Greg Wyshynski made a great point in one of his post on Yahoo Sports. After Greg talked about the history ads that were made by the NHL, (see video below) he started talking about the changeover from Olympic hockey to the NHL. Many people thought that the high exposure and great publicity that hockey received in the USA from the amazing games that were played throughout the Olympics would translate into more viewers for the NHL. Now there might have been a few more people watching their hockey teams from their home cities, there was not a huge rush of people to the rink to see people play hockey. The teams that were popular remained popular, and the teams that sucked and had low attendance, continued to have low attendance.
Greg brings up a crucial point about the casual fan. Now I've been an avid fan of the Blackhawks and have been watching almost every single game. The same thing goes for the Chicago Bears. But for the other Chicago sports teams, such as the Bulls and the Cubs, I will classify myself as a casual fan, meaning that I will almost never catch a game, unless it's that time of the day where the only other thing that I could watch on TV is Maury, and most likely I've already seen that episode of Maury so I know that this guy is NOT the father of her kid(s). (She's tested 23 guys so far) But when it comes to the playoffs, every couple of years the Bulls or the Cubs will make the post season. Although I know that they will choke and lose very early on, I will watch those games because it is the playoffs, and for whatever reason, the post season is more exciting and will always draw more viewers. I mean come on, the Superbowl is pretty much a national holiday. Which is why the NFL draws in so many people to watch their game. If not for the playing time between two of the best teams in the league, then at least for the commercials and the party-like atmosphere of the event.
Nobody does postseason like the NFL. There are commercials and previews leading up to the Superbowl for the game, the halftime show, and even the commercials. Does the league suffer at all during the regular season becuase the Superbowl is the only game that matters throughout the entire year? No, in fact, I would say drawing people into the biggest game of the year would expose more people to the sport and would entice some to watch more games throughout the year. The other professional leagues could learn from the NFL and hype up their post-season more so that there are more viewers to watch the games. Lets be honest here, if you don't normally watch a sport, which one would convince you to watch more of the regular season. A normal regular season game, or a championship game. Of course the latter, so with the NHL trying to draw in a larger crowd, it would benefit them to hype up the Stanley Cup and the road leading up to it, which would bring back a majority of the Olympic Hockey fans to tune in and watch. Then once the masses are watching the games, it is now time to convince them that the rest of the season matters as well.
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