ESPN has no understanding of hockey fandom or the passion of hockey that is growing in the US. Below is an ESPN article on all the celebs at the NBA finals. And yes, I know a Knicks NBA finals game has way more celebs, but ESPN shows no one.

ESPN has no understanding of hockey fandom or the passion of hockey that is growing in the US. Below is an ESPN article on all the celebs at the NBA finals. And yes, I know a Knicks NBA finals game has way more celebs, but ESPN shows no one. Part of a sports broadcast is about showing and promoting how important this sport is to people (but apparantly not important to ESPN). It adds atmosphere, energy, and emotion to the broadcast. Go to the NHL section on ESPN (if you can find it) and see if you can find any articles like this. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/49029851/new-york-knicks-nba-finals-game-4-taylor-swift-timothee-chalamet-rihanna I understand that some hockey fans will say "who cares?" and "why does this matter?". It matters because when you are tryng to grow a sport, you need to show new fans that they are part of a cool new club with incredible passionate fans. Here are examples of close-ups from other sports and networks that you have seen: World Cup - countless slo-mo replays of fans, flag waivers, face-painters and beautiful women NBA - Celebs cheering for their home team NFL - cheerleaders, cheeseheads, fans with shirts off in freezing cold weather MLB - kids crossing their fingers before a big pitch NHL on Sportsnet Canada - shows Erling Haaland, interviews Wayne Newton, and basically promoting the sport and how its growing in the US All of the above add to the emotion, atmosphere, and passion of the moment Has anyone ever seen a close up of NHL cheerleaders? Both Vegas and Carolina have them. In fact, even when ESPN shows their one or two close-ups of fans a game, they are the same two guys that happen to be standing next to the ice level camera person. I do not think I have seen one close-up of a women or cheerleader ever. These cheerleaders would love to have their face on national TV, maybe they can go viral and build their brand. How often has ESPN shown the packed opposing arena watch parties after goals? Not much if at all. The only thing ESPN does is show wide shots of fans (only after hoime goals and never after away goals) at best. They did finally show Bussi's parents and showed a guy in a bus costume. Can we get more than two of these a game? There are face-painters, thousands of fans without shirts in Carolina, away fans that made the long trip, face-painted female fans, kids, amazing costumes, cheereleaders, etc. yet all we ever see besides the players are the coaches. 50% of whistles show the coaches. I dont really know how many times I can look at Torts, Brindamour, Ruff, or St. Louis. It is seriously the most boring cut away there is and adds zero energy or emotion. The worst case was with the time-out with two minutes to go in game 3 at Vegas. Sportnet showed close ups of fans going crazy hoping their team can score. The emotion and atmosphere was incredible. What did ESPN show? Torts and Brindamour on the bench...for 3 minutes staright. Zero fans. Zero atmosphere. Zero emotion. The producer of this broadcast should be fired. Maybe ESPN needs an extra camera like FIFA has to show the emotions of fans. Or maybe, just maybe, they just need to start liking the sport and promoting how incredible it is and how incredible the fans are. submitted by /u/Extension_Analysis17 [link] [comments]