Lockouts and what they mean to sports this year

Tweet With the NBA's latest labor talks going nowhere and the NFL's ongoing lockout, it has become a very real possibility that we may have to wait a full year before we are able to watch football and basketball.  

For both NBA and NFL fans, the prospect of missing a season (particularly when we have had some awesome ones) is a disaster.  The even worst part about it is the fact that we as fans have no control in this, it is entirely up to the owners and the player's unions.  If you are not a devoted fan of baseball (like me) then this is an awful time in terms of following sports you like.  This article will not bore you with lockout news that is being reported everywhere constantly, instead it will examine the fact that for some, these lockouts present a golden opportunity.  Although the NBA and NFL are losing out; a lot of other sports may stand to benefit from these lockouts.  Let's examine each sport that can benefit by itself in order to get a better understanding of what may be at stake.

National Hockey League (NHL)

In my opinion, the NHL stands to gain the most if the NBA and NFL take a one year leave.  The sports void that will appear in a lot of sports fans must be filled, and in North America, the easiest way to fill it is with NHL.  I vow to jump right in and start watching hockey fully, and keeping a journal of my experience as a new fan (gotta write about something).  Odds are, there are many out there like me who will give hockey a chance, and chances are that a number of them will stick with it.  The fact that the NHL is coming off of a very strong season wont hurt it either.



College Football

This would have been the big winner, but what kills it is that games are only played on Saturday's.  What this means is that new fans will take in all the action on Sunday, and maybe read about it for the following two days before the story lines get worn out.  Another thing that hurts college football is the lack of a playoff system, which to a casual/new fan may be a huge turn off.  Imagine you pick a team that has a bunch of player's you like.  Now imagine they blow their fourth game of the season effectively ending their chances for a title.  That kind of sucks.  One good thing that would come of this, is that the media glare will have to focus on the lack of a playoff system due to more exposure of college football.  Perhaps it will push the NCAA to make a playoff system for it, but that is a whole other post.

Soccer

It seems that soccer is finally getting momentum in the states, a perfect time to start showing more games (not just MLS games but English, Spanish and Italian leagues as well).  This means that the MLS has a perfect opportunity to develop itself as a league and appeal to more audiences.  If done right it could be the final step soccer in North America needs to become truly relevant.

European Basketball

Guess where NBA players who are locked out will have a chance to go to?  That's right: Europe!  Although I would not mind watching European leagues as they are, the addition of NBA players would make it must see TV.  It would also be fun to learn about foreign players, and maybe even see future draft prospects.  The transition would not be difficult either.  ESPN can simply use the money they would save from not using the NBA broadcasting rights and flip it to Europe.  The Spanish, Greek, and Italian leagues in addition to the Euro-league (a continental tournament featuring the best teams from several leagues) would be very fun to watch, and maybe even more available when the lockouts end.

Volleyball/Waterpolo

These two sports are a  bit of a stretch, but it would not kill TSN, Sportsnet, or the Score to show an occasional World League game (the world league is a mini international tournament held every year in addition to European and world competitions.  Sort of like if soccer had a 16 team international tournament every summer instead of every two).  Ive had the chance to watch some of these games and honestly, they are not too shabby.  Good crowds, good players, and rivalries that develop over competing every year make these events very watchable.

You may have noticed that I did not include Tennis, baseball, Golf, or college basketball in the above sections.  This is due to the fact that these sports get plenty of coverage and exposure already and the lockouts would not add a significant amount of fans.  The NBA and NFL should ramp up the efforts to save their seasons, or they may find that next year, some fans wont be there.

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