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Just another GREAT marketing decision by the NHL! |
Before reading this, please remember who is writing this! Atlanta has one full time advocate in the sports media who is not required to be one!
I grew up playing, coaching and being a HUGE fan of the NHL. I had the pleasure of working in the NHL for many years and it helped to get me the chance to work on-air in the sports broadcasting business. I have never forgotten that fact and always attempt to bring my passion for the game to my shows on the local and network level. When for some it is not cool to talk NHL hockey, I have always been an advocate. Especially in this market, the NHL needs an advocate as they have never found a way to effectively gain a stronghold amongst the fans. I was an advocate when I worked on the broadcasts for the Thrashers inaugural season on their flagship station and continued to be one when I joined 680 The Fan in 2000.
Even when 680 was not the home of the Thrashers, NHL fans always had a voice and a chance to hear discussion of their sport.
The NHL All Star Game is coming to Atlanta in two weeks. I’m sorry that is a news flash to many of you. I sit here today just 14 days from face-off and most of the city knows nothing about the events surrounding the game or the centerpiece itself. Why? I’ll be glad to tell you.
The one hallmark of the NHL has been the poor marketing decisions that they have made over the years. You fans from the 80’s may remember trying to watch the NHL playoffs on the USA Network when it was not main stream. I can’t begin to help many of you to locate Versus to be able to watch NHL hockey. The decision to leave ESPN years ago has been disastrous for the sport. The ratings have never been lower and the sport has been passed by for televised poker matches and women’s basketball. Short-sighted, poor marketing choices have seen the NHL drop out of the American “Big Four” and fall into relative “irrelevance” nationally. Thankfully, the sport has many advocates in the media that make every attempt to popularize and publicize the sport.
A few years ago I was thrilled that 680 The Fan secured the rights to the Atlanta Thrashers broadcasts. It excites me to have the games on our airwaves and my station is proud that we always try to promote the sport and the local team we love. Those of you who follow the team know that the “effort” of covering and discussing hockey has never been better in this market than it is on 680.
So the NHL brings the showcase event of the sport to Atlanta and decides to “partner” their marketing effort with a station that does not promote or discuss the sport on a regular basis. The NHL chooses to “partner” for the event with a station that has a majority urban audience. There are NHL fans all over, but the vast majority of the fans of the sport are not following it or getting their information from urban stations.
So why would the NHL ever make such a decision? The answer is to attempt to bleed every last dollar out of the weekend that they can. Partnerships with beers and bars take precedence over using the NHL All Star Weekend to promote the sport. The decision making process of the NHL marketers is to fatten their wallets a little more, instead of potentially creating more hockey fans in a community that desperately needs them!
Christian rock bands are not attempting to promote their albums on hip hop stations. That would make little sense. So the NHL thought it was a bright idea to turn their backs on the one media outlet that constantly supports their efforts to make a little more money down the street.
If the NHL wonders why they have seen this steady decline in the popularity of the sport, it is ridiculous choices like these.
Since they don’t seem to know what is going on in the local markets up at the NHL offices in New York City, allow me to introduce myself.
My name is John Kincade. I work for 680 The Fan in Atlanta. You may have also heard my national broadcasts on ESPN Radio. I am the guy who always manages to slip in talk about your sport in an industry that generally ignores it. I had the pleasure of following the NHL since the mid-seventies. My family has been an NHL season ticket holder for two franchises for many years. I co-host the most-listened to sports radio show in this market and have for over seven years. The local franchise in Atlanta gets twice as much promotion from our radio program than any other in Atlanta. It just makes sense that you would leverage that existing arrangement to help build your sport. Right? Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot that your history should have warned me that you would act otherwise.
You will always hear Atlanta Thrashers talk on the Buck and Kincade Show. I will just choose not to discuss ANYTHING to do with the NHL All Star Game during my broadcasts of the coming weeks. If the NHL is too dumb to know who they are trying to reach with this event, I don’t plan on being the one to pick up the slack for them. I hope the few extra bucks they make will spend well in New York. Unfortunately, they have wasted another chance to build a sport that needs a life raft.
I always welcome your input at johnkincade@680thefan.com |
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