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Post by guru on Dec 19, 2018 15:42:58 GMT -4
The Moncton Magic are dominating the NBL and nobody cares.
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Post by jimmy on Dec 19, 2018 15:48:19 GMT -4
The Moncton Magic are dominating the NBL and nobody cares. Pretty much - for whatever reason, the NBL has gotten basically zero traction in this market ... no one even knows they exist. I figured it was partly due to them having a crappy team the first few years they were around, but this year, they are apparently good and still no one cares. |
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Post by scotiahockey on Dec 19, 2018 15:55:23 GMT -4
The Moncton Magic are dominating the NBL and nobody cares. Pretty much - for whatever reason, the NBL has gotten basically zero traction in this market ... no one even knows they exist. I figured it was partly due to them having a crappy team the first few years they were around, but this year, they are apparently good and still no one cares. What’s a ticket to one of those games cost? Like 20ish bucks? Plus whatever other costs you’ll find associated with it, it’s a tough sell to watch below mediocre basketball at that price range. Not that I wouldn’t take in a game every now and again but I also know a lot of people that wouldn’t be interested in paying that type of coin to watch a barely professional league play... |
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Post by guru on Dec 19, 2018 15:58:39 GMT -4
Junior hockey isn’t that high of a level either and the NBL has a lot of former NCAA guys in it.
Also everyone knows CIS hockey is more exciting than the Q, but more people watch the Q (myself included) because they are marks. Yet the CIS has a much more finished product of the players you previously watched in the Q.
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Post by lirette on Dec 19, 2018 16:04:31 GMT -4
Crappy sports fans or crappy league?
You won't get any disagreement from me that it is an entertaining product. I've attended a few games myself and its always a good time. However, this is a league that's 3 years remove from not even playing a game 7 in the finals and awarding a winner by default to a brawl that occurred during a practice. Franchises are changing hands or folding or joining other leagues nearly ever year. Just this year a competitor league out west has started and the Niagra River Lions left to join that league because their schedule runs opposite the CHL. There is no real sign of stability. Its not even FIBA sanctioned and players can jump ship anytime they want.
The product is working in St Johns & London, but it also came into St Johns when they had nothing else and they are abit of an odd market anyways. London has to deal with almost 100% sold out attendance for every Knights game so theres some overflow there. If their attendance doesn't climb over 1500 fans soon I'd say the owners decide to move on as they can't continue to ask for payouts from the city.
The new ownership does a solid job marketing and they've put together a good team, but don't bother getting having any sort of attachment to the players because blink and you've lost 2 players and 2 new ones coming in to replace them. Just this week Moncton a top 3 player on their team to Europe because they just can't compete salary wise. Doesn't matter if the team is undefeated. Its kind of like CIShockey. The hockey is awesome but I don't care how U de M does.
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Post by jimmy on Dec 19, 2018 16:10:03 GMT -4
Junior hockey isn’t that high of a level either and the NBL has a lot of former NCAA guys in it. Also everyone knows CIS hockey is more exciting than the Q, but more people watch the Q (myself included) because they are marks. Yet the CIS has a much more finished product of the players you previously watched in the Q. You are right, there isn't much rational reason for it. Hockey will always be more popular than basketball in these parts, plus the fact that the players are pretty much completely unknowns (non-local, no name recognition, frequent roster turnover) in spite of being quite talented ... |
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Post by guru on Dec 19, 2018 16:20:12 GMT -4
Crappy sports fans or crappy league? You won't get any disagreement from me that it is an entertaining product. I've attended a few games myself and its always a good time. However, this is a league that's 3 years remove from not even playing a game 7 in the finals and awarding a winner by default to a brawl that occurred during a practice. Franchises are changing hands or folding or joining other leagues nearly ever year. Just this year a competitor league out west has started and the Niagra River Lions left to join that league because their schedule runs opposite the CHL. There is no real sign of stability. Its not even FIBA sanctioned and players can jump ship anytime they want. The new ownership does a solid job marketing and they've put together a good team, but don't bother getting having any sort of attachment to the players because blink and you've lost 2 players and 2 new ones coming in to replace them. Just this week Moncton a top 3 player on their team to Europe because they just can't compete salary wise. Doesn't matter if the team is undefeated. Its kind of like CIShockey. The hockey is awesome but I don't care how U de M does. I think it used to be FIBA sanctioned, but I'm ok with it not being FIBA sanctioned. You still get former D-league and NBA tryout players in the league. Yeah the league isn't super stable, but supporting your local team is a good start. The run of the mill regular season game in the NBL is better than a Q regular season game. Watch Herring Jr and Billy White, you will be entertained. |
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Post by scotiahockey on Dec 19, 2018 16:24:13 GMT -4
Junior hockey isn’t that high of a level either and the NBL has a lot of former NCAA guys in it. Also everyone knows CIS hockey is more exciting than the Q, but more people watch the Q (myself included) because they are marks. Yet the CIS has a much more finished product of the players you previously watched in the Q. The difference being though that when you go to a CHL game you’re getting to watch future NHLers before they get there. Which in many cases will be your only opportunity to see them live without paying an arm and a leg. CIS is great hockey but it’s hard to get excited about watching a bunch of 21-26 year old men, where the likely best case scenario is they become an AHLer.. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s more exciting though. I’ve found the product to be better but it isn’t more exciting, there’s more predictability to it because they’re grown adults and not a bunch of junior aged kids where emotions run high and mistakes happy. As far as the NBL goes, even though most of the guys are former NCAA players, it doesn’t mean I’m interested in paying $20 outside of a few occasions to watch guys from some mid-major NCAA schools/bench players on good teams that can’t hack it in other leagues... sure some choose to play in the NBL but it’s a last resort for a lot of them. I think what it comes doesn’t too for a lot of people is that when you’re watching a Q game, you’re seeing for the most part the best players in their age group, whereas with other options (locally) you aren’t. I’ll go on record as saying though that the NBL product isn’t bad, it’s exciting just not something I think will gain a lot of traction. However, of the Big 4 sports in NA, the NBA is easily the most exciting product I’ve seen, live basketball is on a higher level than any other live sport. |
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Post by lirette on Dec 19, 2018 16:33:14 GMT -4
Crappy sports fans or crappy league? You won't get any disagreement from me that it is an entertaining product. I've attended a few games myself and its always a good time. However, this is a league that's 3 years remove from not even playing a game 7 in the finals and awarding a winner by default to a brawl that occurred during a practice. Franchises are changing hands or folding or joining other leagues nearly ever year. Just this year a competitor league out west has started and the Niagra River Lions left to join that league because their schedule runs opposite the CHL. There is no real sign of stability. Its not even FIBA sanctioned and players can jump ship anytime they want. The new ownership does a solid job marketing and they've put together a good team, but don't bother getting having any sort of attachment to the players because blink and you've lost 2 players and 2 new ones coming in to replace them. Just this week Moncton a top 3 player on their team to Europe because they just can't compete salary wise. Doesn't matter if the team is undefeated. Its kind of like CIShockey. The hockey is awesome but I don't care how U de M does. I think it used to be FIBA sanctioned, but I'm ok with it not being FIBA sanctioned. You still get former D-league and NBA tryout players in the league. Yeah the league isn't super stable, but supporting your local team is a good start. The run of the mill regular season game in the NBL is better than a Q regular season game. Watch Herring Jr and Billy White, you will be entertained. I have watched them. Moncton has lots of good players, but with little emotional investment into a team I likely will continue to go to 1-2 games a year and maybe the playoffs. It wouldn't bother me if the team moves & that's likely how the majority of the city feels. The issue is you can't force people to like a sport just because you tell them its good. Basketball is more niche in Moncton. I like hockey far more than basketball, and I also attend nearly all the local senior baseball games so I know lots about "supporting your local team". But people aren't going to just attend out of the goodness of their hearts. I suspect a CPL soccer team would have a lot more success than basketball because soccer participation continues to grow here and we have a rising latino population as well as other countries whos primary sport is soccer. With the Q while many are destined to play CIS or semi pro, you also get to see some of the best athletes in the sport at their age level. You don't get that with NBL. You get guys at the end of their career or younger guys looking for a contract in Europe or D-League. Following the draft & trade periods in the Q is far superior to the wonky NBL system that results in a nearly brand new team every year. I can follow Jakob Pelletiers career all the way to the NHL, but I am not gonna watch Jahaii Carson play point guard for the BCM Pitesti of the Romanian league. |
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Post by guru on Dec 19, 2018 16:34:11 GMT -4
Junior hockey isn’t that high of a level either and the NBL has a lot of former NCAA guys in it. Also everyone knows CIS hockey is more exciting than the Q, but more people watch the Q (myself included) because they are marks. Yet the CIS has a much more finished product of the players you previously watched in the Q. The difference being though that when you go to a CHL game you’re getting to watch future NHLers before they get there. Which in many cases will be your only opportunity to see them live without paying an arm and a leg. CIS is great hockey but it’s hard to get excited about watching a bunch of 21-26 year old men, where the likely best case scenario is they become an AHLer.. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s more exciting though. I’ve found the product to be better but it isn’t more exciting, there’s more predictability to it because they’re grown adults and not a bunch of junior aged kids where emotions run high and mistakes happy. As far as the NBL goes, even though most of the guys are former NCAA players, it doesn’t mean I’m interested in paying $20 outside of a few occasions to watch guys from some mid-major NCAA schools/bench players on good teams that can’t hack it in other leagues... sure some choose to play in the NBL but it’s a last resort for a lot of them. I think what it comes doesn’t too for a lot of people is that when you’re watching a Q game, you’re seeing for the most part the best players in their age group, whereas with other options (locally) you aren’t. I’ll go on record as saying though that the NBL product isn’t bad, it’s exciting just not something I think will gain a lot of traction. However, of the Big 4 sports in NA, the NBA is easily the most exciting product I’ve seen, live basketball is on a higher level than any other live sport. I like to go to QMJHL games, so I'm a hypocrite, but that is pretty starstruck if you have to watch 16-20 year old hockey to get a taste of someone that could be in the NHL. Watching junior hockey isn't the same level as watching NCAA football or NCAA football. Basketball live is the best sport, I agree, even the NBL is a lot of fun, but I agree, it might not catch on, which is a shame. |
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Post by CrazyJoeDavola on Dec 19, 2018 16:45:20 GMT -4
The difference being though that when you go to a CHL game you’re getting to watch future NHLers before they get there. Which in many cases will be your only opportunity to see them live without paying an arm and a leg. CIS is great hockey but it’s hard to get excited about watching a bunch of 21-26 year old men, where the likely best case scenario is they become an AHLer.. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s more exciting though. I’ve found the product to be better but it isn’t more exciting, there’s more predictability to it because they’re grown adults and not a bunch of junior aged kids where emotions run high and mistakes happy. As far as the NBL goes, even though most of the guys are former NCAA players, it doesn’t mean I’m interested in paying $20 outside of a few occasions to watch guys from some mid-major NCAA schools/bench players on good teams that can’t hack it in other leagues... sure some choose to play in the NBL but it’s a last resort for a lot of them. I think what it comes doesn’t too for a lot of people is that when you’re watching a Q game, you’re seeing for the most part the best players in their age group, whereas with other options (locally) you aren’t. I’ll go on record as saying though that the NBL product isn’t bad, it’s exciting just not something I think will gain a lot of traction. However, of the Big 4 sports in NA, the NBA is easily the most exciting product I’ve seen, live basketball is on a higher level than any other live sport. I like to go to QMJHL games, so I'm a hypocrite, but that is pretty starstruck if you have to watch 16-20 year old hockey to get a taste of someone that could be in the NHL. Watching junior hockey isn't the same level as watching NCAA football or NCAA football. Basketball live is the best sport, I agree, even the NBL is a lot of fun, but I agree, it might not catch on, which is a shame. I there was cross-Canada coverage of the league, the players etc...and maybe a few guys would make the NBA each year... the interest might pick up. I agree, it is a good product, but the off court drama of the league and teams always seem to be the bigger story. The feeling like this is basically a place for journeymen who just want to keep playing after University/failed pro attempt doesn't help. |
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Post by scotiahockey on Dec 19, 2018 16:45:23 GMT -4
The difference being though that when you go to a CHL game you’re getting to watch future NHLers before they get there. Which in many cases will be your only opportunity to see them live without paying an arm and a leg. CIS is great hockey but it’s hard to get excited about watching a bunch of 21-26 year old men, where the likely best case scenario is they become an AHLer.. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s more exciting though. I’ve found the product to be better but it isn’t more exciting, there’s more predictability to it because they’re grown adults and not a bunch of junior aged kids where emotions run high and mistakes happy. As far as the NBL goes, even though most of the guys are former NCAA players, it doesn’t mean I’m interested in paying $20 outside of a few occasions to watch guys from some mid-major NCAA schools/bench players on good teams that can’t hack it in other leagues... sure some choose to play in the NBL but it’s a last resort for a lot of them. I think what it comes doesn’t too for a lot of people is that when you’re watching a Q game, you’re seeing for the most part the best players in their age group, whereas with other options (locally) you aren’t. I’ll go on record as saying though that the NBL product isn’t bad, it’s exciting just not something I think will gain a lot of traction. However, of the Big 4 sports in NA, the NBA is easily the most exciting product I’ve seen, live basketball is on a higher level than any other live sport. I like to go to QMJHL games, so I'm a hypocrite, but that is pretty starstruck if you have to watch 16-20 year old hockey to get a taste of someone that could be in the NHL. Watching junior hockey isn't the same level as watching NCAA football or NCAA football. Basketball live is the best sport, I agree, even the NBL is a lot of fun, but I agree, it might not catch on, which is a shame. I don’t think it’s star struck, I think it’s just people like to follow the next wave of young kids coming up to the NHL. I’ve gone to CHL games just to watch certain players, to see what the hype is all about.. you hear enough about a player and you want to set eyes on it yourself. What I think is a tad starstruck is the grown men that are down back getting autographs from 16/17/18 year old hockey players. The players have no issue with it, they’re quite used to it and there’s no shame in wanting a signed piece of memorabilia but when you get people 2-3x these kids that’s maybe taking a tad too far. I could never ask a kid for that but there’s a lot of people out there that have no problem asking. I think a lot of people don’t realize just how entertaining a live basketball game is either, you don’t even have to be a big fan of the sport to be into it. I’ve been at games with casual/below average fans that have walked away in awe over what they saw. It’s just a phenomenal atmosphere. |
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Post by Jack Bauer on Dec 19, 2018 16:58:48 GMT -4
It's the equivalent of semi-pro hockey. It's a difficult sell in any market.
Players are unknown even by hardcore NBA or NCAA fans. To market that with the turnover they have is impossible.
Now, personally, i've taken in a few NBL games and didn't mind the product for a $10 price point. Always felt like I got my moneys worth as they work hard to keep the crowd engaged during stoppages in play and it seemed like a bit of a wide open product while having some of the high flying offense you want to see in a basketball game.
Difference between that and the Q, from my own personal experience anyway, is that the Q costs a bit more...offers less "in arena" atmosphere outside of the game itself...and despite having players with a higher ceiling I find myself leaving 50% of the time disappointed in what I seen from either the home team or certain players i've gone to watch and the entertainment value, unfortunately, isn't near what it used to be which the NBL being very young has an unfair advantage because of.
If I was investing in season tickets in either product i'd pick the Q as it's easier to get involved in the off ice happenings and a good product far outweighs a good NBL product.
But if I wasn't much of a sports fan but wanted to take in both leagues I wouldn't put down anyone preferring the NBL product for some of the reasons I mentioned above. They also work much harder in the community to make themselves recognized which is probably a bit easier to organize seeing as they're grown adults and not high school aged kids.
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tal
Blue-Chip Prospect
Posts: 327
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Post by tal on Dec 19, 2018 17:13:59 GMT -4
I'd get season tickets to CIS hockey as well as the Q if they didn't play at the JLL - man, I dislike that rink. I wonder if one reason for hockey's success over basketball isn't as simple as so many more people are familiar with hockey rules and can appreciate good plays, whereas not as many are as familiar with basketball and might not appreciate a good play. That's definitely my situation - a passing knowledge of basketball, but a pretty deep knowledge of hockey (maybe being too short to be any good at basketball as a kid, but being able to skate).
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Post by downthemiddle on Dec 19, 2018 17:28:51 GMT -4
The reason jr. hockey proved more popular in the long term than the AHL I think is player identification and the sense that the team is really yours. Now NBL teams are independent organization but the movement of players is the same thing as the AHL.
At least in the AHL though those players were moving up to the NHL. Not in the case in the NBL.
That and basketball isn't popular as hockey.
With all those factors hard to expect it to be popular.
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