According to the USA Today, last night was a winner both leagues.
NBA, NHL come up Sunday night ratings winners
On a night when the NHL and NBA went head-to-head at 7 p.m. Sunday night, the NBA was the clear winner over the NHL in the Kansas City overnight ratings.
From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., the ratings were
NBC – KSHB, Ch. 41 — .8 rating
ABC – KMBC, Ch. 9 — 8.3 rating
CBS – KCTV, Ch. 5 — 4.5 rating
FOX – WDAF, Ch. 4 — 3.5 rating
The KMBC ratings for the NBA game were lower than the national ratings, which was 9.0.
The KSHB ratings for the NHL game were lower than the national ratings, which was 4.0.
What about the rest of the country.
NBA over NHL in Minneapolis, 6.5 to 3.8
And, I found the Top 10 NHL ratings in the Toronto Globe and Mail.
Buffalo was #3. No surprise there, but why does West Palm keep showing up on this list. Is NBC the only network affiliate they have in that market?
Well, for the masses, the NBA is more popular than the NHL. This, we already know. Hockey is a regional sport, despite what Gary Bettman keeps telling us. Basketball is an American sport. James Naismith, a Canadian, invented it in the US. Even coached it in our backyard.
The NBA game featured two of the most storied franchises in all of the NBA — the Lakers and Celtics (featuring KU’s Paul Pierce).
Would the ratings be different in KC if the Stanley Cup finals were between the St. Louis Blues and, say, the New York Rangers and the NBA finals were between the Charlotte Bobcats and the Golden State Warriors. Probably.
Does this mean Kansas City should have an NBA team before an NHL team? No. It all depends on AN OWNER!!!
If an owner existed who wanted to purchase an NBA team and move them to KC, then it KC should have an NBA team. Like Clay Bennett did for OKC.
If an owner existed who wanted to purchase an NHL team and move them to KC, then it should be NHL. Like Boots…ah, never mind.
One of the quotes people in Philly used to say was, “there are 20,000 hockey fans in Philadelphia and they are all at the Wachovia Center.” That’s probably not that far from the truth. As a hockey fan, I’m fine with that. It’s a regional sport. A great sport and one that will never, ever have higher ratings than the NBA.
