Posted: Wednesday, June 24, 2009, 7:14 PM | 36 comments |
 

Flyers in Fenway? It's because of you
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Based on all of the reporting that had been done up to this week, the NHL wanted the Washington Capitals to play the Boston Bruins in Fenway Park on New Year's Day. The league wanted another showcase of Alex Ovechkin, one of the league's signature player, its most exciting offensive player.

Instead, the Flyers apparently will get the spot as the visiting team.

The reason? You.

This is about television ratings. This is about the television ratings that the Flyers tend to draw, around the nation but especially in Philadelphia. NBC is driving the bus here. Ratings are driving the bus. And the Flyers are the NHL's old reliable that way.

A smaller city like Buffalo might get a higher percentage of its televisions to tune in to see the Sabres in this kind of a setting. But there is no big city like Philadelphia when it comes to these numbers -- and it's true in the NFL, too. Routinely, Philadelphia fans show up in big percentages to watch their teams, bigger percentages than New York or Los Angeles or Houston or (most of the time) Chicago. It is probably the best big city/high penetration combination that there is.

This has become a very big game for NBC. You have to know that the network wanted the Flyers. And again, with all due respect to Mike Richards and the fellas, they aren't the reason. You are.
Posted by Rich Hofmann @ 7:14 PM  Permalink | 36 comments
36
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:34 PM, 06/24/2009
    Dear NBC, Flyers Penguins in Happy Valley would have drawn the biggest ratings hockey has ever seen in the regular season. You should have considered that before using the Flyers on this Fenway game. In another two or three years, it will have been enough time since the Penguins had played, sorry to all the small market teams that hadn't played.
    — cnova000
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:07 PM, 06/24/2009
    Dear CNOVA, Penn State has made it perfectly clear that they are not interested in hosting the game.
    — AreaMan
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:18 PM, 06/24/2009
    We're #1!
    — P Even
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:48 PM, 06/24/2009
    I would love to see the Flyers play at Citizens Bank Park or Franklin Field. We could never do this at the Linc since the Eagles are almost always in playoff contention.
    — phillyguy73
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:16 PM, 06/24/2009
    play on top of the spectrum
    — bigphillydad
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:18 PM, 06/24/2009
    Orange crush in Boston? No problem.
    — elektrika
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:27 PM, 06/24/2009
    Weather is too unpredictable in Philly for this game to be here
    — phasor
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:00 PM, 06/24/2009
    If they did it here, it couldn't be planned. We're not a real cold weather climate. some years it's cold, some years not so much. In MI they can go weeks without breaking the freezing mark. It's unusual to go a week here like that.
    — dreinterests
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:11 PM, 06/24/2009
    Dear AreaMan, Penn State is very much interested in anything that pays them a lot of $$--of course they would take the game at the Beav.
    — ChrisInConshy
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:19 PM, 06/24/2009
    nice feel good story
    — jtap1981
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:22 PM, 06/24/2009
    wow... let's go
    — Crash Davis
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:38 PM, 06/24/2009
    Thank God, I've been trying to get them guys out of town. Are they coming back?
    — sillybilly
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:44 PM, 06/24/2009
    Dear Idle Rich, couldn't hook up a Flyers/Bruins picture?
    — Burrell


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About Rich Hofmann
Rich Hofmann arrived at the Daily News in 1980 for a job whose status was officially designated as "full-time, temporary." A senior at Penn at the time, he was hired to fill in on the copy desk during a staff illness. The notion of him covering the Eagles or being a columnist did not exist in anyone's imagination. It was supposed to be six weeks and out, but he never left. It is only one of the reasons why so many people have concerns about him as a potential house guest. Rich has blogged the postseasons of the Flyers and Eagles. E-mail Rich at hofmanr@phillynews.com

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