From: MLINDROOS@finabo.abo.fi (Marcus Lindroos INF)
Subject: Re: A Proposal For a European Hockey League
Organization: Abo Akademi University, Finland
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 11:15:54 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.23

In <1992Nov10.120726.2102@nntp.hut.fi> f31922c@kaira.hut.fi writes:

> #############
> 
> In article <1992Nov4.130120.1191@abo.fi> MLINDROOS@finabo.abo.fi (Marcus Lindroos INF) writes:
> >In <1992Nov3.164449.11428@nntp.hut.fi> f31922c@kaira.hut.fi writes:
> >
> >> In article <1992Nov3.102034.10326@abo.fi> MLINDROOS@finabo.abo.fi (Marcus Lindroos INF) writes:
> >> >In <1992Nov2.175413.17030@ericsson.se> etxonss@ufsa.ericsson.se writes:
> >> >
> >> >> In article <tervio.1@katk.Helsinki.FI> tervio@katk.Helsinki.FI (TERVI| MARKO J) writes:
> >
> >Really? There's Stockholm, Moscow, St.Petersburg, Prague, Dusseldorf - not to
> >mention good old Helsingfors as the Finnish representatives. Any team in
> >Switzerland, Milan and Vienna would be expected to draw well. Only Paris and
> >London have questionable fan support.
> 
> True, but in Stockholm and other hockey cities there are existing teams with
> existing fans who are more or less devoted to current teams. You can't be sure
> that these fans would change their favourites overnight. I sure would not. Both
> in Stockholm and in Helsinki (not to mention Prague and Moscow) there are two
> teams with intense local rivalry.The team in the new league probably could be
> neither of these.  

This is a problem, I admit that. Note, however, that my plan assumes that the
pro team playing in the European league will not supersede the local
SM-liiga/Elitserien etc. teams in any way. Rather, they will complement each
other - the Euro league teams will play most of their games during natural
breaks in the domestic season.
---
Swedish and Finnish fans will turn out to watch their European league teams play
because they know the best players from their respective countries are on the
ice. If Jokerit and IFK Helsingfors fans can root for the national team, why
not also cheer for the Helsinki Tornado on the occasions they come to town?

> Every now and then I see numbers indicating incredible fan support for British
> hockey teams. If any of our British friends happens to be reading this I would
> be interested for some more specific data. With average of 8,000 it would be
> possible to hire good enough pros to get some success in games against teams
> from other countries.

My impression is that hockey is some kind of "cult entertainment" in Britain.
The sport is rarely given any media coverage, yet some of the local teams
attract huge crowds. But launching a decent domestic league from scratch will
be a long and difficult process if the European league only invites existing,
top-class teams from the leading European hockey-playing nations. British
players find it difficult to get better because playing standards are low in
Britain and there is no contact with "established" hockey nations. If, on the
other hand, the NHL decides to put a minor-league team there (including five or
six British-born players) and have it play against Swedish, Finnish, German
etc. teams, the best local players would likely get better while the local
newspapers would expand their hockey coverage. This is the most important
benefit my plan would bring - spreading the "gospel of hockey" to new markets. 

> >
[World League of American Football:]
> >The European teams usually had crowds of 30,000 or more at their home games.
> >Low TV ratings and poor fan support in the States forced them to suspend
> >operations after only two years. But the National Football League is determined
> >to launch the WLAF again in 1994, this time with more European teams than
> >American.
> 
> How were the European crowds of the second year compared to those of the first?
> During the first season there is a novelty effect that can be reached by clever
> marketing and giving away lots of free tickets.

Attendances fell of drastically in London, where the Monarchs failed to make
the playoffs after winning the World Bowl the year before. But Barcelona and
Frankfurt did even better than in their first year of operation. I do not think
the huge crowds for WLAF games were a fluke.

> 
> >There *is* a market for "American" sports such as hockey! One of the reasons
> 
> Soccer is more difficult game to play enjoyably than hockey. In Sweden (as well
> as here in our beloved country) the end of soccer season is sometimes played in
> blizzard. I don't think that the attitude towards sports varies that much
> between sports inside each coutry. I regard Finnish hockey fans every bit as
> dedicated and fanatical as soccer fans in most European countries. In America
> people seem to regard sports more like an entertainment that they are paying 
> for than something like a religion. Which is in most ways more sensible way to
> think, no doubt. I would still rather more attend a game with dedicated and
> fanatical die-hard fans than a game where the crowd comes just to show
> themselves. In the only Major League Baseball game I ever attended (and 
> probably the only one I ever will) half of the crowd never seemed to pay any 
> attention to what was happening on the field. The crowd attitude in the NHL 
> games I have seen has not been as bad, but somethig similar anyway. 

Really? I would say that a great many of the people watching SM-Liiga games
are "ordinary" people who show up occasionally. Especially the girls tend to
hang out with their husbands/boyfriends, not because they are especially fond
of the sport. 

> >Well, you may have to get used to the idea sooner rather than later. The NHL
> >reportedly would like to have a team in Helsinki - if our local
> >KIEKKOLEHTI magazine is to be believed! Your first demand (that local players
> >be used as much as possible) is not unreasonable. Some people have suggested
> >that American-based teams should carry a certain number of American players
> >on their rosters before signing Canadians and Europeans. Trying to come up with
> >a format that does not favor Canadian teams is not that easy, however.
> >Promoting and relegating teams based on performances in the league is NOT 
> >realistic. What would happen to the TV ratings if the Rangers were relegated 
> >to the AHL, for example?!  
> 
> I wouldn't count too much on everything that is printed in KIEKKOLEHTI. I
> remember reading from that magazine about that probosed Global Hockey League
> also. 

...the GHL was for real, until the officials realized that most of the European
federations were against the idea and that there were plenty of legal obstacles
as well. This is a common problem, North American sports entrepreneurs would
like to put hockey teams in Europe but know far too little about how 
things work this side of the pond. 

> It is easy to give positive statements about NHL expanding into Europe
> sometimes in the future. There is a number of problems to be solved before that
> could be possible. Some sort of all-European league in more or less distant
> future is much more probable.
> 
> As far as I know promotion and relegation are allowed in every sports league
> outside America. A well defined mechanism prevents all those whinings about
> where franchises should be located. If a city can support a succesful team then
> it eventually will. At least Hamilton, Saskatoon et al would get a fair chance
> and they would not have to dream about the next WHA.
> 
> Naturally relegation to minors would not please the Rangers fans (Devil and
> Islanders fans might be pleased). Anyway, if the organisation and fan basis are
> healthy and strong enough to compete on the highest level the team will
> eventually promote after some seasons in lower level. At least this is the way
> it goes in Europe, and people here are more or less used to it. I'm not trying
> to say that the system would be a success in America, though. There are things
> in American sports culture that I can't believe could ever happen in Europe,
> like teams moving across the continent and immediately gaining fans or 
> launching succesful teams in regions where that particular sport has been 
> virtually unknown. In your proposed league you expect something like this
> happen.

Again, look at the WLAF. There had been no professional American Football teams
in Barcelona and Frankfurt before the WLAF - yet gridiron football was a hit
from the start. I am convinced that it could work - if done the right way. 
 
> Transfer to New League should not be too drastic. There is a hockey culture on
> this continent and it should not be bounced out of balance too much. I admit 
> the eastern part of this culture lost its balance quite totally some years 
> ago. It might be a good idea to reconstruct it in such a way that would not 
> prohibit launching the EHL in the future.

Bah, there is nothing wrong with having domestic (amateur-) teams but there is
no need to build the European game on such a limited and small basis. Face it,
hockey is not as popular as soccer or even basketball here. It would be much
better to have a few extremely strong (almost NHL-caliber) teams playing in
major media markets. 

>  
> #########
> 
> Asko Huumonen                | f31922c@kaira.hut.fi     | phone 358-0-4522211
> 			     |				| home  358-0-8043563
> ----  In certain situations a good canister is worth a flood of rhetoric   ----

MARCUS