Toss up V: The Big Four (football, soccer, basketball, baseball)

[JJG]

This week's topic: The Big Four. 5 topics about the NFL, NBA, NHL, and Major Leauge Baseball.

America's Favorite Game (NFL).
Which has contributed more to the NFL's popularity?: The post season or The regular season?

Court TV (NBA).
What should the NBA be more known for?:
Being the best at gaining popularity around the world or supporting the most sucessful pro women's sports leauge?

On Thick Ice (NHL). *Dual Questions*
Did some NHL teams do the right thing by moving to "non-hockey" places like Arizona, Dallas, and Carolina? And do you think NHL has recovered from the strike?

America's (Former) Pasttime (MLB).
What has hurt the big leauges more?: Steroid Scandals and the Mitchel Report or the rise in popularity of the NFL and NBA over the years?

The 5th Quarter.
Which leauge has the best chance to become "The Big 5th Leauge"?
Arena Football / MLS / WNBA

[Canes2006Champs]

1. Post Season
2.Gaining popularity around the world, they did this before the WNBA started
3. For Carolina, Im glad they moved here but I do feel a little bad for Hartford. As for Phoenix and Dallas, I dont know. The Stars certainley have been succesful there winning the cup in 99, the Coyotes have built a new arena and hired "the great one" as coach but they still cant sell tickets. As for the post-lockout, the game seems a little more exciting than it was five years ago but that tv deal is bringing them down. Getting rid of the Nuetral zone trap would be nice as it would increase shots and goals.
4. Steriod scandel
5. Right now, im going to say MLS. The WNBA I think has reached it's peak and I dont see the AFL becoming a Major league.

[truckingbronco]

Originally Posted by JJG

This week's topic: The Big Four. 5 topics about the NFL, NBA, NHL, and Major Leauge Baseball.

America's Favorite Game (NFL).
Which has contributed more to the NFL's popularity?: The post season or The regular season?

Both; Best post-season outside of college basketball and the only pro-sport where every game matters in the regular season

Court TV (NBA).
What should the NBA be more known for?:
Being the best at gaining popularity around the world or supporting the most sucessful pro women's sports leauge?

World appeal

On Thick Ice (NHL). *Dual Questions*
Did some NHL teams do the right thing by moving to "non-hockey" places like Arizona, Dallas, and Carolina? And do you think NHL has recovered from the strike?

Double no

America's (Former) Pasttime (MLB).
What has hurt the big leauges more?: Steroid Scandals and the Mitchel Report or the rise in popularity of the NFL and NBA over the years?

Hmmmm...tough one. I guess both equally, however; the only time baseball truely had a national appeal during the last decade was during the steriod fueled homerun race between Mac and Sosa. For me, baseball still hasn't recovered from the strike (I know, it's been forever but I hold a grudge).

The 5th Quarter.
Which leauge has the best chance to become "The Big 5th Leauge"?
Arena Football / MLS / WNBA

NASCAR

Great questions

[RedSoxFanGoingWest]

1. I think the NFL post season is great. Gambling is the reason it is so popular.
2. Gaining popularity around the world. They should shorten the regular season!
3. Stopped following hockey long before the strike - probably because I can't skate!
4. Steroid scandal hurt but attendance is up. MLB and NFL are equal in my book!
5. I think all 3 of these have problems in the US. I agree that NASCAR probably has the best chance even though I'm not a fan.

Great questions!! sorry for adding my 2 cents!

[JJG]

Oops! I forgot NASCAR . I can't believe that, since I'm from the south...

And I ENCOURAGE ya'll to add on. That's what this thread is for.

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by JJG

This week's topic: The Big Four. 5 topics about the NFL, NBA, NHL, and Major Leauge Baseball.

America's Favorite Game (NFL).
Which has contributed more to the NFL's popularity?: The post season or The regular season?

Court TV (NBA).
What should the NBA be more known for?:
Being the best at gaining popularity around the world or supporting the most sucessful pro women's sports leauge?

On Thick Ice (NHL). *Dual Questions*
Did some NHL teams do the right thing by moving to "non-hockey" places like Arizona, Dallas, and Carolina? And do you think NHL has recovered from the strike?

America's (Former) Pasttime (MLB).
What has hurt the big leauges more?: Steroid Scandals and the Mitchel Report or the rise in popularity of the NFL and NBA over the years?

The 5th Quarter.
Which leauge has the best chance to become "The Big 5th Leauge"?
Arena Football / MLS / WNBA

1. It's a combo of both - each regular season game is important enough to maintain a high level of interest each week (think of it this way - 1 NFL regular season game is weighted the same as 10 baseball regular season games), while the postseason's single elimination format heightens the drama.

2. The NBA's expanding world appeal is extremely impressive. The WNBA is a social cause that is being subsidized by the NBA but has gained very few fans outside a group of hard-core supporters. Meanwhile, the NBA has been very successful in positioning basketball as the #2 sport in the world after soccer (outside of the U.S., of course), which is no small feat.

3. It's not necessarily fair to lump in all of the warm weather cities on the same level (Dallas and Tampa Bay have been fairly successful for the NHL), but overall, it's been ridiculous that teams have been moved from places that actually care about hockey (read: all of Canada) to places that look good on paper in terms of population growth yet have a very small hockey fan base. The NHL had delusions of grandeur that it could match the NFL, MLB and NBA in terms of across-the-board popularity back in the early-90s. Instead, they turned away their best fans while gaining little in terms of new fans. If the NHL had just faced the facts and had positioned itself as a "a little bigger than a niche" league instead of trying to be all things to all markets, I believe it would be in a lot better shape today.

4. The steroid scandal has been awful news for baseball, but it hasn't really translated into less popularity for the sport (as has been argued before, the thing that put baseball back on the map was the home run chase of '98, which in restrospect we now know as being steroid-fueled). The rise of the NFL overall coupled with the emergence of NBA superstars such as MJ, Magic and Bird had a lot more to do with baseball's decline in the American sports psyche over the past couple of decades than anything else.

5. I think NASCAR is in danger of making the same mistakes as the NHL, only going in the opposite geographic direction (heading north as opposed to south). There are clearly a lot more NASCAR fans than NHL fans, but at the end of the day, it has huge market penetration in the South and rural areas but very little market penetration in Northern metro areas. Selling NASCAR to the average New Yorker or Chicagoan (note that "Chicagoland" Speedway is really located 50 miles from the city in Joliet, which is the entrypoint to rural Illinois) is about as fruitful as selling hockey to the average person in Atlanta.

The MLS could become the big 5th league IF (and that's a monster IF) it can start attracting the top players in the world in their primes (David Beckham is way past his prime). To me, that's the biggest reason why soccer hasn't become a popular spectator sport in the U.S. as opposed to low scoring (if we assigned 6 points to each soccer goal as we do to each touchdown in football, we'd all of the sudden say that soccer is a high-scoring game) - we're essentially watching the minor leagues of soccer while the European leagues have all of the stars and great play. In baseball and basketball, all of the best players from across the world come here to play professionally, but in soccer, all of the best American players leave. We instinctively know this, so that's why we have a lot of interest in the World Cup where we can watch the best players, but have little interest in pro soccer back home.

[HsvMike]

1. Well 99% of the time I would say the post season. But this year with the Patriots going undefeated during the regular season, the regular season lead they way to an even bigger post season.

2. A very tough one. But it has to be growing so much all around the world. The game is different around the world, than in the NBA, but it is growing so fast it will start to be a contender for the worlds top sport.

3. A) It is never bad to try and tap into new markets. High risk / high reward. B) I don't know if hockey will ever recover from it. It was never one of the top sports, unless you live in Minnesota, Michigan etc. It is one more hiccup away from crumbling.

4. The NBA does not hurt MLB at all. But the popularity of the NFL certainly does. The NFL has taken over as America's favorite sport. Add to that the steroid scandal and it just multiplies the fall. But the NFL is a harder hit than steroids.

5. This isn't even a contest. Nascar is by far the 5th league. The WNBA, AFL, and MLS can only dream of getting a fraction of the popularity that NASCAR does.