That leads to low ratings. When I try to watch hockey on TV, I am always a step behind the action because the puck moves so fast. It is difficult for me to see patterns of movement or find any kind of rhythm in the way the skaters fly around the ice. Many people won't admit this publicly because this is such a touchy issue, but ethnicity is the main barrier. When I say ethnicity, I don't just mean race.
Ethnicity also involves location and socio-economic standing.
Then there's the convenience factor. And, of course, there are basketball courts everywhere in the city, country and suburbs. When kids want to play a sport, they want to play right away. It is soccer on ice played by a bunch of slow white guys. They play for hours on end, passing it from the frontcourt, to the backcourt and back again.