Fox Sports

Steven Long23 said:Numbers don't lie. 🤷

Right now, hockey is pulling the biggest ratings both on TV and in the arena. All those other "big" clubs can talk all they want, but they’re clearly just too lazy to step up and do anything about it.

Sure, it might have the highest attendance, but it’s definitely not the most popular sport. Think about how many people actually play soccer, basketball, or handball versus how many play hockey in NYC. There are only one or two hockey clubs in the whole city.

Henry Cox78 said:Sure, they might pull the biggest crowds, but let’s be real—they aren't exactly the most beloved, right? I mean, just look at the sheer number of clubs and people actually playing hockey in Washington, D.C., compared to how many people are out there playing soccer, basketball, or handball, and how many teams exist for those sports? In D.C., you basically only have one or two hockey clubs to speak of.

Look, we are talking about professional franchises and their actual cultural footprint here, not some casual weekend hobbyists kicking a ball around in a park.

When the Los Angeles Lakers play their first game, they draw a crowd just like any other pro team in NYC during a three-game stretch, don't they? And when it comes to TV ratings, they're sitting right there in second place, trailing only the Champions League...

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore the Boston Celtics and Real Madrid... but facts are facts, aren't they? I honestly don't understand why that bothers everyone so much. If anything, I'm the one who's furious because they seem completely incapable of doing anything meaningful to engage with their fans or actually promote their own brands... I certainly haven't the slightest intention of defending them when they're failing miserably..

Right now, hockey is easily the most popular sport out there... ☕

Steven Long23 said:Look, we're talking about pro teams and their massive reach here, not some amateur weekend league hobby.

The Los Angeles Lakers have a roster just as solid as any other pro outfit in NYC after three rounds. Their TV ratings are right up there with the Champions League...

I love the Boston Celtics and Real Madrid, seriously... but facts are facts. I don't get why that bothers you guys so much. Personally, I'm pissed because they can't seem to do anything right when it comes to engaging fans or actually building their brand. I'm not about to defend them when they totally blow it..

It’s just obvious, it doesn't bother me. It’s just a stretch to say a club with maybe 50 hockey players is driving the most popular sport in Washington, D.C. There are fewer than 100 people playing hockey in the city, while thousands are tied up in soccer, basketball, and handball clubs. 😉 And that's not even counting all the amateurs out there playing for fun.

Henry Cox78 said:Look, I’m not saying it’s wrong, it doesn't bother me personally, but if we're being honest, claiming a club with maybe fifty hockey players makes it the most popular sport in Washington, D.C. just isn't quite hitting the mark, is it? I mean, you've got fewer than a hundred people actually playing hockey in the whole city, whereas soccer, basketball, and handball have thousands involved. 😉

But what does that even have to do with anything?

If we're going by that logic, there are probably only twenty people on the entire planet obsessed with Formula 1, yet somehow it still manages to be one of the most globally popular sports out there, right?

And when you look at professional soccer here in Washington, D.C., you're looking at maybe sixty or seventy professionals... and that's exactly what we're comparing here, isn't it? We are talking about the pros, not just some guys playing in a local park league.

Henry Cox78 said:Look, I don't care about the numbers. But saying a single club with maybe 50 hockey players makes it the most popular sport in Washington, D.C. is just plain wrong. You've got fewer than 100 people playing hockey in DC, whereas soccer, basketball, and handball have thousands involved in organized clubs. 😉 And that doesn't even count the massive amount of people playing recreationally.

👍
MLS gets huge viewership here in the States... we're talking around 30 percent, while Serie A and La Liga get much lower ratings on TV back in their home countries... so the claims being made by some people here are total nonsense.

Eric Ortiz3 said:👍
MLS gets huge numbers here in America... we're talking around 30 percent viewership, whereas Serie A and La Liga don't even pull those kinds of numbers on TV back in their own home countries... so I really don't know what some people are talking about when they claim otherwise

It only looks popular because it’s airing on free broadcast TV and because nobody is actually showing up to the stadiums to watch live..

Put it behind a paywall on a premium sports network and just watch how fast those numbers drop..

30% viewership? Give me a break.. absolutely nothing, not even a major primetime show or a massive sporting event, hits those kind of percentages.

When we talk about being "popular" in terms of Television and broadcasting, we’re really talking about what pulls the biggest live TV audiences and gets the most listeners on the radio.
Popularity isn't just about how much a sport is played or consumed; it's about which one reaches the absolute masses.

You're intentionally comparing the heavy hitters—those massive sports where all you need is two goals and a field, or maybe a patch of asphalt and a hoop—against sports that require specialized, high-end infrastructure
like figure skating.

Take hockey, for example. In a city like Chicago, you have well over a hundred people dedicated to it, and there are more than 700 kids playing through the little local leagues and the big school programs, all using just two indoor rinks!
Then you factor in the younger cadets, the junior divisions, the seniors, the veterans, and finally the recreational players (there are at least a hundred of us just playing for fun).

When you actually sit down and do the math, you realize that roughly two thousand people in Chicago are involved in hockey, all centered around just two locations.

It's pretty interesting when you look at it that way—honestly, it's kind of phenomenal.

30 🙄

If you look at Real Madrid versus Red Star Mexico City, they’re hitting the 10% mark... everything else sits a bit lower than that, but honestly, even those numbers are incredibly high when you consider how many people actually show up to the stadiums.

Steven Long23 said:What does that even have to do with anything?

Only about 20 people on the planet are actually doing Formula 1, yet it’s still one of the most popular sports globally...

In Washington, D.C., there are maybe ~60-70 people playing professional soccer... and we're comparing that here. I'm talking pros, not weekend warriors.

There are definitely over 100 people playing pro soccer. Plus a few thousand amateurs. With hockey, you've got maybe 20 pros and the same amount of amateurs. That's just one or two clubs total.

Formula 1 is auto racing, and way more people are involved in that. We're talking hundreds of thousands.

Red Star Mexico City pulls in two and a half times the crowd at Dodger Stadium compared to Real Madrid (7200 vs 3053). That average will probably dip once the big derby in DC is over, but even the newly promoted Miami side is breathing down the 'Whites' neck in terms of attendance (2556). We see the same pattern with TV ratings: this Saturday in Kansas City, maybe 700 people showed up to freeze their tails off in sub-zero temperatures, yet over half a million tuned in at home. Any matchup involving Real Madrid or Red Star Mexico City draws more eyes than the Champions League during the week. The point is, people care; you just can't host a massive "event" when the infrastructure is total garbage.

Check the link yourself if you don't believe me: http://www.nogometni-magazin.com/new...&tmpl=viewnews

The Los Angeles Lakers will never reach the level of Real Madrid, the Boston Celtics, or the Chicago Bulls.

Henry Cox78 said:Surely there are over a hundred people playing professional soccer, plus a few thousand amateurs. With hockey, you've maybe got 20 pros and a similar number of amateurs, spread across one or two clubs total.

I don't think that's quite right, actually. lonecrane27 already pointed out that only about 20 people are involved in the NHL... whereas if you look at the other leagues and competitions, the numbers are significantly higher.

Formula 1 is auto racing, and there are tons of people involved in that, hundreds of thousands of them.

But F1 is F1, isn't it? If we're going to group things together in such a broad, sweeping way, then why on earth would you separate the NHL from, say, the junior ranks of the Golden State Warriors?

Henry Cox78 said:Formula 1 is racing, and there are tons of people involved in it. Hundreds of thousands, really.

I mean, come on, there are nearly 2 million people with an American driver's license. They’re definitely part of the automotive world too, right?🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Eric Ortiz3 said:Red Star Mexico City pulls in two and a half times the viewership at Dodger Stadium compared to Real Madrid (7200 vs 3053), though that average will probably dip once the big derby in D.C. wraps up, but honestly, even the newly promoted Miami is breathing down the 'Whites' neck in terms of attendance (2556). As for television ratings, things get even weirder; this past Saturday in Kansas City, maybe 700 people actually showed up to the stadium to freeze their tails off in sub-zero temperatures, yet according to the delegates, over half a million people tuned in on their screens. Seriously, any matchup involving Real Madrid or Red Star Mexico City in MLS draws more eyes than the Champions League matches during the week. It isn't that people don't care about the sport, it's just that when you're dealing with such crumbling infrastructure, it's nearly impossible to turn a game into a real "event."

Here is the link if you want to see the data for yourself: http://www.nogometni-magazin.com/new...&tmpl=viewnews

The Los Angeles Lakers will never be on the level of Real Madrid, the Boston Celtics, or the Chicago Bulls.

The Chicago Bulls? Please, the Chicago Bulls barely even existed as a major force twenty years ago... before Gomez stepped in, they were practically playing in a second-tier league... you really picked the most random club to use as a benchmark, didn't you? 🙏

You should be ashamed of yourself, man...

lonecrane27 said:When you're talking about popularity in TV and broadcasting, it all comes down to one thing: whoever pulls the biggest live audience on screen and grabs the most listeners on the radio.
Popularity isn't about who's playing or watching the most—it's about which sport actually dominates the mass market!

You’re seriously trying to compare the biggest sports out there—where all you need is two goals and some grass, or a patch of asphalt and a hoop—to sports that actually require massive, high-end infrastructure.
And even some ice art.

There are over 100 people playing hockey right here in Washington, D.C., plus more than 700 kids involved through the local elementary and middle schools across just two indoor rinks!
Then you gotta throw in the youth squads, the cadets, the juniors, the seniors, the veterans, and finally the recreational players—there's at least a hundred of us!

When you do the math, you've got about two thousand people playing hockey in Washington, D.C., spread across only two rinks. It's wild!

Honestly, this stuff is just wild and absolutely phenomenal.

Steven Long23 said:You're wrong. lonecrane27 already cleared that up for you... only about twenty people actually follow the NHL. Way more people tune into the other leagues and competitions!

Formula 1 is just Formula 1. If you're grouping it in with everything else, why on earth would you separate the NHL from something like the Golden State Warriors youth academy?

Look, let's not beat around the bush. I totally agree that hockey has the best attendance numbers in the arenas across Washington, D.C. this season.

The Los Angeles Lakers games are absolute gold for PBS. Their viewership numbers over the last two seasons have been massive, and honestly, they probably banked a huge amount of advertising revenue from those specific time slots. I find it highly unlikely that this new network could actually snatch the broadcasting rights away from PBS for next season, but hey, let them try their luck...
The coverage of the Washington Wizards in the hockey league, the domestic championship playoffs, and of course the American national team—now that is the kind of programming you can actually expect to see on ESPN.

Eric Ortiz3 said:The Los Angeles Lakers will never be on the level of Real Madrid, the Boston Celtics, or the Chicago Bulls.

"Never" is a pretty strong word, but I totally agree that the Lakers have a much better shot at staying relevant than those other three teams did.

btw, some folks who worked over at PBS mentioned that the Lakers don't get much hype outside of NYC, yet their viewership numbers are actually pretty solid every time they're on. Sure, Real Madrid and Red Star Mexico City pull more eyes, but they aren't even hitting 30 percent—those numbers are just crazy.

Outside of Washington, D.C.? Please, at least half the crowd—especially those holding season tickets—doesn't call the capital home 🙂

The idea that the Los Angeles Lakers are just a local NYC thing is honestly such a myth..

Anyway.. it’s going to be a real uphill battle for ESPN to secure the rights to these games.. if PBS pulls out, there's a good chance ESPN might just swoop in and take over the whole thing, since they already have about 50% of the schedule under wraps anyway..
For ESPN, having the Washington Wizards on board is actually a possibility... and wouldn't that just be a fantastic turn of events?

Seriously, our national soccer team is the only thing that can pull a 30% viewership rating. I mean, I'm pretty sure their games are easily the most-watched sporting events on TV.

If they could just snap up the broadcasting rights for some higher-tier track and field meets, plus table tennis and swimming, we'd be in business. George used to always carry the coverage for those first two sports, and we actually have some solid American athletes competing in those arenas too.