Playing an outdoor game annually makes it become boring, but every two years it's still an event? I don't buy it. I think you could do it annually but it's gotta be the right markets playing host. New York, Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Detroit-the cities with rabid fan bases and cold weather. And the visiting team needs to be a regional rival where the fans of the visiting team can easily drive. Rangers vs. Bruins, Red Wings vs. Blackhawks, Sabres vs. Maple Leafs, Penguins vs. Flyers. etc.

I agree about a regional rivalry game, like Buffalo/Toronto, Chicago/Detroit etc. For Canada, obviously, Calgary/Edmonton, Calgary/Vancouver etc. etc.

I did some reading on this, and hockey people almost unanimously consider the idea of multiple outdoor games in a year totally idiotic. So maybe I'm just wrong about this--but then again, look where 'hockey people' have gotten the sport.

IMO the NHL has a marketing problem, not a product problem. They should be flinging as many gimmicks and strategies against the wall as possible and seeing what sticks. This one succeeded fabulously, and it's good for the league to have the problem of figuring out how to take advantage.

The problem is, a non-hockey person is running the NHL. Gary Bettman is a tool who left the NBA to become the Commissioner of the National Hockey League. He's done nothing but hurt the game... in his time, the NHL has seen two teams leave Canada (which to be fair, wasn't entirely his fault given the crappy Canadian Dollar back then), expand into non-traditional markets (expansion = watered down talent), attendance has dropped, and the NHL's current television deal in the US is pathetic at best.

As for Outdoor Games...

1. Joe talked about College Bowl games... those are different, those are Championship calibre games. You wait all year to see what teams will be playing for what bowls... a regular season game in the NHL is just that, a regular season game. So what if it's outdoors... at the end of the day, you peaked the interest of some non-fans by checking in on Buffalo/Pittsburgh... but doing it every year will wear off that novelty. Not to mention the chance that weather would postpone the event... we've been lucky that the Heritage Classic and Winter Classic have been able to go ahead but let me tell ya... I was at the Heritage Classic and up until game day, it was 50-50 as to whether it'd be played or not because of the bitter cold.

2. My biggest fear is the NHL will want to go for a big publicity move and try to play an outdoor game in some stupid location like Las Vegas... hockey in the desert... *rolls eyes*

They played a pre-season game in Vegas back in the 90s. I wouldn't take a regular-season game there. But some time in the future, I wouldn't be adverse to a game being played down south, if a team is really successful enough to support it.

I think they should do it every year and do it every year on New Years Day to build a new tradition of it - the way the NBA has with Christmas Day being the launch of ABC's coverage - it would become NBC's way of launching their NHL coverage each season. Or the way TSN has built the World Junior Hockey Championships into a ratings juggernaut up here making it an annual Boxing Day tradition to kick off the World Juniors.

I think a game next year at Soldier Field with the Wings versus Hawks or in Yankee Stadium or the Meadowlands with the Rangers versus the Bruins would be even more of a ratings winner for NBC and help raise the profile of the NHL in the US - which it so clearly needs. Then it would be possible to throw in a Toronto - Montreal game one year - or do a game in Denver another year. (Denver's ratings were higher than most places for the Pens - Sabres game). Let's face it - in two smaller TV markets - Pittsburgh and Buffalo - the local ratings were absolutely through the roof - at a 38.2 rating with 58 share in Buffalo and 17.7 and 30 share in Pittsburgh. Now I'm with others who don't really completely understand those numbers but I believe that means in Buffalo 58% of households watching TV were watching the hockey game and 30% in Pittsburgh - which is amazing. Now I know Chicago or New York would not likely match those kind of numbers were a game next New Years day to feature one of their NHL teams - but I suspect the interest generated locally would top ratings of even a Michigan - Florida College football game in those markets. And it could be a huge boost in Chicago now that Wirtz is not there and they are finally starting to see what hockey looks like being played in the United Center on local TV!

And that would help generate a buzz each season as the NHL heads towards its second half of the season - with football winding down - just when you want to capture the attention of the winter sports market out there. Heck even this morning - a week later they were still talking about the game on Live With Regis and Kelly - with Pat Sajak - who was guest hosting talking about the fact he was at the game as was their guest Chad Michael Murray. When was the last time any NHL game was talked about on a US talk show a week after it happened? And once a year is hardly going to take away the novelty factor - as if novelty is the only way to sell the game in the U.S. I think making it a tradition to build on is the better way to grow the game.

I attended the second annual International Bowl this past Saturday with three friends here in Toronto - which had Rutgers romping to an easy victory over Ball State. US College football up here in Toronto is probably about on par interest wise - with what the NHL is in much of the U.S. And the International Bowl is never going to be a truly MAJOR event on the sports calendar up here - when it features the likes of just a #4 or 5 seed from the Big East meeting a # 3 seed from a weak Mid America Conference - and yet there is reason for optimism that the game will at least become a significant event on the sports calendar here. I went to the game last year as well with two friends - and we had such a good time - our group grew to four this year. There was noticeably more media coverage of the game this year and side events like the Battle of the Bands. And just as our group grew from 3 people to 4, there were about 5,000 more local fans in attendance amongst the crowd of almost 32,000 this year. As an aside here - kudos the Rutgers fans who came to Toronto in great numbers of 10,000+ - outnumbering Ball Sate fans by at least 2-1 at the game.

They are not going to build the game by holding it only once every two or three years - making it more novel - they are going to successfully build the game by making it an annual tradition - something people look forward to and plan for each year. The four of us leaving the Rogers Centre on Saturday already made a pact - same time next year. And there was even some discussion as we headed home about looking into the cost of renting one of the corporate boxes and making a party of it inviting other friends and teammates from the various gay curling, softball and volleyball teams we play on.

Making it an annual tradition I think would be the best way to build on the success of the game last week, not by relegating it to an unpredictable event once every two or three years. Then you are almost admitting - we're only doing this as a one off freak show to try to atttract attention to ourselves because otherwise we are not worth the attention.

The only reason why the International Bowl may be somewhat of a success in Toronto is because there's a sense that if it's "American" it's better (I'm talkin NFL and NCAA).

When you take a look at the ratings...

The International Bowl, which was aired on Rogers Sportsnet, across the country had 49,000 viewers.

In comparison, the Vanier Cup Championship (CIS - Canadian University Football Championship) drew 201,000 viewers on The Score. And keep in mind that CIS gets little to no coverage...

Here in Western Canada, I bet you couldn't find two people out of a hundred who could tell you what the International Bowl was.

I think you've made the best case for it being an annual event.

Two quick points in rebuttal to Enigma's last post. The 49,000 figure for TV ratings is not good but not really that bad considering that for 3 of the 4 hours the game was going head to head against the pre-game and game itself for the Gold Medal game of the World Junior Hockey championships that was attracting close to 3 million viewers - the 4th most watched program in TSN history. That 49,000 figure exceeds some of The Score's Saturday night US College Football ratings that featured some top ten teams. And let's face it - we are talking about a game that was very one sided and involved Ball State! How many Canadians even know what state they're in? The State of Ball? (I had to look it up - they are in Muncie Indiana for those who did not know). Has anybody from Canada EVER seen Ball State play in a football game until Saturday. I did not even know what colour uniform they wore until I was on the way to the game and saw some Ball State fans in red - just like all the thousands of Rutgers fans.

And as for the comment that it can only succeed in Toronto because we only like all things American - well - I just don't buy that. For one thing - those of us who know something about US college football know this is nowhere near a first tier bowl game - and selling second tier is VERY tough in Toronto - just ask the Maple Leafs organization who can't even give away seats to the Marlies of the AHL. 'A' for American. Anybody still have their Toronto Phantoms Arena Football league jersey? A flop in Toronto. And it was the warm embrace of the Toronto Rock by lacrosse fans that single handedly propelled the NLL to new heights. And that certainly was not because we thought it was American! I think I'm a typical Torontonian - and I'll support an event that I find to be reasonably priced and fun. That is why I'm planning on going to more MLS games next year - they were fun this past season.

Looking at the International Bowl this past weekend - I was among some 15,000+ of us from these parts who spent money to go watch. And why - because it was fun! Have you ever been to a US College football game? The energy level and the noise generated in that stadium by the marching bands and the imported - mainly Rutgers - fans rivalled that of when 50,000+ of us were packed in there for the Grey Cup 5 weeks earlier. It was certainly at higher energy level than what is normally generated in that venue by 32,000 Argos fans. And unfortunately the average CIS game is not even in the ball park - atmosphere wise.

I only include the reference to the International Bowl in my post as a way to point out the significance of building predictability - which goes a long way towards building sports and building traditions. Make it a part of people's routine. The first Saturday afternoon of the New Year attending the game will now be part of my routine. Hopefully the first Saturday in January next year - I will be with friends among some 15,000 - 20,000 locals joining about the same number of visitors up from the US for next year's game to again watch teams that most of us know nothing about. If they wait 3-4 years to bring a game back - forget about it - they've probably lost me. But make it a part of something I look forward to doing the first Saturday afternoon of every New Year with my friends - then you've got me and my friends - all of us just casual fans of US College football at best. That is EXACTLY what the NHL has to do with this outdoor game. Make it something that real hockey fans look forward to each year - and that casual fans make a part of their calendar too. And you can only do that by making it a tradition - predictable - at the same time each year.

Why is it that Saturday - usually a terrible night for TV ratings because so many people are not home - is king for hockey ratings. Even during the playoffs when CBC will have games on for 7 consecutive nights - the ratings for the Saturday night games are always the best - with the exception of Game 7's. That is because it has become part of our routine to watch hockey Saturday nights. Well those routines can be once a year routines too instead of once a week routines. And if it becomes routine to have a day time outdoor game on New Years. That will help hockey more than having an outdoor game once in November in Edmonton, then 3 years later in early January in Buffalo and then three years later in late January in Detroit etc. Especially when the reaction to the Buffalo game has been so universally positive.

There are tons of casual College football fans who always watch the Rose Bowl - regardless of whose playing - as part of their New Years Day tradition. Make the outdoor hockey game a tradition for earlier that afternoon!

For future reference...famous Ball State alum: David Letterman.

Hey the Rangers and NHL stole my idea! The Rangers and the NHL are in talks with the yankees about playing a game at Yankee Stadium next season according to this article in the new York Daily News:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/hockey/r..._stadium-4.html

Interesting, and not too surprising. Even before I read the story I was thinking to myself how logical it would be for a Rangers/Islanders or a Rangers/Devils matchup would be....

Do they really want the last event at that Yankee Stadium to be a hockey game? They should wait a year and hold it in the new one -- which still wouldn't work as well as a football stadium, since the seats are angled to the baseball foul lines.

There was some local speculation that Beaver Stadium might not be made available for a Flyers-Penguins outdoor game. Joe Paterno was said to not like the idea of using the stadium for something other than football. Well, either that's no longer the case or someone at Penn State or the NCAA outruled the almighty JoePa. Beaver Stadium will host its first-ever concert -- starring Fergie -- the night before the annual Blue-White spring scrimmage. So it seems to me Paterno can't really object to a hockey game there after the football season is over.

Beaver Stadium going Fergalicious!