Forum | MSL and all that by Boston

MSL and all that on 15:48 - Dec 11 with 2155 views

QPRSteve

I went to watch the London Lions a few times in 1973/4 at Wembley Arena and enjoyed it very much. Unfortunately, for a student it was overpriced which limited me going. Shame the team only lasted one season.

MSL and all that on 17:03 - Dec 11 with 2076 views

LazyFan

With US Womens team winning the world cups, they have a following now. Also, plenty of Mexicans in the US who watch football as well.

They now get decent crowds which means you can sign expensive players from abroad and this, in turn, means TV money. The games get played at times that can be seen after all the Euro games get played so, this is useful for people who need a relentless TV fix of football.

I am not surprised the NHL is fading. It's a great sport to play and watch, if, if, you can keep up with the play. And that's its big problem, it really hard to see the puk. And therefore it's hard to keep up with the play and also see the skill that the players have. As the puk is so, small it's really impossible to have big stadiums with regular large crowds as of course, the puk becomes even smaller to the naked eye.

Not to mention you need air con for freezing the rink and there is not exactly a never-ending supply of talent (youth needs places to play it and that means more rinks). They used to sub all this with Ice Skating for the general public, but that past time has faded too.

For football you don't even need a ball. How man times as kids did you get a round stone and start kicking that about, or something off the skip. Or some scratched lines into a wall or randomly planted sticks, jumpers for goal posts you say? Luxery, luxury!

There is a reason that football is the greatest game in the world and that's because it is.

zzzzzzzzzz

MSL and all that on 19:01 - Dec 11 with 1995 views

B_Wad

Would be curious to know how that was measured, for example, counting Spanish language television and radio?

The younger generation definitely follows international football more and the Latino population here in southern California is a big part of support for our MLS teams. Latinos are now a majority in many of our communities. That, and as the health drawbacks to American football become more of a concern for parents in the suburbs, most kids, boys and girls, are growing up either playing "soccer" or baseball/softball and then naturally also start to follow MLS and the major international clubs.

I am interested in how our own Ruben G.'s involvement with LAFC might spill over to QPR. Listening to the podcast interview, he said his first priority for QPR was making it sustainable. Of course MLS and EFL are apples and oranges, but LAFC is doing things he mentioned he'd like to see happen in West London, primarily a busy stadium event calendar to bring in revenue. LAFC also has a huge valuation. Maybe celebrity American ownershp Ruben works with such as Will Ferrell, Magic Johnson and Mia Hamm will look to invest, particularly if a promotion seems possible?

MSL and all that on 23:16 - Dec 11 with 1897 views

MSL and all that on 19:01 - Dec 11 by B_Wad

Attending sporting fixtures all over the US, the one thing I notice is that Latinos, or as another poster mentioned, Mexicans, are not present in large numbers at soccer matches. It is, as it has always been, predominantly those of European heritage who make up the supporter base, though included in that are those of European heritage whose antecedents emigrated to south American countries before heading north. The only club where I saw large numbers of 'Hispanic' fans were at Houston.

Poll:

MSL and all that on 00:53 - Dec 12 with 1841 views

MSL and all that on 15:48 - Dec 11 by QPRSteve
I went to watch the London Lions a few times in 1973/4 at Wembley Arena and enjoyed it very much. Unfortunately, for a student it was overpriced which limited me going. Shame the team only lasted one season.

Poll:

MSL and all that on 01:00 - Dec 12 with 1840 views

Hockey is an expensive game to play, especially if you don't live in the Northern US or Canada. Football, OTOH, is environmentally forgiving, hot, cold, rain, sleet, it doesn't matter. The NHL's expansion into the sunbelt and the two coasts has only been a partial success, and is fundamentally dependent on TV.

Here in Canada hockey is the national religion. It is, and probably always will be, the most popular sport to watch and, depending on where you live, play. However Football is fast becoming, or has become, our summer sport pushing baseball and, especially, gridiron to the sidelines. Like the US, the Canadian women's team is one of the best in the world, and our men's team will probably qualify for the World Cup finals next year. So yeah. I could see it beating out hockey in the US for sure. If kids play it, they'll watch it as adults.

MSL and all that on 03:21 - Dec 12 with 1783 views

B_Wad

MSL and all that on 23:16 - Dec 11 by Boston

Check out a Galaxy game, but yes, no doubt it is different outside of California and Texas.

MSL and all that on 03:43 - Dec 12 with 1773 views

lightwaterhoop

My guess is that someone's love of a sport depends on where and how they grew up.Growing up in West London it was Football and Cricket for me,but if i had grown up in Canada i'm sure i would be a big ice hockey fan.That said i am still convinced that football is the best sport in the World by a country mile.

[Post edited 12 Dec 2021 3:44]

-1

MSL and all that on 07:45 - Dec 12 with 1689 views

PlanetHonneywood

Sounds like hockey is skating on thin ice!

Not sure going to places like Vegas helps. From my time living in Atlanta - an odd place for an NHL team - tickets were given out in my local for nada, and assuming this was done elsewhere, even then they couldn’t get anywhere near filing the place unless a Canadian team were in town. If memory serves, the franchise was sold north of the border a few years later.

Compared to college (American) football they couldn’t get them all in, even if folks sat on each other’s laps. Even the school team down the road from me played before more fans than the pro ice hockey team.

So the fact that Atlanta United F. C. regularly play in a stadium ram-jammed with folks, and after only a few years of being set up, speaks volumes y’all about the growth of football in the US.

	'Always In Motion' by John Honney available on amazon.co.uk Nous sommes Lâ€™occitane Rs!
Poll:	Who should do the Birmingham Frederick?

MSL and all that on 09:46 - Dec 12 with 1639 views

PunteR

Talking of Ice Hockey.
It's a real shame the Bracknell Bees are no longer, with the John Nike ice rink closing . They've moved to Slough and dropped the Bracknell out of their name. If you add Bracknell FC having to move out of their stadium in the town and move to Camberley , you have to ask questions of the council who've given the green light to every kind of housing developer to bulldose their way through the Berkshire green belt plus the regeneration of the town

Occasional providers of half decent House music.

MSL and all that on 17:08 - Dec 12 with 1542 views

MSL and all that on 07:45 - Dec 12 by PlanetHonneywood

The Atlanta Flames moved to Calgary, where they sell out almost every game. The present southern basket case are the Phoenix Coyotes. NHL's management has done everything in it's power to keep them in Arizona, but nothing has worked so far. Ice is something Arizona residents put in their drinks.

Some southern teams have done OK. The two Florida franchises draw "snowbirds" from Canada and the northern US who winter in the south.

Plus Tampa Bay is the dominant team in the NHL at present. Same applies to the two California teams, though SoCal has a big enough population to support any pro-sports league.

[Post edited 12 Dec 2021 17:33]

MSL and all that on 17:38 - Dec 12 with 1504 views

PlanetHonneywood

MSL and all that on 17:08 - Dec 12 by VancouverHoop

[Post edited 12 Dec 2021 17:33]

And as Mrs PH needs no encouragement to kick-off about, utter disgrace that Quebec not only don’t have a team but the Nordiques were kidnapped!

	'Always In Motion' by John Honney available on amazon.co.uk Nous sommes Lâ€™occitane Rs!
Poll:	Who should do the Birmingham Frederick?

MSL and all that on 17:55 - Dec 12 with 1480 views

MSL and all that on 17:38 - Dec 12 by PlanetHonneywood
And as Mrs PH needs no encouragement to kick-off about, utter disgrace that Quebec not only don’t have a team but the Nordiques were kidnapped!

She is, of course, quite right!

Part of the problem there is that Canadian cities/provinces are reluctant to foot the bill to build NHL quality arenas.

It will happen eventually though. Maybe we'll see the Québec Coyotes before too long?

MSL and all that on 20:44 - Dec 12 with 1390 views

OregonQPR

I think a problem for Canadian teams is the players are paid in US dollars and the Canadian dollar is is usually weaker than it’s southern counterpart so it costs Canadian teams extra to pay their players.

MSL and all that on 22:50 - Dec 12 with 1327 views

MSL and all that on 17:38 - Dec 12 by PlanetHonneywood
And as Mrs PH needs no encouragement to kick-off about, utter disgrace that Quebec not only don’t have a team but the Nordiques were kidnapped!

Well yeah but....I liked the Nordiques, though they were never going to survive, even with reasonably good attendances there were other major issues. US v Canadian dollars was one, but players didn't want to go to Quebec because they were (Adam Ant impression here), 'so French'. They couldn't break into any major bi-lingual tv market either, unlike Montreal who have large numbers of Anglo fans, including a bloke across the street from me.
I also miss the Whalers, good local derby with the second best (imo),crest in US hockey...

...it's an H with a whale's tail. Lowish attendances and being stuck right in the middle of Boston and New York fans didn't help, but I / we Bruins' fans loved that fixture.
At least Quebec went to Colorado, which does have a good belt of winter, and yes, North Carolina does have snow in the mountains, but Raleigh, borderline skating country!
All teams south and south-west of the Hurricanes are just not right

[Post edited 12 Dec 2021 22:52]

Poll:

MSL and all that on 23:49 - Dec 12 with 1264 views

MSL and all that on 03:43 - Dec 12 by lightwaterhoop
My guess is that someone's love of a sport depends on where and how they grew up.Growing up in West London it was Football and Cricket for me,but if i had grown up in Canada i'm sure i would be a big ice hockey fan.That said i am still convinced that football is the best sport in the World by a country mile. [Post edited 12 Dec 2021 3:44]

O Canada...

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MSL and all that on 03:04 - Dec 13 with 1224 views

OregonQPR

MSL and all that on 22:50 - Dec 12 by Boston

[Post edited 12 Dec 2021 22:52]

I have a puck somewhere from a Bruins/Sabres game at the Boston Garden that I caught when it deflected over the plexiglass into my waiting hands.

The B’s won the game 7-4 and I’ve followed them since. Watch their games and many others on ESPN+ just finished a nice western Canada swing winning in Edmonton and Calgary.

Watch their games wearing my NHL 75th anniversary Vladimir Ruzicka Jersey.

I also worked as a media relations intern for the Dallas Stars for 2 years in the mid 90s and that was interesting work. The Stars lost to Detroit in the western conference finals during my final year and won the Stanley Cup the following year to bookend this post against the Buffalo Sabres.

MSL and all that on 05:31 - Dec 13 with 1188 views