New Sports Illustrated hits shelves, forgets hockey exists

The glory days of hockey coverage in SI.
Living in Canada, where hockey reigns king, it's easy for me to forget that the sport isn't quite as publicized elsewhere. However, it still came as a shock to the system when I checked out the current issue of Sports Illustrated (dated Nov. 9th) and saw no hockey in it on my first read through.
On closer examination, hockey is in fact mentioned - twice. The first time is LA Kings defenseman Drew Doughty answering five questions as part of the Pop Culture Grid, and the other is a small, stamp sized photo of a goaltender as part of their "Check Out The Online Gallery" section.
That's it. Two very brief mentions in what may be America's most popular sports magazine (surprisingly, I could not confirm this). This was not a World Series commemorative issue, or anything like that. It was a standard issue, one that gave plenty of space to the other big three, as well as giving features to bobsled and motorsports.
Looking at SI's Covers Vault, hockey has been mentioned on one cover since the start of the season - an NHL season preview mentioned in small font near the top of a baseball-dominated cover. That's it, despite the number of memorable stories and great games that have already happened in this season.
I know the NHL does not have total control over what a magazine writes, but they can have some influence, and to go almost completely ignored is simply unacceptable. If you want to build your brand into the US market and fix the damage done in the lockout, you have to start getting hockey into the public's eye. Part of that is being in popular publications like Sports Illustrated, because Drew Doughty mentioning that he'd like The Rock to play him in a movie may be pretty hilarious, but it's not going to draw in an audience to this game.
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Not really surprising. Look at it this way: until recently, the NHL held the dubious distinction of having the lowest prime-time rating for anything aired on American broadcast television, ever (Sens/Ducks, I forget which game of the final). Meanwhile, the NFL holds the distinction of competing for the highest rating on American broadcast television on a yearly basis with the Super Bowl. And it also holds the highest rating ever for a cable broadcast (Vikings/Packers, earlier this season).
If I ran a sports magazine in the US, I sure as hell know what I’d be filling it with. Can you honestly say you’d do it differently?
by dzuunmod on Nov 11, 2009 1:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Also, one other thing building on my last comment: part of the reason for what you’re describing here is that it is football season right now. You’ll see (slightly) more NHL coverage after the Super Bowl in American outlets like SI, ESPN and on sports talk radio.
It’s not really accurate to say, “I know the NHL does not have total control over what a magazine writes”, I think. I think more accurately it would be put, “I know the NHL has zero control over what a magazine writes…”. How is it that you think they have influence? And don’t forget that the NHL isn’t the only brand out there trying to influence SI and ESPN, etc, etc. Every league is trying to do that, and if I’m a magazine editor, it’s the people who run the league that draws as many as 25 million viewers to some of its regular season games that I’m going to listen to.
by dzuunmod on Nov 11, 2009 2:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
You’re right… the NHL has zero influence. What they need to do is try and develop some relationship with magazines like SI to try and make the NHL more tempting to cover. I don’t know if it’s giving special access, or what, but I think that’s what Darren’s trying to say: They have no influence now, and that shows in the content. What the league needs to do is find a way to become relevant again.
by PeterR on Nov 11, 2009 4:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Sure, I get that. But if there was a simple fix to it, I’m sure the NHL would’ve already jumped all over it. It can be a downward spiral for a league like the NHL in the US media landscape: if you’re not popular to begin with, newspapers and magazines pull resources from the NHL to cover other more popular stuff and then the league fades further from the fore, losing even more popularity because people can’t find game reports or the highlights on Sportscenter. And then the cycle repeats.
by dzuunmod on Nov 11, 2009 4:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
SI often has a feature called ‘Inside the NHL’ in their Inside Sports section, written by I cant remember who and featuring commentary by Pierre Mcguire. Its usually just one page though. I agree that hockey deserves more coverage in SI, but its still probably proportionately more than other major American sports media outlets.
by Andrew J on Nov 12, 2009 12:03 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

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