NBA vs. NHL

This isn't a debate over which game is better. This is strictly to point out why the NBA is so much more successful than the NHL. Watching the NBA All-Star game festivities last night made it even more clear that the NBA knows how to market itself and the NHL really doesn't have a clue. First off, holding the game in Vegas was a brilliant idea. You get a tonne of top celebrities, a lot of hype, and a great way to entertain your top corporate sponsors. Sure the game was a dud but what did you expect with a bunch of NBA stars loose in Vegas for a weekend? It's not like these guys were going to have a lot of energy left.

Another thing I found great was the league's poster boy, LeBron James, taking the microphone before tipoff and thanking all the people and sponsors watching and attending for their support of the league. It may not have been 100% sincere but it still showed that the players remembered who pays their salaries.

Contract this to the NHL that played it's All Star game on a week night instead of the Saturday of the Super Bowl bye week, never showcases it's individual stars, and has a ridiculous schedule that doesn't allow fans to see their favorite players from the other conference more than once every three years. Imagine living in Columbus and buying your kid a Sidney Crosby jersey for Christmas. The kid opens it up and has a huge smile on his face and and all you can think to yourself is "Jeez I hope that jersey still fits in three years when Sid the Kid's back in town again". You would think Gary Bettmen would have learned something about marketing when he worked for the NBA under David Stern but apparently not.

A quick side note - I really hope the NHL and NBA move to Vegas. It would be a huge success. The casinos would buy up a lot of tickets to give to guests and it would give the league some buzz (you think the Penguins moving to KC would be more exciting). The other things is even with a crappy expansion roster a Vegas team is guaranteed to win 70% of their home games because the opposing team will be such a mess from the night before. They should schedule Sunday afternoon games just to be sure.