Mark Cuban had some interesting words regarding the popularity of the NHL and the NBA in North America.
Cuban does have a point. The Toronto Star article by Dave Feschuk notes that TNT NBA coverage “averaged a 1.1 rating last season, or about one million households in the United States. Meanwhile, Hockey Night in Canada‘s marquee Saturday night matchup is averaging about 1.27 million viewers in the northland.” Combining Canadian and American television ratings would “[represent] an impressive North American audience.” Of course, one could take the NFL’s television numbers from the U.S. and Canada and call the number impressive, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the NFL is popular in Canada.
The fact remains that hockey is woefully unpopular in the United States. NBC’s regionalized NHL coverage on Saturday drew a 1.1 overnight rating in the U.S., and several games last season — including playoff games — drew ratings below a 1.0. The lowest rated NBA game ever scored a 1.1 (on two occasions in 2004). Additionally, if one were to combine the numbers for last year’s Stanley Cup Finals in the U.S. and Canada, it still wouldn’t come close to the numbers for the NBA Finals in the U.S. alone. Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals had a combined 10 million viewers (5.3 in the U.S. and 4.7 in Canada), compared to 15.7 million viewers in the U.S. for Game 6 of the NBA Finals. In fact, the least viewed game of the NBA Finals drew 11.6 million viewers (Games 1 and 4) in the U.S. alone.
Furthermore, the 5.3 million U.S. viewers for Game 7 between Carolina and Edmonton is still lower than the 5.5 million viewers who tuned into the Los Angeles Lakers/Miami Heat Christmas Day game on ABC this year (the least viewed Christmas Day NBA game in several years).
Cuban may have a point, but it’s a weak one at best. As two completely different countries with different histories and different cultures, Canadian and American television viewing habits cannot be lumped together. Hockey is far more popular than basketball, football and baseball in Canada — completely opposite of the situation in the United States. Most importantly, the vast majority of the NHL’s popularity comes from Canada, not the United States.
One could say that Superbowl XL drew nearly 1 billion viewers worldwide and assume that the NFL is popular all over the world. But 90.7 million of that 1 billion came from the United States alone — meaning that the NFL is supremely popular in the U.S., and marginally popular (if at all) in other countries. It’s the same situation with the NHL. One could say that Game 7 between the Oilers and Hurricanes drew 10 million viewers and assume the league is doing well. But while 4.7 million viewers is fine in a country with a small television population like Canada, 5.3 million is a paltry number for a championship sporting event in America. Television numbers don’t translate across borders.
