Winter Classic x 2
Looks like the NHL is looking to double up on the Winter Classic, setting up a second game in Calgary on New Year’s Day, preferably against another Canadian team. This game would be after the Fenway Park Winter Classic.
Personally, I think this is an awful idea, not from a hockey standpoint (the more hockey on TV the better), but from a realistic standpoint. The point of the Winter Classic (note: Classic, not Classics) is to have a single outdoor game to ring in the New Year (and the beginning of the NBC broadcast). The game has been a great success so far. Adding a second game dilutes this uniqueness of the game.
Also, and more importantly, the Winter Classic currently runs against the single biggest day in College Football. There are five Bowl Games going on New Years Day, including two (!!) BCS Bowls. The beauty of the current Winter Classic is that it runs in between games, usually starting around halftime of the 1pm College Football games (Gator Bowl, Capital One Bowl), and ending before the Rose Bowl.
By adding a second Winter Classic, in double-header format, you run directly against either the Rose Bowl (5pm)or the Orange Bowl (8pm). There’s no way around it. Do you really think the NHL will win over those two? Unless the Rangers are on, I’m watching College Football, as is the rest of the country.
By Chris, June 25, 2009 @ 12:00 pm
I don’t know about every one else but I live in calgary and think this is a great idea and even if it was in a differnt Canadian city I would still choice the NHL over college bowls any day.
Dave Reply:
June 25th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
The Canadian market isn’t the worry here. The US market, which is where the TV revenues would be coming from for the Winter Classic, would not fare well with a game running opposite the Rose Bowl.
It’s all about economics and politics, unfortunately.