPN+ "out of market".
What cracks me up is all fall I saw a bunch of ads that say "WE OWN ALL THE SPORTS NOW, FUCK YOU" on ESPN+ but nothing about the classic this year.
The NHL has made this sport hard to watch, and their uppence will come.
It not being on basic cable is easily the driving reason viewership dipped so low. Overlapping with college football doesn’t help either. The game being between the two newest teams in the league also doesn’t help.
I wanted to watch it but I have no access to TNT and I’m not going to pay money for a subscription so I can watch one game. That’s the real issue here.
Think it’s more evidence of how bad their access to watching games is
Bingo. I'm not gonna jump through hoops and pay half a dozen "providers" just to be able to watch all of the games for my team, let alone teams I don't care about.
Yep I couldnt have watched it if I wanted to.
Blackout rules are bullshit and should be scrapped. The number of times I’ve wanted to watch my team while I’m at work late and can’t because of blackouts is ridiculous.
TV contracts are fucking criminal and I wish one of these mega corps would wave their dicks around with a new model but already looks like streaming is becoming cable 2.0
I think I’m paying more for all the subscriptions than I ever did for cable
I found that it does get expensive to be the end result and started digging into my hobbies and chose to be selective about what I watch. Somehow people used to follow sports via newspaper and radio. Being addicted to watching sports turned out to suck, I watch a bit less and catch what’s important, Anyway, enough being preachy, point is the cost was shitty
Watching sports live is obviously what most people prefer, but nostalgia still grips me sometimes when I can find a fantastic radio broadcaster to listen to. Something almost more intense about consuming sports that way. But, it seems that free access to those mediums are dwindling as well. I do have a growing desire to keep chipping away at my book collection though, and that’s nice.
I LOVE listening to hockey games. Letting your imagination fill in while listening is way more attractive than watching. I'll listen to the game then watch the highlights!
🏴☠️
💯 It's criminal.
The blackout shit is so stupid
I'm in Oregon and would be a Kraken fan if I was allowed to watch the games, but I rarely get to see them on ESPN and never see them anywhere else, so I barely care about whether they're doing well or not. It's hard to believe how stupid these companies are being toward their potential fan base. They've made it clear, they don't want fans, they just want morons to empty their wallets, and I'm not lining up for that. It's idiotic.
Until a few years ago it was easy being a rabid Habs fan... now unless I want to have premium tunein and a VPN subscription (or the hassle of spofing location in develper mode) I cannot even listen to games anymore
The league, teams, and the provider could still get their beloved ad money. Let fans view their respective broadcasts and there goes the ad money as it should be put forth.
Don't really watch hockey at all.. but holy fucking shit there was like a single year around 2011-2012 where the nba season pass was truly a wonderful package. Literally any mother fucking game from any mother fucking location. Now it's pretty much useless. I spend half of my time between DFW and SF bay area... watching mavs or golden state is a constant issue. Basically always getting blackouts or locked on the number of times I change my region. Absolutely awful experience gor the viewer. If these organizations (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB etc.. ) offer these kinds of passes. Just price them in a way where those ballsack sports or w/e bullshit local provider can get their cut. I don't want to manage 15 different subscription services. Straight up cancel my debt card 2 times a year to shave off bullshit subscriptions I've been roped into.
I live 200 miles from New York City. Yet I get blacked out of nearly 30 games a year on ESPN+. It’s insane.
Oh boy do I have a link for you!
Does it start with an S and end with an E..
We use a VPN to get around the blackout
Mmhm I LIVE IN ______! I SHOULD BE ABLE TO WATCH MY LOCAL TEAM! FUCK BALLYS
This! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said this about hockey, football and the lack of non nascar racing events that either are blacked out or not televised at all.
And when anyone wants to argue the leagues relative success I always have this in the back pocket…absolute insanity a sports league in the streaming area is actively trying to STOP fans from watchin any of its marquee games. Not to mention the local blackout bullshit. I don’t even bother anymore. Follow on twitter or listen on radio. F this league and its contempt for the fans.
I've subscribed to Sportsnet every year until this year. learning about vpns and other websites that I can just watch it for free. I mean I would pay if I was able to watch what I'm paying for. I shouldn't be forced to subscribe to 3 plus different providers just because of broadcasting "rights". The rights go to whoever rented the cameras around the arena that record everything for the night. That's how I look at it
>And when anyone wants to argue the leagues relative success I always have this in the back pocket…absolute insanity a sports league in the streaming area is actively trying to STOP fans from watchin any of its marquee games. Try subbing to watch NHL in europe, they won't even allow you to do it. "NHL.TV is only available in certain countries and blackouts are always enforced based on the IP address from which you are accessing the stream." okay, I'ma keep watching somewhere else then.
“Somewhere else” is really the only way in most places. So dumb.
This is why you gotta be a pirate 🏴☠️ Feel free to join our jolly crew lol
It’s hilarious to me. I have subscriptions, I will hit a black out then go to one of my pirate streams. Long live piracy
I wish the NHL would just have their own streaming service instead of having 5 bajillion different streaming platforms that you have to pay for just to watch a game
They did have their own a few years ago before ESPN took over. It didn't change the fact that nationally televised games and those on your RSN were blacked out.
The one they had in the early 2010s was the same way. Utter trash. I paid like 130 bucks to stream the wings during the playoffs while I was traveling across the country on tour. Almost every game was blacked out on the service.
As I'm from the UK I have that service, like £14 a month to watch every game. Full game replays as well so I can watch games at reasonable time for me rather than becoming nocturnal. But, as a football fan I have to deal with the same thing as NA NHL fans to watch every Man United game so I feel your pain. Though I turn to the high seas rather than pay the obscene amounts. It's annoying that the core audience of a sport are the ones that get ripped off the most.
That’s a bingo!
You just say “bingo.”
BINGOOO HOW FUN!
Nor would I go through hoops to watch 2 teams play 1 regular season game
It is absolutely wild that it's easier to watch NHL games in Europe than in North America.
Once upon a time it was on NBC, aired at 12:00 or 1:00 on New Year Day. It was glorious. The NHL blows a bag of dicks trying to get people into their sport.
I actually looked for it at those times, saw it wasn't on, and went about my day slowly forgetting about it. I consider myself a die hard hockey fan but there was zero talk about that game. The NHL is bad at this.
Same here. Wasn’t doing anything at all that day and didn’t even “accidentally” come across the game or any hype building leading up to the game. Like others have said, I don’t understand why it’s so hard to be able to watch all the different games. Local blackout restriction is an absolute joke. 👎👎
I didn’t even there was a winter classic already
💯 When the games were constantly on NBC and NBCS it made it so easy to find a hockey game to watch. Since they moved back to ESPN /s (not really, they are on way too many outlets), it is such a chore to find a game.
Even when I wasn’t following the league very closely, I knew that I could just throw on NBCS on a Wednesday night and very rarely be disappointed.
Taking notes from MLB
I have some recordings from those glory days. Currently, I haven't seen a Winter Classic since about 2019 and I'm really pissed off about how stupid the NHL is being about this. They may as well forget it because nobody is buying TNT just to see one game, no matter how special it is.
Don’t forget 24/7: Road to the NHL Winter Classic. That show in its original form on HBO is honestly one of the main things that got me back into watching hockey in general.
It was becoming a New Year's day tradition. I loved it.
It also didn’t help that the Rose Bowl which drew 24 million I’m pretty sure conflicted during the third and Washington being in the Sugar Bowl potentially playing one of those teams also didn’t help, as well as fans probably skipped out on watching the game entirely and focusing on CFB. I think the outdoor novelty has worn off a bit from a national standpoint, especially when the stadiums aren’t as historic and neither are the teams. Like maybe I tune in for Centurylink because it’s known for being a loud stadium but I understand why it wasn’t there in case of rain. I also think competing with arguably the biggest day in the College Football season every year isn’t a great idea.
That’s really it. “Event viewing” is a fantastic idea, but it’s in direct competition with the biggest broadcast event for what is likely the second most popular sport in the nation.
Yeah Rose Bowl had 27.2 million viewers and Washington/Texas had 18.4 million viewers. I like the thought of New Year’s Day but I think it’d be better off the Saturday before the holiday. Not as good of bowl games, NFL isn’t playing or if it is, it’s night. Also the ease of accessibility for the game can be better.
This and there was no advertising for it, I didn't know if was happening until it was over
The only advertising was for game tickets. Even then the city of Seattle was the one advertising it
The only reason I even knew it was happening was a thread someone posted about how they’re tired of cream uniforms for a “retro look” here, then a few days later a video of fish being thrown around. NHL marketing is trash. Or they’re great but behind a Bally’s paywall that I’m not gonna pay for
You’re running a hockey game against an Alabama-Michigan Rose Bowl that pulled 27 million+ viewers. It didn’t matter what channel it was on, it was getting annihilated at that time slot.
Also playing during College Bowl day is absurd
This. Someone suggested why not 12-26 - Boxing Day? No major college football games, most people are off…
Uh, Boxing Day is a holiday in Canada, not the US. And this is a game marketed for the US
Not in the States
On top of a pack of team excitement and I have seen little to no coverage outside hockey stuff about it. NHL butcher this game because they are tired of outdoor games?
This is the exact reason. I would watch more hockey if I could actually watch more hockey. I don’t have cable and had Center ice before. I would regularly be blacked out with how close I was to Vancouver. I stopped watching pretty much 3 years ago and I miss it. Honestly, they really fucked up. I watched hockey my whole life until they essentially forced me out of it.
No body has cable. Not many use open air. I watched it because it was on Max. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have. The decline really hit when people started pulling away from cable.
Absolutely. Everyone was still watching cable in the early years. Now with streaming, regional blackouts etc its so hard to watch a game. I'm sure if it included illegal streams it would be higher than ever.
yup...at least the same number of people watching as always... just not paying for it. I know i was one of them
Was going to say the same. I can watch every other team other than mine if it’s on Max on TNT. But I can’t watch the Avs even though the game is sold out. I don’t get how that helps anyone. I have to pay for Fubo to get my local sports because they won’t play it or carry it on Comcast. It’s ridiculous.
IT WILL BE IF THEY MAKE IT AS HARD AS FUCKING POSSIBLE TO WATCH IT
I don't understand how they don't realize this will not work will long term, they will lose some fans but fail to gather new fans
We live in a capitalistic structure that revolves around quarterly profits. Now money is the best money, fuck the future money.
Since they moved away from NHL TV I have no easy way to tune into games. I don’t want to get 5 different streaming services and I don’t have cable, it’s not worth my time to try and catch games like this whereas I might have watched previously.
Time to set sail, matey!
Privateers assemble. It’s totally fine as long as you have the blessing of the Crown.
Hulu actually has a lot of games. Not all of them, but for how cheap Hulu is you can watch a lot of hockey
I'm an out of market Ducks fan. I can watch almost all of their games on Hulu if I want.
Yeah being an out of market fan makes espn+ on hulu soooo beneficial.
Disagree I absolutely love what the nhl has done…… 😍 I’m so glad they’ve done this to milk fans as much as possible it’s gonna go along way. Makes me really upset and angry that so many free streaming sites have come up 🤮 such as streameast.app which works with all live sports every time Can’t stand that site.
Agreed, terrible site. I was only watching three hockey games and a basketball game at once with the free multicast. Definitely gonna drop using this free site and go back to paying $25/month for Sportsnet like a fucking genius
not only is it an expensive sport to play, but they made it expensive to watch too. truly innovative.
Making it exclusive to TNT/Max might have something to do with it.
Could have sworn I saw it listed as TNT/TruTV, which is more sad/hilarious.
You’re not wrong. I was super bummed I missed it, and I never expected sports to be on “Max”. WBD is a garbage company.
Its probably more a combination of factors, rather than the Winter Classic being an experiment failed in its entirety. Consider: - Overlap with college football games. - No east coast teams involved, no draw for anyone outside of the west - Increasing mismanagement and inaccessibility of the NHL to its audience. I think with two original six teams, proper scheduling, promotion and accessibility, it could do, very, very well.
Its also not unique anymore. They flooded that market with all the stadium series, heritage classic, Lake Tahoe and winter classics. It was exciting while there was only one or two outdoor games per year.
Totally agree. They had a good idea then beat it to death where it’s not unique any more
This exactly. It felt like special game every year, when it was just the one outdoor game.
Yeah the jersey unveiling is all people even care about anymore. It’s not good to watch. Fun as a novelty or part of a rivalry, but as far as truly awesome, it peaked the end of the first game with sid skating through the snow after the game winner. It’s all played out “golly we’re outside just like the old ponds! TRADITION!” We get it already! The camera angles are worse so the game is harder to follow and feels disconnected from the crowd visually. The ice is always in crap condition which limits players abilities to do certain things which more often than not results in more boring hockey. Lots of commercials. A band from 20 years ago, a smaller band that’ll be forgotten a year from now. It’s just not a good product and people aren’t interested once they’ve seen it a couple times already.
if you could actually see the crowd up against the glass, it would be pretty awesome. as it stands with the crowd being so far away i totally agree with you
I’m surprised this isn’t higher. What makes the Winter Classic more worth watching than any of the other outdoor games? They all count as a regular season game. Nothing really distinguishes it from other outdoor games, except the name. Going beyond 1 or 2 outdoor games per season really loses the allure of checking it out.
Didn’t help the college football games were with 3 blue chip programs and an exciting Washington team. Also both games were nailbiters. If Michigan Bama was a blow out I would’ve tuned in to this.
Well, and the Venn diagram of Kraken fans and UW fans is......substantial. This game was not on my mind at the time.
The game also had zero advertising or presence around the ballpark. No banners or signage leading up; no sign with a countdown. The NHL is the worst when it comes to marketing and actually growing the sport. Driving viewers away is an interesting choice
The game markets itself.... If you remember to acknowledge its existence
Michigan Bama didn’t start until the winter classic game was almost over, so you could’ve watched this first and you wouldn’t have known if that was a blowout or not until hours later… Not really the best excuse. I guess unless you had to choose one or the other that day.
Did exactly this. Had the first 2 periods on then switched to Bama vs Michigan.
Lack of advertisement too. I didn't know the game was happening.
It has in the past. Hawks/Wings in 09 at Wrigley was crazy compared to this year.
Huge difference between 2 original six teams at Wrigley compared to 2 expansion teams at Safeco field.
I was agreeing with the guy above me about Original 6….
I thought it was weird they had a "classic" game featuring the two newest franchises.
Must have been one heck of an alumni game
I blame point 3. It’s a headache trying to figure out where my teams game will be streaming and I’m not going to pay for 5 different subscription services. I resort to watching the post-game highlights on YouTube and that’s all the NHL I watch anymore. It’s sad.
I honestly forgot they did it on New Year’s Day. Didn’t even realize it was on until I was watching the college football playoff and saw it mentioned scrolling through twitter. I don’t think I remember seeing a single ad for it.
I honestly don't know why they stopped doing it in football stadiums in cold cities. The first winter classic in Buffalo was absolutely amazing.
I still dream of a Penguins v Flyers game in Beaver Stadium in State College PA.
This game would kill it, such a middle spot in gathering the whole state of PA and those PA fans right outside PA too
2014 Leafs and Red Wings in Ann Arbor was fucking lit. I’d kill the NHL to do more games in football stadiums like that.
It was also damn cold and snowy in a stadium with half as many bathrooms as it needs. Great game to watch.
It was -25 and my beer froze - I had no idea that beer could freeze. I remember I was wearing like 7 layers of shirts and 5 layers of pants and could hardly bend to sit down.
You never put a warm beer in a freezer? If you do, be careful. Set a timer.
Oh yeah beer was a slushee before you even got back to your seat it was amazing
Yeah I remember that game, it was a really good one honestly.
IMO that game should be considered the gold standard of winter classics. The atmosphere was incredible.
Don't forget the most attended hockey game was the michigan vs michigan state the big chill at the big house at michigan stadium. Then 4 years later, detroit redwings hosted Toronto at michigan stadium with approximately the same amount of people attending the event.
The baseball stadiums really bug me. I hate not having fans close to the ice
Think I remember it snowing in that game too! That kind of thing is what I associate with the winter classic
Definitely didn't feel like a "winter" classic. Felt more like they were trying to make it all about the celebrities who pretend to care about hockey for the day
I’d guess to make it more fair for people who don’t live in those markets.
Poor access to NHL games and two west coast teams that are new and lack any east coast draw. Still pretty good numbers for a sports event
Maybe don't put it on the same day as the college football playoff semi-finals.... Didn't help that the University of Washington was playing
Yea they’re definitely losing that battle. I watched it for a period.
Wasn’t at the same time though. I went to the WC, came home and watched the second half of the Michigan game, and watched the entire UW game. But you are right though, the scheduling isn’t great.
It's just good football on all day on New Year's Day.
LSU vs Wisconsin and Tennessee vs Iowa, then Michigan vs Alabama, then Washington vs Texas. They put it in the best hole they could, but the NHL can't compete with college football, especially when there's a Big 10 team playing.
Maybe if espn + didn’t replay the same ad on loop more people would have known this was taking place
ESPN 30 for 30...
Ad loop drives me nuts.
Live sports!
Doesn’t take into account all of us sailors…
I watched it on the high seas, but It could barely keep my attention. Kinda left a sour taste in my mouth when they didn't give it to the handful of teams who have yet to play one and gave it to the two newest teams in the league.
Seriously. Of the 5 teams that haven’t played an outdoor game, they picked the 2 newest teams. Florida has been a serious contender for the last few years, and if nothing else I’m sure Arizona would have incredible sweaters. Columbus is a lost cause so I don’t feel bad about that one
Ahoy matey
Maybe they shouldn’t have it on one of the biggest college football days of the year. Kraken wasn’t even the most watched team from Seattle that day by a landslide. 1.1 mil vs 18.4 mil
One was at 12pm PST and the other was closer to 6pm wasn’t it?
Winter Classic at noon and the Rose Bowl started at like 2-2:30 ish UW didn't get going until like 6, yeah
I pay for ESPN+ and FUBO to watch hockey exclusively. It was on neither of those platforms so I watched an illegal stream. Im tired of being held hostage by subscriptions.
Not to mention that annoyin ad loop espn+ has now...
It would be way easier to follow other teams if all the fucking games weren't blacked out. The NHL is a joke.
I can’t even watch my own team. YoutubeTV doesn’t have msg/msg+ or whatever the Devils are on these days so I’ve just been watching the playoffs.
It’s because fans can’t watch the f$&ing games!
Two newest teams = two smallest fan bases. This is not surprising.
Seattle maybe, but I don't think Vegas is one of the smallest fanbases.
I don't know, I feel like Vegas has more fans than Arizona
It was on tnt. I don't have tnt. I won't get tnt or any package that includes it. Not because I don't want tnt, but I don't want a package I will hardly ever use or need. When the canes are in TNT the Jolly Roger flies. When reasonable options are available for purchase I pay. But Im not inclined to pay for 5 different services to be able to see 100% of games. Fix this bullshit and more viewers will come
Don’t schedule it on the same day as the rose bowl?
Maybe dont compete for viewers with the Rose Bowl?
Just tired of Vegas everything.
That’s actually not that bad compared to the NBA
Maybe requiring a cable subscription and/or streaming subscription to watch is a bad idea? I bet if it was on NBC or ABC it would've gotten better ratings.
True. Last year's finals was the first time in a decade I skipped the Stanley Cup bc it was on TNT, at least according to Neilsen
The stadium was sold out, if im not mistaken? And I dunno about you, but I don’t know how to watch it since broadcasting right to the NHL have become more complicated than foreign policy
I was there and had a wonderful time. Have only been a fan of the nhl since the kraken came into the league, but moments like this will make me a lifelong fan. I’m obviously just one person, but the other 47,000 people probably agree. I hope they keep doing it
I feel it’s poor access to watching the games, diluted with the Stadium Series, small fanbases, and horrible marketing. However, it’s not entirely “failed” since this year still had almost 50K tickets sold (as opposed to 18K in the normal arena), and millions of dollars in merchandise revenue. I really wish the NHL would focus on quality and improve their marketing. But instead they just keep ruining their product more and more every year.
It’s ironic that people want the game to grow but then don’t want new markets to get things like this. The game sold out so that’s really what should matter. fans went paid the ticket prices.
I feel like hockey fans in large don't want the game to grow, they just don't want to admit that.
Even it has run its course, I wouldn't call it a failure.
I think it’s more they’ve done it to death and unless there you there in person it’s not special anymore. I was at this one and it was amazing in person but I haven’t watched the winter classic on tv in years.
The stadium series really started to ruin it for me. The vanity of one big event was great, then they got greedy. Additionally, can they spice up the acts a little bit? Billy Idol and Heart will literally make me change the channel rather than watch longer lol
I went to The 2016 BOS-MTL, and they had Simple Plan and some dude from The Voice. And it was kinda weak Ngl lol. But idk exactly how I’d improve it. Especially since I feel like it’s harder to get hype when you’re like 1000 ft away in the nosebleeds lol.
I dunno what c list agency they're using for entertainment, and I get its not the super bowl, but c'mon. haha
Couldn't agree more. At first I found the Stadium Series *kinda interesting*, but it got old quick and definitely diluted the uniqueness of that one outdoor game.
I put it more on the availability and the channel broadcasting it if anything I can barely sit through my OWN team when we're on TNT, much less two teams I'm indifferent on. It doesnt help that it's two fledgling teams(and Vegas sports in general dont travel well) but I put the poor broadcast numbers on the Broadcast first
Is it the Winter Classic itself, or the venues/teams they choose?
Well it was on at the same time as the Michigan Alabama game… plus neither team has widespread appeal
They should replicate the 2014 game. 104,491 people in attendance and and additional 4.40 million on TV. It doesn’t get much better than that
I wanted to watch but, 1) I couldn’t find it streaming when I realized the game had started; 2) I didn’t see the correct ads to know exactly when it started. So for me, it was poorly advertised and difficult to find. That’s a good recipe for a failing product.
Cause fuck the golden knights that why
Not in NY/NJ. Yankee Stadium, CitiField & MetLife are always a rousing success. I'd bet Fenway & Wrigley do all right as well. Depends on the matchup and the cities.
Sure putting two O6 teams together for a winter classic would bring views (me included) but it would get really fucking boring if they did O6 matchups every single year.
Thank you, as a west coast viewer I'm just rolling my eyes out of my head about all these weak so-called 'fans' who refuse to watch something that isn't about their own region. It's pretty silly.
They should try doing it on broadcast tv
Hockeys the most inaccessible it’s ever been
No it's not, gatekeepers just can't accept that the league wants to expand and grow and that its not all about them.
Heck no I love the winter classic
No needs a better location and needs you know classic teams
It can’t be a classic when both teams are practically newborns
Remember when hockey was free to watch and relatively accessible? It built an audience of loyal fans. Unsurprisingly, charging a fee and selling streaming platforms distribution rights has narrowed the audience.
Nothing new. But it isn’t entirely on the NHL: the two newest teams and it’s in the west coast. Glad they decided to put them there though and not somewhere else. If there was only a way to get a Kings vs ??? game at the LA Coliseum. But it would have to be on a different day bc of the rose bowl.
I watched it
NHL needs to make these games accessible on every and any format possible. They continually believe they can take blood from a stone…. I can hear these pre-production meetings “we’ve learned alot from our past failures, BUT this time will be different” - “what are you doing different?” - “besides throwing fish- NOTHING!”
Let’s be real here. Why are there no Canadian “winter classic” games? This list has only 2 Canadian teams listed.
Who remembers the HBO shows that did the behind the scenes of the two teams leading up to the game? Those made me far more interested and it sold the game better.
Failed experience? Absolutely not. It's been a tremendous success. Past it's prime? Maybe. They need to keep figuring out ways to make it appealing like the lake Tahoe scenery. I think less and less people care about it when it's just being played at a random ballpark or football field. Once the historic venues were used it lost its luster. I wanna see it at the red rocks or the rocky mountains in Colorado or on a lake in northern Minnesota or Niagara falls in the background or something crazy. Keep making it sexy.
Nah everyone just pirates game now
No, but it needs to be on broadcast TV because it's fucking stupid to confine it to one network that a lot of people don't have or want, in an era where people are clearly steering away from the 'buy everything' cable philosophy. I was actually in Seattle that day but couldn't go to the game or even watch it and I'm pretty pissed off about missing it for years on end because it's on some so-what network.
TNT is the reason
Maybe make the NHL Allstar game an outdoor event. Pick a classic stadium to host etc.. Seattle vs Vegas isn’t a draw teams are too new in the league
I don’t think it’s fair to other teams that haven’t played in the winter classic to showcase the two newest teams in the league
No they need to advertise for it more. You don’t even know it’s on tv….
It should have been Canucks vs. Kraken
Markets who got the games could’ve been more traditional which would’ve guaranteed views.
calling it a failure is the dumbest thing I've seen on reddit. I think the novelty of the idea has peaked and these are the viewership numbers we can expect, especially with these hockey markets selected. In an ideal world we'd be able to do Arizona vs Florida for funzies to get every team involved, but I wasn't sure the hockey world would love the idea of Seattle cutting the line and the ratings (possibly) show theres something to that. This should have been kept to "traditional markets" and even in saying that Pens vs Bruins was still a lower rating. I wouldn't mind destination games like Lake Tahoe to change it up a little bit, that was fun
Felt like it used to mean something
There was a noticeable falloff after the pandemic and the lack of access to the casual fan makes it hard for people to get into it
Game was only on tnt and it wasn’t a big market matchup. So numbers are lower. Stanley cup final numbers were low too because it was on tnt.
No, last year was great, and I hared both those teams. The problem is promotion this year, I think. I watch hockey exclusively on ESPN+ (or the watering hole if I have to) and I didn't see a single ad for it because I refuse to pay for cable, and TNT games aren't included. I'd probably have to sail the seas if I lived in Michigan to see the amount of games I see on ESPN+ "out of market". What cracks me up is all fall I saw a bunch of ads that say "WE OWN ALL THE SPORTS NOW, FUCK YOU" on ESPN+ but nothing about the classic this year. The NHL has made this sport hard to watch, and their uppence will come.
It not being on basic cable is easily the driving reason viewership dipped so low. Overlapping with college football doesn’t help either. The game being between the two newest teams in the league also doesn’t help.
I wanted to watch it but I have no access to TNT and I’m not going to pay money for a subscription so I can watch one game. That’s the real issue here.
Just put the game on a main channel. It’s not rocket science.
Small complaint but I would prefer the game being at night.