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NHL must address aging fanbase

By Dave Stevenson

Jan 14, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; A general view of the Stanley Cup and NHL Logo before the game between the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 14, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; A general view of the Stanley Cup and NHL Logo before the game between the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NHL has an aging fanbase and must find ways to address it. 

The NHL has often been thought of as the least popular of the four major North American professional sports leagues. While the NFL, MLB and NBA have seen growth over the past 20 years, one could argue hockey has gotten worse, or at the very least, hasn’t improved much. A recent study by SportsBusiness Journal shows some alarming numbers that should set off some red flags.

Darren Rovell’s tweet shows the average age of television viewers in 2016. With an average age of 49, the NHL has the third youngest average age, trailing only the NBA and MLS. However, it also shows the change since 2006. The average age of hockey’s television viewers grew by seven years during that time. This is the second largest growth among all the listed sports, trailing only NASCAR.

The league should view this as extremely concerning. They have to grow their fanbase, and yet its average age is growing at an alarming rate. While MLB is in the same boat, unlike hockey, baseball is actively trying to appeal to a younger generation. At the same time, they aren’t doing anything that’s going to turn their traditional viewers away.

MLB’s twitter account and its teams’ accounts are constantly tweeting gifs and engaging with their fans. Baseball embraces social media, just like the NBA does. If this study took a look at the 2017 numbers after this year, MLB would likely be seeing their average age getting younger.

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A variety of decisions have played into this. Arguably the biggest one is the NHL accepting NBC’s bid for their television ratings over ESPN’s bid. NBC often puts hockey on NBCSN or even CNBC networks, but rarely on its main network. ESPN would likely at least give the NHL a game a week on its main network, if not more.

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