Schafer

[Tub(a)]

I don't think Hockey can be low class simply based on the cost of participating in hockey. I can't think of any other sport that is as expensive for parents.

[Rosey]

I'm talking about the fans, Tub(a).  Traditionally, hockey fan demographic has been fairly low-income.  This may have changed in the past couple of years, but some parts of the game appeal mainly to rednecks like myself** (e.g., hard body-checking, the occasional fight) who don't have any particular aversion to strong language.

Cheers,
Kyle

**It's true that I may not be low-income, but happily my tastes run the gamut from high to low brow.  Hockey is one of those things that IMO is enjoyable precisely because it has rough edges that make a first-time spectator say, "That doesn't seem right..." :-)

[cornelldavy]

[Q]krose Wrote:

Traditionally, hockey fan demographic has been fairly low-income.[/q]

I don't know how long it's been that way, but I know for at least a few years now, NHL fans have the highest average income of the four major sports.

[Q]...the NHL has the most affluent in-arena fans of the four major sports leagues including the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball. The average household income was US$73,858 compared to US$73,015 for the NFL fan. It also has the highest percentage of fans with incomes over US$100,000 per year.[/q]
-from http://www.sportsbusinessnews.com/index.asp?story_id=30829

[adamw]

Traditionally, hockey's demographic has been the most affluent of any of the team sports.

[billhoward]

Based on the very small sampling of our town's sports, hockey seems like baseball in that it's a crossover of blue collar, white collar, and gold collar parents. Soccer, too, although there the two groups seem to be recent Americans and yuppie scum like ourselves. Lacrosse is almost all upscale; if you don't have an SUV, I don't think you can try out for the traveling team. Football seems more heavily blue-collar but not exclusively, maybe because white-collar parents (in our part of NJ) recognize the odds of getting hurt are high and the odds of getting a college scholarship are low unless the kid is a) good and b) big.

I'm sure there's a PhD thesis in all this, if it hasn't been done by Rick Reilly as a column.

[Rosey]

Sorry, I'm not buying it.

First of all, "NHL" does not equal "hockey."  NHL is a part of hockey, but (a) it's the most visible hockey league and (b) there are many more leagues, teams, and fans than those that are associated with the NHL.  Orders of magnitude.

Secondly, counting only "in arena" fans is simply begging the question.  I'd be much more inclined to believe the affluence of the "in arena" fans is due primarily to the combination of limited capacity (in the largest arenas usually about 1/3 the capacity of MLB stadiums and even less compared to NFL stadiums) and the large ratio of season ticket holders to single ticket holders.  Just go to a typical "sold out" game at the FleetCenter sometime and observe that more than 50% of the seats are empty.  I invite someone to prove me wrong.  How about you show me the 30th %ile income of fans at hockey games, instead of pulling out "average" family income, which makes me wonder how it's calculated.

Cheers,
Kyle

::banana::

[Tom Lento]

Another factor - it's bleeping expensive for even a single-game ticket.  Go watch an AHL or ECHL game, and you'll see a different crowd than you'll find at your average NHL game.

On the other hand, it's worth noting that hockey requires a high start-up cost.  I'd be a (terrible) goalie if I could afford the pads, but I can't, so instead I'm a (terrible) wing.

I'm inclined to believe in a bi-modal distribution for both fans and players, but regardless of the demographics of the fan base hockey does have a reputation as a game catering to a crowd with less-refined tastes than those typically associated with a high income/social status postion.  Maybe that goes back to when boxing was more of a major sport than football (cf the joke about going to the fights and having a hockey game break out), but I think it's still in the minds of many non-fans and casual fans across the US.

[Robb]

[Gross Generalizations]
Hockey *players* are probably even more bi-modal than the fans - you've got the rural kids who grow up skating on the backyard ponds for free, and you've got the suburban kids whose parents can afford both the 4 am ice time and the SUV to get them there.  You just don't see that many blue-collar, salt-of-the-earth, middle class wage-earners' kids playing hockey....
[/Gross Generalizations]

[marty]

[Q]Facetimer Wrote:

 If Schafer wanted to go to Harvard I would pack his bags and drive him. We couldn't get any more lucky.[/q]

Looks like you've finally found your niche, FT.  You would make a fine chauffeur or personal valet.  Maybe Dennis Rodman ::woot:: will give you an interview if the coach turns you down.

[Greg]

Or Jayson Williams.

[Erica]

Trust me. I'm already corrupted. You can't touch me with your vulgarity.  ::laugh::

[jeh25]

[Q]Erica Wrote:
You can't touch me with your vulgarity.   [/q]

Or with anything else for that matter, Greg....

*rimshot*