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Hockey becomes a punchline for MMA

By Zach Arnold | January 29, 2007

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I watched the NHL All-Star Game on Wednesday night (it aired on The Versus Network). Apparently, I may have been the only one.

Monday morning, the NHL’s ASG TV rating (0.7) is being used as a comedy punchline by the American sports media (who compared the 0.7 rating to ratings of Andy Griffith Show re-runs, which supposedly drew higher ratings on cable). When I first saw the ratings story, I knew that Spike TV would immediately mock the NHL and compare the NHL rating to the rating that UFC drew on Thursday night. Spike TV comes through with flying colors.

Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

15 Responses to “Hockey becomes a punchline for MMA”

  1. Ditch says:

    It’s sad that the NHL has so little following after the rule changes made it much more fun to watch.

  2. Mr. Roadblock says:

    The rule changes came several years too late. They also should have expanded the ice size.

    I love hockey. I think the Olympic hockey tournament is one of the best events in sports. But I can’t get into the NHL anymore.

    The other problem is the league charges way too much money for tickets. That killed the fan base.

  3. Chris says:

    Interesting to note that the Spike press release claimed “Heath Herring shook off some ring rust to win a decision over Jake O’Brien” …. Oooo-kay.

  4. PizzaChef says:

    The NHL All Star game (on TV at least) is pointless. Plus Gary Bettman is a douche simply because he singlehandedly ruined hockey by trying to take it to markets that aren’t even interested in hockey, and not to mention a bunch of other things.

    So it isin’t surprising that the NHL All Star game did so poorly. Even my friends in Canada say they don’t watch it cause of how boring it is.

    Oh yeah, bring back the Whalers. 😛

  5. Zack says:

    LA Kings tickets cost as much as Lakers tickets. I went to a game last year and had fun, but $50 for nosebleeds at a hockey game isn’t so swell. I got discount tickets for UFC 60 in the same section for $120 though, so I guess I shouldn’t be complaining too much. I had more fun a the hockey game.

  6. Sock says:

    Ya all forget hockey IS a Tier II sport to the American media. In Canada, it’s bigger than the NFL is in America (per percentage of viewers. Shit like the Super Bowl probably rakes in more viewers than there are Canadians). The NHL bigwigs (i.e. Gary Bettman) put WAY too much pressure on NHL TV ratings in the states.

    And Zack, no disrespect, but everything in LA costs more than it should.

  7. PizzaChef says:

    Just a off topic note: UFC.com is using Adobe flash player 9 and it may require people to upgrade. DON’T UPGRADE. Flash player 9 is a piece of crap. It can fuck up a few people’s pcs.

  8. The NHL sould have stayed on ESPN for less money. Going with OLN/VS was a really stupid move.

    But the products on the ice is better, and Sidney Crosby is the star that the NHL needed. People are going to come back. It’s just gonna take some time.

  9. The MMA Critic says:

    I think it is safe to say that the UFC is more popular than hockey (as a whole) at this point in time. Wow, how the mighty NHL has fallen. Kind of sad actually.

  10. Armen says:

    Anybody else notice that the press release says Heath Herring *won* his fight against Jake O’Brien? Haha that is a good one. I guess they figure, if they can pull off the UFC myth, why not just change the outcome of a fight.

  11. iain says:

    The NHL will comeback but the ASG isn’t really a good indicator of overall popularity. Diehard hockey fans(Like myself) don’t even care about it. The rules change helped a lot and it will grow again. They just need to fold some useless markets that have diluted the overall talent pool. The salary cap should help. Crosby and other new superstars will help in the states. Montreal was starting to have less and less and attendance now it is pretty much ALWAYS sold out, even against crap teams.

    GO HABS GO!

    But yeah VS sounds like a pretty bad idea.

  12. The MMA Critic says:

    Speaking of ratings, it was reported in the Wrestling Observer that UFC 66 got slightly over 1 Million PPV buys. WOW!!!

  13. Mr. Roadblock says:

    The NHL is run by fools. They put their All Star Game on Wednesday during the downtime between the NFL’s Conference championships and the Super Bowl. The game should have been on Sunday on NBC when there was no football on TV for the first time since September. Bonheaded move.

    If UFC 66 got over 1 million buys I suspect UFC 68 with Randy vs Tim will do similar numbers. The Liddell vs QJ and Cop vs Randy or Tim fights should also do spectacular numbers.

  14. Zack says:

    LOL Great catch Armen!

  15. Condits says:

    Hockey becomes a punchline for MMA – good stuff. Spike TV, please drop the horrible TNA.

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