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.