February 12, 2007
NHL Should Take Lesson from MLS
After the Los Angeles Galaxy signed David Beckham, the MLS has been using him to boost league interest across the country. The NHL on the other hand, doesn't even let it's hyped-up young stars visit every team in the league. Maybe they should pay attention to what the MLS is doing.
During the All-Star Break owners ended up voting to keep the division-heavy schedule through next year, preventing any team from playing all league teams at least once. One of the biggest arguments in favor of the new schedule was that the sport's young new stars, who are mostly in the east, would be showcased against every team and market in the league.
Showcasing young stars like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin, Thomas Vanek, and Anze Kopitar across the continent would only help the NHL. Ticket sales would increase in the arenas where these young talents played. It would also provide more opportunities for nationally televised games against strong teams with strong fan bases that otherwise wouldn't see each other, such as Pittsburgh against either Edmonton or Calgary, or Anaheim against Ottowa or Buffalo.
It has not even been a month since the Los Angeles Galaxy announced they had signed soccer star David Beckham, and the MLS has already taken huge strides in providing that he will bring the league to new heights. The MLS schedule, which was released last Tuesday, ensures that Beckham will play at every MLS city when he comes over in mid-July.
Sixteen of the Los Angeles Galaxy's final 17 games are scheduled to be broadcast nationally.
The MLS has shown that it can make the most of its stars, giving every team's fans the opportunity to see him live and giving the country 16 chances to see him. While many people may not consider soccer an especially exciting sport, they know that when Beckham touches the ball, especially for free kicks, magic can happen. But hockey stars like Crosby and Ovechkin can give fans that same feeling when they touch the puck. But unfortunately they will barely be seen nationally. The MLS manages to successfully build around one player, while the NHL cannot take advantage of the increased opportunities several star players can provide. They've already discussed, unallegedly, bringing onboard NASCAR's Eddie Gossage to lend his marketing expertise, so they might as well start looking at getting some of the MLS' marketing gurus while they're at it.
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02:25 AM