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Look at the market revenues and profits generated by nba teams in the likes of la, chicago, boston, denver, new york, etc and compare it to the top franchises in the nhl, they arent even close. You can talk about overall attendance numbers but that is merely a small fraction for many mid and lower level team profits and the league as a whole is on 3 major networks and has huge international appeal, especially in china. Of course you're always going to have a couple teams like the grizzlies, but the league doesn't have a handful of teams bordering on bankruptcy like the nhl does. Plus last time I checked sydney crosby and ovechkin didn't have anywhere near the appeal and profitbaility of stars like LeBron, Kobe, Dwade, Dwight Howard, etc.
I have nothing against hockey overall and it certainly does have it niche markets such as in detroit and philadelphia, but a handfull of successful teams does not represent the mess the league is in and its decline over the last decade or so. I'm sorry but the nhl is not close to the nfl, mlb, and nba in terms of popularity, profitability, and overall market reach in the usa and most likely never will be again.
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