The NHL has fallen quite a far way as we know, but this years' finals have set a record.  And not a good one.  Game 3 was the lowest rated program in the history of NBC during primetime TV.  It received a rating of 1.1 and a share of two.*  This was down 31% from last years' matchup between Carolina and Edmonton.  Game 4 was slightly worse, but still couldn't reach a two.

Now just to show how bad that is, that is the same rating received by poker on NBC, that aired at noon on a Sunday.  When you are watched less then people playing cards at noon on a Sunday, you have a serious problem.

The shame is, for those who have watched the playoffs, it has been very exciting.  But you wouldn't know, because the NHL can't market it's product to save it's life. 

Many of your may remember my post highlighting why the Ottawa/Anaheim matchup was the worst case scenario.   Obviously, that matchup is hard to sell to fickle, ESPN controlled casual fans.  But have you seen any advertising for it?  Because I sure haven't. 

If you watch 30 minutes of any program on ESPN, you will see multiple commercials for the NBA Finals.  They make sure to drill into your head that it's happening.  I have not seen one commercial for the Stanley Cup finals that wasn't during the game.  Most people don't know what's going on.

Plus they aren't marketing any players.  If you've watched the NBA commercials, you are hearing all about LeBron, and Tim Duncan.  Why isn't the NHL trying to market any players?  You have Giguere, who has been a beast in net.  What about Jason Spezza, who is only 24 years old and become one of the NHL's premiere guys.  What about Neidermayer, Alfredsson, Heatley, Selanne?  The NHL doesn't market it's game at all, so why should anyone care?

This is a sad reality for the NHL.  What was once one of the "Big 4" professional sports leagues in America, may not even be worthy of being number 4 anymore.  Hell, NASCAR may have surpassed it in terms of popularity, drawing much superior TV ratings as well as very good attendance records.

As much as I enjoy watching the NHL, under current management, the league will remain a sinking ship, and unless changes are made at the top of the NHL totem pole, the league will continue to fall until it becomes less relevant than the WNBA.

The NHL has a lot of problems, and they keep trying to fix them by tinkering with the rules of the games.   Unfortunately, what they fail to see, is the quality of play is not one of them.  With ratings this bad, what motivation does NBC to keep something on their network that isn't working?  They signed a one year extenion this past March, and have an option for another year after that.  If they continue to draw this low, NBC would be stupid to keep it on their network, as they'd be essentially wasting money.

Until they fix the real problem of idiots running the marketing and TV deals, the NHL will cease to matter in comparison to the other major sports.

Another exciting season is soon to be in the books, it's a shame so few realize it...

* The rating is the percentage watching a telecast among all homes with televisions, and the share is the percentage tuned in to a broadcast among those households with televisions on at the time. A ratings point represents 1,114,000 households.

Sources: (ESPN) Game 3 equals NBC's lowest rating ever for prime-time program
(FanIQ) An Ottawa/Anaheim final is NHL's worst case scenario.