There's no denying that ice hockey blows soccer out of the water in the Northeast/Upper Midwest, but outside those hotbeds, it's a close battle for #4. According to this, the Kings are the only team in a "non-traditional" NHL market (i.e. Canada, U.S. Northeast and Upper Midwest) with at least 400k estimated fans. Go further down the list and you have to wonder if MLS would fare better in markets like Arizona, Carolina and Florida than the NHL (I have a feeling Atlanta's MLS team will achieve more local success than the short-lived Thrashers). http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-google-searches-can-predict-hockey-ticket-sales/ Soccer has a much larger grassroots base than hockey in the U.S., between youth, high school and college soccer, and because of this, has more geographic reach. There might not be any city that's soccer-crazy in the same vein that cities like Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia are hockey-crazy (although you can make an argument for Portland and Seattle), but there are probably more markets where MLS is viable than markets where the NHL is viable. Overall, the NHL is still clearly ahead of MLS as the #4 pro league, but MLS has a higher ceiling--it will take at least another generation of fans growing up on MLS and the league reaching 30-32 teams before we see it realize its potential. But if you exclude non-fan heavy events like the World Cup and Olympics, and compare the viewership for all televised soccer (Liga MX, EPL, Champions League, MLS, Euros, Gold Cup, USMNT/El Tri friendlies and WC qualifiers, etc.) with the viewership for all televised ice hockey (NHL, Frozen Four, KHL, IIHF World Championship, etc.), it's not crazy to think soccer has already surpassed ice hockey as the #4 sport (outside the Northeast and Upper Midwest, of course). Not to mention soccer is arguably more entrenched in hockey regions than hockey is entrenched in soccer regions.
Soccer as a sport is more popular nationally than hockey. Hockey though is extremely popular in some regions, and has a stronger history as a professional league than soccer. I have little doubt that MLS will eventually catch and surpass the NHL in national TV revenue eventually.
The Thrashers were sabotaged by their ownership, who wanted them out of the building from the minute they bought them, along with the Hawks and the arena. And I have very little doubt that you're completely wrong.
The NHL has a crummy deal right now. NBC got locked in at an incredible rate. So they're making $110mm for than MLS on a deal signed 4 years earlier. That gap is only going to increase. The Stanley Cup Playoffs offer far more content than MLS Cup in a more desirable season (not up against NFL/CFB) so the only way MLS ever catches up of they start drawing numbers, you know, like football gets. I keep hearing about how that'll happen, but I don't see it. Just like MLB and NHL, the MLS Playoffs will continue to be an after thought for most fans if it's not their team involved.
The crazy part is the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers hockey program have as many fans as the Dallas Stars.
That study is bunk. If there are only 1.09 million Hawks fans, how can there be nearly 2 million at the parade, per city of Chicago estimate?
Depends what you count as revenue. When you add all the spending on soccer outfits and shirts etc of soccer clubs, nat teams, fees to play etc and put that against the same for hockey, what is the outcome then?
That's true. It's like how I'm guessing most people who attended the parade for the Women's World Cup winners could have named hardly anyone on the team before the Women's World Cup started.
Yeah, that Detroit number looks way too low. Pretty much any one you meet in Michigan is at least a bandwagon Wings fan.