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Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Are Bills the thin edge of the wedge?: CFL fans fret that plan for Toronto to host 8 NFL games will hurt Canada's leagueJim Byers
TheStar.com
Canadian Football League fans look at the plan to bring eight Buffalo Bills games to Toronto over the next five years and get nervous. The folks in charge of boosting Toronto's stagnant tourism numbers look at the plan and see a glittering sports entity that dwarfs anything and everything in North America.
"This is a real blessing for us," said Tourism Toronto president and CEO David Whitaker. "It's a tremendous opportunity and we're looking to take full advantage."
Backers of the plan, who include Larry Tanenbaum of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and media mogul Ted Rogers, say the event could lure thousands of border-shy Americans into Canada from both Buffalo and from the cities where the Bills' opponents play.
There also would be visitors from other parts of Ontario or Canada, many of them happy to drop some cash on hotel rooms or in city bars and restaurants.
"In Canada we used to think, `Oh, well, we're the land of the 65-cent dollar and we have to appeal to budget travellers,'" said Rogers vice-chair Phil Lind. "But we'll have something here now that intrigues them and captivates them, and so it puts us in their league. I think it's a good thing for economic development, a good thing for tourism and a good thing for overall impact."
Lind said bringing in tourists is nice but that the TV exposure south of the border is probably worth more. Bills games routinely attract millions of viewers in the U.S., and the team's Monday-night game against the Dallas Cowboys last year drew more than 13 million viewers in prime time.
Visitors to Toronto increased 1.1 per cent last year over 2006, but Tourism Toronto officials say there was a 4 per cent drop last year in U.S. overnight visitors. Some 2.2 million Americans bedded down in the city last year.
"The primary issue is that Americans will pay attention and focus on something happening in another country," Lind told the Star. "They'll say, `Not only does Toronto have that (the Bills game), they've got a lot of other things as well.' It'll mean something on the day of the game, but the lingering effect is probably more important."
Mayor David Miller is a little more circumspect.
"There's no question that getting Toronto shown positively on U.S. television, although that might depend on having a winning team, is helpful. But I think our number one priority has to be the health of the CFL. From Toronto's perspective within Canada, if we were seen to be killing the CFL or harming it significantly, it would really hurt us."
In a January survey of 500 southern Ontario residents taken for Rogers Communications by The Strategic Counsel, 54 per cent of respondents said bringing the Bills to Toronto for one or two games a year would be "very good" for the city and province, while 28 per cent said it would be "somewhat good." Only 5 per cent thought it would be somewhat or very bad.
About one-third said bringing the Bills here for one or two games would have a positive effect on the CFL, and only a quarter thought it would have a negative effect. But among self-identified CFL fans, those statistics were reversed.
Forty per cent of the people surveyed, CFL fans or not, didn't think NFL games here would have any real effect.
Perhaps the most worrisome note was that 41 per cent of those questioned admitted they preferred NFL football to CFL football; among those 24 and younger, 56 per cent did so. Overall, only 8 per cent preferred the CFL, while 31 per cent said they like both equally.
People who hold season tickets for the Argonauts will get first crack at NFL Toronto tickets. And the Argos, for now, are working with the Bills' Toronto supporters on combined publicity. But many CFL types are understandably wary.
"If you make the assumption that an NFL team would come into this market, it would cut into (the CFL's) ad revenue, ticketing, and would remove our ability to compete, as there's a limited (amount) of sponsorship and television money in the Canadian marketplace," CFL commissioner Mark Cohon has said.
There's talk that the eight-game run is a mere prelude to having the Bills pull up stakes for Canada permanently.
Ontario's Ultimate stalemate: Against a tide of popularity and precedent, province stands firm in its reluctance to join the mixed martial arts boomSteve Buffery
Sun Media
The Montreal Canadiens are one the hottest teams in the NHL and a sense of optimism is growing in Quebec that Les Glorieux could go deep in the playoffs this season.
But the hottest ticket in Montreal these days is not for a Canadiens game, but for the Ultimate Fighting Championship card which will be held at the Bell Centre on April 19 -- the first time in history an UFC event will be held in Canada.
To say that Montreal has embraced the show would be a major understatement. Most of the tickets for UFC 83 (as the promotion is called) were sold within 24 hours -- and tickets were made available only to UFC Fight Club members in a pre-sale. When the remainder of the 21,000-plus seats were offered to the general public, they were snatched up in less than one minute.
Mixed martial arts (the UFC is the leading MMA organization) has grown by leaps and bounds in popularity the past few years and interest in Canada has reached the point where, in 2007, eight of the top 10 live events on Viewers Choice Pay Per View were UFC events (it is UFC policy not to release actual Pay Per View numbers).
While fans in Quebec finally get a chance to see a UFC event live, connoisseurs of mixed martial arts in Ontario may never get that opportunity. In fact, Ontario is one of the last holdouts in terms of refusing to allow MMA promotions, a stance that has become increasingly controversial and unpopular. As usual, the person wearing the goat horns is Ontario athletics commissioner Ken Hayashi.
As far as Hayashi is concerned, mixed martial arts is an illegal activity and until Canadian federal law is changed, there will not be any shows held in this province.
It all comes down to the interpretation of Section 83 of the Canadian Criminal Code, which deems "prize fighting" as being illegal, with this exception: "A boxing contest between amateur sportsmen, where the contestants wear boxing gloves of not less than one hundred and 40 grams each in mass, or any boxing contest held with the permission or under the authority of an athletic board or commission or similar body established by or under the authority of the legislature of a province for the control of sport within the province, shall be deemed not to be a prize fight."
To Hayashi, who is a karate black belt and master instructor, it all comes down to the words "a boxing contest." Hayashi says mixed martial arts, or any sport of that ilk, is not boxing, although the province has made one exception, and that is professional kick boxing, which allows kicking, but only above the waist. Unlike MMA, kick-boxing shows in Ontario are held in a traditional boxing ring and fighters are obligated to wear standardized boxing gloves. UFC contests are held in a showy octagonal cage and UFC fighters wear smaller, open gloves.
"It's still a stretch, absolutely," Hayashi said of the province's amendments to allow kick boxing. "But that's the limit the government feels comfortable with. (Kick boxers) can't kick to the legs, they can't grab, they can't throw to the ground, can't choke out, can't put someone in a submission hold, can't elbow, can't knee ... there is a difference."
Even with stricter rules and safety measures implemented by the UFC in recent years, Hayashi's stance on mixed martial arts is firm, and no other commissioner, no promoter, no fight organization such as UFC, will change is mind.
He believes emphatically that any combat sport, other than boxing and kick boxing, is illegal in Ontario (and Canada for that matter), and he does have precedence on his side.
In March 2000, Ontario court justice Judge Nancy Kastner banned the sport of muay-Thai boxing, a mixed martial art practised by many UFC fighters. Following an investigation by the Toronto Sun and, subsequently, the office of the Ontario athletics commissioner and the province, Kastner ruled that the Thai boxing was "inherently dangerous" in part because of the practise of striking with elbows and knees, and therefore, the sport contravened section 83 of the federal criminal code.
Today, Hayashi says mixed martial arts offer up the same problems, even with stricter rules and regulations.
"If the courts agreed with us, how can the province be wrong?" Hayashi said of the Thai boxing ruling. "If we had lost that court case, then bottom line is, okay, I guess it is a 'boxing contest.' "
Hayashi, who has long been at odds with the boxing and kick-boxing communities in Ontario for his strict adherence to the commission's many rules and regulations, and for not helping promote their sports, is incredulous that other jurisdictions in Canada, including Quebec, interpret section 83 of the Canadian criminal code in such a way that MMA contests, like UFC, are allowed. Hayashi, the Ontario commissioner since 1995, believes that if anyone gets seriously hurt at the April 19 show at the Bell Centre, the Quebec commission and the province could face a lawsuit -- possibly launched by the federal government. As it is now, the feds have not challenged a provincial commission regarding MMA shows, although Vancouver City Council last September voted unanimously to ban MMA contests until more information is gathered about the sport. Then again, no one has been seriously hurt -- yet -- in Canada.
Hayashi says no matter how safe any combat sport is, serious injuries will occur. Last October, Houston fighter Sam Vasquez died days after being floored by a hard right to the chin, following a flurry of punches by his opponent, Vince Libardi, during a mixed martial arts contest at the Toyota Center in Houston -- the first documented death in MMA in North America (American fighter Douglas Dedge died as a result after competing in a MMA bout in Ukraine in 1998). Vasquez collapsed to the floor and suffered a seizure. His condition gradually worsened and he underwent two operations to relieve the pressure of a large clot in his brain. Following surgery, he suffered a massive stroke and was placed in a medically induced coma, before dying.
The Ontario commish believes if the Vasquez bout was held in Canada, even with the insurance purchased by the promoters, the federal government would have been in a position to consider legal action against the provincial commission because the show would have been ruled illegal, in accordance to section 83 of the criminal code. At least, that's his interpretation.
"It's breaking the law," Hayashi said. "The federal law supersedes provincial law."
It's a different story in the United States. The legality of mixed martial arts is the decision of each state. Part of Marc Ratner's job, as the UFC's vice-president of government and regulatory affairs, is to lobby state commissions and legislatures to sell MMA as a safe and viable (not to mention lucrative) practice, and to encourage states to make amendments to their laws to allow MMA promotions. Ratner is certainly the man for the job, having served as executive director of the Nevada state commission for 14 years.
RESPECTFUL
Ratner insists he respects Hayashi's interpretation of the Canadian criminal code regarding the legality of MMA, but he is encouraging the Ontario commissioner, whom he has known for years, to take steps to have the Canadian code amended, so MMA shows can be held in Ontario. There is no doubt, Ratner says, that there is a demand for live UFC shows in Ontario.
"It's no secret that Toronto would be the next place we would love to go (with a major show), but until (the province) gets the law fixed the way they want it, it certainly won't go there," Ratner said. "But certainly we're bullish on Ontario."
Ratner says he is encouraging, not pressuring, Hayashi to take steps to have the criminal code amended, to allow MMA shows in Ontario.
But Hayashi will not take it upon himself to initiate movement to the have the criminal code amended. If someone wants to make the first move, Hayashi says he will do what he can to help. But he insists that it's not up to him to get the ball rolling.
It's precisely that attitude that has made Hayashi Public Enemy No. 1 with the combat sports community in Ontario.
Mick McNamara, a long-time kick boxing promoter, club owner (Twin Dragons) and instructor, along with his brother, Martin, believes that Hayashi's, and the province's, real agenda is to eliminate kick boxing and boxing shows by implementing unreasonable rules and regulations. Promoters in Ontario have long complained about unreasonable upfront costs and being overregulated by the commission, and have criticized Hayashi for doing nothing to promote either sport.
"They can't ban boxing or kick boxing (like they want to), so they have found another way to do the job," McNamara said. "Safety has been a mask, an excuse, to regulate us to death."
But Hayashi is adamant that it is not his job to help promote boxing, kick boxing, or any such sport, only to regulate it. Hayashi insists his primary responsibility is to ensure the safety and welfare of fighters and that stance would be compromised if he took it upon himself to act as a de factor promoter. Hayashi bristles at suggestions he goes out of his way to make it difficult for promoters to organize shows. If the rules in this province are strict, Hayashi insists, it's only for the safety of the fighters.
Still, the professional fight game in Ontario has been in decline for years and there are fewer and fewer promoters attempting to put on shows. The one bright spot has been IBF super bantamweight Steve Molitor, whose promoters have staged regular successful cards at Casino Rama near Orillia.
Tim Lueckenhoff, president of the Association of Boxing Commissioners, said the diminishing popularity of boxing is not restricted to Ontario. Interest in that traditional combat sport has been on the downside for years, and that's one of the reasons his association (of which Hayashi is a member) has embraced mixed martial arts.
Lueckenhoff says the majority of states in the U.S. are now on board to allow MMA contests -- even though, in some cases, it took years of lobbying to have laws amended, as was the case recently in Missouri, Lueckenhoff's home jurisdiction. After two years of working with the state legislature, Missouri amended its laws to allow MMA shows and Lueckenhoff said he is busier than ever.
"Mixed martial arts is huge, it's unbelievable," Lueckenhoff said. "We've had eight shows so far (since September), by far outpacing the boxing shows, with seven more MMA shows scheduled for the next week."
For Hayashi, not allowing MMA contests is a simple matter of interpreting the criminal code. But for others, there is a feeling the commissioner, and others involved in traditional combat sports, believe the real reason for resisting mixed martial arts is because of the sport's reputation for brutality.
MMA, near to its present form, first appeared in Brazil in the early 1900s. In 1993, a North American group formed UFC and held its first show that year, attracting 86,000 pay-per-view hits, increasing to about 300,000 by the third show. In the early days, UFC shows were described as "no holds barred" contests, but with the building popularity of the sport came increased criticism and outrage, as there were few rules, other than no biting or eye-gouging. Arizona Sen. John McCain, now the leading candidate to earn the Republican nomination for the 2008 U.S. presidential election, launched a highly visible campaign against UFC.
In response to the backlash, UFC officials, including current president Dana White, took steps in the 1990s to clean up the sport, including the establishment of a strict set of rules (including a ban on punches or kicks to the groin), as well as limits on the number of rounds and the time of rounds. Now the sport has gone mainstream and is more popular than ever, confounding those who maintained that its attraction was based on blood lust. In fact, recent studies in the U.S. concluded that knockout rates are lower in MMA competitions than in professional boxing.
Ratner says many serious injuries and fatalities in boxing occur as a result of the amount of punishment fighters absorb during training sessions, and that often leaves them open to serious injury in the actual bout. Mixed martial arts fighters, on the other hand, don't suffer as many shots to the head during training as they work on wrestling moves, kicks to the body and holds.
Lueckenhoff believes that Hayashi's reluctance to accept MMA also stems, in part, from the Stephan Johnson incident.
In April 1999, in a clash for the vacant World Boxing Federation super welterweight belt at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, veteran American boxer Stephan Johnson suffered a TKO loss at the hands of Canadian star Fitz Vanderpool, after absorbing a series of straight rights and left hooks in the 11th round. Johnson was hospitalized after the fight, slapped with a 60-day suspension, and ordered by Hayashi to undergo a series of neurological examinations -- a CAT scan, psychometric evaluation and EEG. Hayashi refused to lift the suspension after it was discovered Johnson had a CAT scan done, but declined the other two tests.
Despite still being under suspension in Ontario, Johnson was allowed to box in South Carolina, Georgia and, finally, New Jersey. On Nov. 20, 1999, six months after his fight in Ontario, Johnson was knocked out during a bout in Atlantic City, fell into a coma and later died. Hayashi denies that the Johnson death has anything to do with his strict stance on mixed martial arts, but others aren't so sure.
"That kind of thing scars you for a long time, and I kind of understand what Ken is feeling," Lueckenhoff said. "But everybody is legalizing mixed martial arts."
Lueckenhoff, who described the early days of MMA essentially as "a free for all," said the ABC is actively encouraging state, provincial and city commissions to legalize the sport, now that strict safety regulations have been established.
"I know Ken very well and I know he's very safety-conscious," Lueckenhoff said, "and some states still feel the sport is barbaric and it shouldn't be legalized. And Ken hasn't been sold on it yet. But we believe that it is truly a safe sport."
As does Quebec boxing commissioner Mario Latraverse, whose jurisdiction is by far the most active in Canada and generates the most money for the fighters, promoters and the province. UFC 83 is expected to generate millions for the Montreal economy and Latraverse had no hesitations in allowing the first UFC in Canada, in his jurisdiction.
In fact, he says the majority of provincial commissions in Canada accept MMA, adding that Ontario is in the minority. Indeed, mixed martial arts is allowed in 32 states and most provinces, including Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and British Columbia -- aside from Vancouver city council's opposition.
Latraverse said he would not allow MMA shows unless he was convinced the sport had cleaned up its act and was now safe, or as safe as any combat sport can be.
"You're going to see more blood in (mixed martial arts) because of the gloves they use. You're going to cut a little more, but, still, you don't have the major injuries you might see in boxing," he said.
TRAUMATIZED
In a pro boxing show in Quebec, if a fighter is knocked to the canvas as a result of a blow or series of blows to the head, the referee will often allow him to get back up and continue fighting after he has been given a standing eight count, Latraverse says. In most UFC fights, the referee will stop the fight immediately if a combatant hits the floor as a result of a strike to the head -- a much safer practice, he says, than the standing eight count.
"Even when you get an eight count, you're still traumatized and you're in a position to get really hurt afterward," he said.
Neither Latraverse, Lueckenhoff nor Ratner criticize Hayashi (at least officially) for his stance on mixed martial arts and his interpretation of section 83 of the criminal code, though Ratner has invited the Ontario commissioner to attend UFC 83 in Montreal as his guest, to give him a feel for what the sport is about. Hayashi says he will respectfully decline the invitation.
"I think it would be inappropriate to attend an event that we have determined to be illegal," the commissioner said.
The bottom line is that for MMA to be allowed in Ontario, the criminal code would have to be amended, and that's something that Hayashi says is out of his hands.
"Don't shoot the messenger," Hayashi said, stressing that he couldn't sanction an MMA event even if he wanted to. "I'd be breaking the law if I tried to do that," he said. "I don't have the regulations to do that."
No country for old jerseysBRIAN MILNER
Globe and Mail
Doug Wilson wasn't the only San Jose Sharks executive who had a hectic trade-deadline day.
While the Sharks' general manager was making a big splash with his acquisition of all-star defenceman Brian Campbell from the Buffalo Sabres, Malcolm Bordelon, the executive vice-president of business operations, was working behind the scenes to set in motion a marketing strategy for the team's newest prized asset.
Within hours, the team had replica jerseys in its store and was ready with a few T-shirts and player pucks, Bordelon said between meetings after the big trade.
The team website also featured a photo montage of Campbell in action (as a Sabre and an all-star), as well as backup goaltender Brian Boucher, the team's less illustrious acquisition on trade day.
The Sharks and other NHL clubs have to scramble when name-brand players arrive or depart, because trades can have a huge impact on marketing plans and merchandise sales, the latter of which is becoming an increasingly important source of club revenue.
"We can do things almost instantly," said Bob Wagner, the Anaheim Ducks' chief marketing officer.
In San Jose, only ardent fans of the sport would even know what position Campbell plays and many have never seen him in a game.
For the less hockey-savvy, "we'll spend a little more time doing some things like educating people as to who this player is, his calibre and his expertise and what he brings to the team," Bordelon said. "That will be emphasized on our weblogs and website videos, as well as on our broadcasts over the next few weeks."
By the time San Jose plays its next home game, on Monday, Campbell will also have done a spate of interviews and will be a much more familiar face.
Back in Buffalo, the value of Campbell-related merchandise will plummet and he will fast disappear from all Sabres' marketing, if past experience is any guide.
Whether his Sabres jerseys will be worth more down the road will depend on the kind of career Campbell ends up having and whether his Buffalo days are considered a significant piece of it, memorabilia experts say.
Meanwhile, in Toronto Maple Leafs land, those diehard fans looking for a Wade Belak, Hal Gill or Chad Kilger jersey (which would truly be the definition of diehard) will find them already heavily marked down in price.
And there won't be another trace of the players to be found anywhere in and around the Air Canada Centre. And that includes videos shown during games.
"What we do is prepare for those situations, should they happen," said Beth Robertson, the vice-president of marketing and community relations with team owner Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. "And they do. That's the nature of our business."
When the Toronto Raptors dealt away Juan Dixon last week at the NBA trade deadline, his jersey went on sale the next day at 50 per cent off.
"We would do that with any player traded," she said.
That's just smart business. No matter how good the player, apart from the superstars, the value of their old uniforms crashes once they leave through trade or free agency.
Just ask Brian Ehrenworth.
"This is a tough time of year for us, because we'll surely be stuck with inventory on our shelf for whoever got traded," said the president of Frameworth Sports Marketing in Toronto, which specializes in hockey memorabilia.
"It will pretty much kill the sales on almost everybody that we have who moves to another team."
Sidney Crosby might be the only NHL player whose merchandise value would remain unchanged, Ehrenworth said.
The collectible value of most other players, even stars such as Alexander Ovechkin, would be severely impaired.
Ehrenworth points to the example of Joe Thornton, who was a rising star with the Boston Bruins before his surprise trade to the Sharks in 2005.
Just before the trade, Frameworth bought about $10,000 worth of items featuring Thornton as a Bruin.
"I still have about $9,000 worth of that product. And Joe is one of the premier players in the league."
Crist promotes Florida as Arizona lures teams for springAssociated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Indians are leaving Florida's Grapefruit League for Arizona next year, and the Cincinnati Reds may not be far behind.
No wonder Gov. Charlie Crist decided to show Major League Baseball a little love Tuesday by reviving the annual governor's dinner celebrating the start of spring training.
Crist wants to keep alive a tradition that began in Florida a century ago — teams coming down from the North to get ready for the new season, bringing with them winter-weary fans. The state estimates that spring training contributes $450 million to Florida businesses, with attendance topping 1.7 million last year.
"It adds a lot to our economy, a tremendous amount to the quality of life," Crist said. "One of the best ways to see a baseball game is during spring training. It's up close and personal."
Teams often find municipalities in Florida and Arizona competing to attract them for spring training. Cities and counties offer to build stadiums, in the hope that having a major league team train there will attract tourists. Few teams, like the Dodgers, have spent decades in the same stadium. Instead, many move when they get better offers.
For instance, the Reds said they wanted to stay in Sarasota, but began their negotiations after county officials refused to spend $18 million to upgrade their stadium and practice facilities.
Now they could have a chance to play in a new facility more than 1,800 miles away.
"It's a critical time, no question about it," said Crist, who recalled attending the dinners when he worked as a lawyer for Minor League Baseball and Bob Graham was governor.
Crist sat between Hall of Fame Reds announcer Marty Brennaman and Hall of Fame shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. Among others at the head table were Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, former player Fred McGriff; Major League Baseball President Bob DuPuy and Don Zimmer, who has spent 54 years working in the majors as a player, manager, coach and adviser.
Ripken recalled first coming to spring training when his father was a manager, and shared memories of his first spring training with the Orioles, when he hit a single off Goose Gossage.
"I've only known baseball and spring training to be Florida," Ripken said to applause from the nearly 800 people at the dinner. "I've had a wonderful time cruising around playing against many great players in the state of Florida."
Florida governors began hosting the baseball dinner about 60 years ago to welcome teams to Florida. That tradition ended in the mid-1990s when the late Lawton Chiles was governor. But Crist believes now is the time to show baseball officials how much he appreciates them.
"The governor deserves enormous credit for reviving these and we're delighted to participate," DuPuy said.
Kevin McCarthy, a University of Florida English professor who wrote a book about the history of baseball in Florida, thinks bringing back the baseball dinner is a good idea.
"When baseball teams see that officialdom is behind baseball, that really means something," McCarthy said.
Florida benefits beyond just ticket sales. McCarthy noted that reporters from cold-weather cities provide appealing accounts of the state.
"They write back not only about the baseball games, but also about what's happening in the cities in Florida in mid-March," he said. "At a time when the Northeast is still really cold, you read about the sunshine and the weather and the great fishing. That's tremendous publicity."
But it's also warm in Arizona, where the Cleveland Indians and New York Giants began training in 1946. The Cactus League expanded to three teams in 1952. Several teams have moved back and forth between the states in the decades that followed, a migration that's been working more in Arizona's favor in recent years.
Next February, when the Indians move back to Arizona and the Dodgers leave Vero Beach after six decades, Florida will be down to 16 spring training teams. Arizona will have 14.
The Reds are negotiating with Goodyear, Ariz., officials and could move from their Sarasota camp in two years, meaning teams would be evenly split between the spring training states.
DuPuy recognizes that, but notes Florida's history goes back much further and remains tremendously successful.
"There will be a critical mass of spring training teams in Florida forever. The Grapefruit League is too important to baseball," DuPuy said after the dinner.
A Turnkey Sports Poll asked more than 800 sports executives: "Which event is the most prestigious?"
SportsBusiness Journal
Masters..........41.8%
Super Bowl..........34.84%
World Series..........6.15%
Final Four..........4.92%
Kentucky Derby..........4.51%
Stanley Cup Finals..........2.46%
Indianapolis 500..........1.64%
Daytona 500..........0.82%
NBA Finals..........0.82%
U.S. Open tennis..........0.41%
More Americans Are Giving Up GolfPaul Vitello
Nytimes.com
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. — The men gathered in a new golf clubhouse here a couple of weeks ago circled the problem from every angle, like caddies lining up a shot out of the rough.
“We have to change our mentality,” said Richard Rocchio, a public relations consultant.
“The problem is time,” offered Walter Hurney, a real estate developer. “There just isn’t enough time. Men won’t spend a whole day away from their family anymore.”
William A. Gatz, owner of the Long Island National Golf Club in Riverhead, said the problem was fundamental economics: too much supply, not enough demand.
The problem was not a game of golf. It was the game of golf itself.
Over the past decade, the leisure activity most closely associated with corporate success in America has been in a kind of recession.
The total number of people who play has declined or remained flat each year since 2000, dropping to about 26 million from 30 million, according to the National Golf Foundation and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association.
More troubling to golf boosters, the number of people who play 25 times a year or more fell to 4.6 million in 2005 from 6.9 million in 2000, a loss of about a third.
The industry now counts its core players as those who golf eight or more times a year. That number, too, has fallen, but more slowly: to 15 million in 2006 from 17.7 million in 2000, according to the National Golf Foundation.
The five men who met here at the Wind Watch Golf Club a couple of weeks ago, golf aficionados all, wondered out loud about the reasons. Was it the economy? Changing family dynamics? A glut of golf courses? A surfeit of etiquette rules — like not letting people use their cellphones for the four hours it typically takes to play a round of 18 holes?
Or was it just the four hours?
Here on Long Island, where there are more than 100 private courses, golf course owners have tried various strategies: coupons and trial memberships, aggressive marketing for corporate and charity tournaments, and even some forays into the wedding business.
Over coffee with a representative of the National Golf Course Owners Association, the owners of four golf courses discussed forming an owners’ cooperative to market golf on Long Island and, perhaps, to purchase staples like golf carts and fertilizer more cheaply.
They strategized about marketing to women, who make up about 25 percent of golfers nationally; recruiting young players with a high school tournament; attracting families with special rates; realigning courses to 6-hole rounds, instead of 9 or 18; and seeking tax breaks, on the premise that golf courses, even private ones, provide publicly beneficial open space.
“When the ship is sinking, it’s time to get creative,” said Mr. Hurney, a principal owner of the Great Rock Golf Club in Wading River, which last summer erected a 4,000-square-foot tent for social events, including weddings, christenings and communions.
The disappearance of golfers over the past several years is part of a broader decline in outdoor activities — including tennis, swimming, hiking, biking and downhill skiing — according to a number of academic and recreation industry studies.
A 2006 study by the USTA, which has battled the trend somewhat successfully with a forceful campaign to recruit young players, found that punishing hurricane seasons factored into the decline of play in the South, while the soaring popularity of electronic games and newer sports like skateboarding was diminishing the number of new tennis players everywhere.
Rodney B. Warnick, a professor of recreation studies and tourism at UMass, said that the aging population of the United States was probably a part of the problem, too, and that “there is a younger generation that is just not as active.”
But golf, a sport of long-term investors — both those who buy the expensive equipment and those who build the princely estates on which it is played — has always seemed to exist in a world above the fray of shifting demographics. Not anymore.
Jim Kass, the research director of the National Golf Foundation, an industry group, said the gradual but prolonged slump in golf has defied the adage, “Once a golfer, always a golfer.” About three million golfers quit playing each year, and slightly fewer than that have been picking it up. A two-year campaign by the foundation to bring new players into the game, he said, “hasn’t shown much in the way of results.”
“The man in the street will tell you that golf is booming because he sees Tiger Woods on TV,” Mr. Kass said. “But we track the reality. The reality is, while we haven’t exactly tanked, the numbers have been disappointing for some time.”
Surveys sponsored by the foundation have asked players what keeps them away. “The answer is usually economic,” Mr. Kass said. “No time. Two jobs. Real wages not going up. Pensions going away. Corporate cutbacks in country club memberships — all that doom and gloom stuff.”
In many parts of the country, high expectations for a golf bonanza paralleling baby boomer retirements led to what is now considered a vast overbuilding of golf courses.
Between 1990 and 2003, developers built more than 3,000 new golf courses in the United States, bringing the total to about 16,000. Several hundred have closed in the last few years, most of them in Arizona, Florida, Michigan and South Carolina, according to the foundation.
(Scores more courses are listed for sale on the Web site of the National Golf Course Owners Association, which lists, for example, a North Carolina property described as “two 18-hole championship courses, great mountain locations, profitable, $1.5 million revenues, Bermuda fairways, bent grass, nice clubhouses, one at $5.5 million, other at $2.5 million — possible some owner financing.”)
At the meeting here, there was a consensus that changing family dynamics have had a profound effect on the sport.
“Years ago, men thought nothing of spending the whole day playing golf — maybe Saturday and Sunday both,” said Mr. Rocchio, the public relations consultant, who is also the New York regional director of the National Golf Course Owners Association. “Today, he is driving his kids to their soccer games. Maybe he’s playing a round early in the morning. But he has to get back home in time for lunch.”
Mr. Hurney, the real estate developer, chimed in, “Which is why if we don’t repackage our facilities to a more family orientation, we’re dead.”
To help keep the Great Rock Golf Club afloat, owners erected their large climate-controlled tent near the 18th green last summer. It sat next to the restaurant, Blackwell’s, already operating there. By most accounts, it has been a boon to the club — though perhaps not a hole in one.
Residents of the surrounding neighborhood have complained about party noise, and last year more than 40 signed a petition asking the town of Riverhead to intervene. Town officials are reviewing whether the tent meets local zoning regulations, but have not issued any noise summonses. Mr. Hurney told them he had purchased a decibel meter and would try to hire quieter entertainment.
One neighbor, Dominique Mendez, whose home is about 600 feet from the 18th hole, said, “We bought our house here because we wanted to live in a quiet place, and we thought a golf course would be nice to see from the window. Instead, people have to turn up their air conditioners or wear earplugs at night because of the music thumping.”
During weddings, she said: “you can hear the D.J., ‘We’re gonna do the garter!’ It’s a little much.”
No way to gild a golden economy: Economists say B.C.'s boom means the Olympics won't provide much of a financial boost PATRICK BRETHOUR
Globe and Mail
VANCOUVER — The 2010 Winter Games don't start for another two years, but Chris Gardner already has his Olympic gold - in the unlikely form of manufactured steel buildings.
Mr. Gardner and his company, Britco Structures, have won a $32-million contract to build a lodge and townhouse complex in Whistler for the Winter Games, a success that will send the rapidly growing company on yet another hiring spree.
The lure is not just the contract, lucrative as that may be. The real payoff for Britco will come from the ability to tout its Olympic performance, meeting the tight, unforgiving deadlines of the march to 2010. And it won't hurt that its two projects, a 100-room lodge and a 20-unit townhouse complex, will be in the background as the world watches the Games.
"Our facility is going to be in all those shots, all those photos," says Mr. Gardner, director of strategic planning and corporate development at Britco. "We're looking at this as a tremendous opportunity to market a B.C.-based company."
But first the company has to find new workers to manufacture and assemble those buildings; the new business means it will be expanding by 25 per cent. Britco will be on the hunt for help across British Columbia: in Langley, where the company has its headquarters; in Whistler, where it needs construction workers to assemble the buildings; in the Fraser Valley's eastern reaches, where it has a manufacturing facility in Agassiz; and in Penticton in the B.C. Interior, where it has a second manufacturing operation.
The work force at the Penticton site has already tripled in size, so Mr. Gardner is all too familiar with the increasingly severe shortage of labour in B.C. The skilled tradespeople that Britco needs to put up its buildings are in short supply, a consequence of the construction boom reverberating across the province. But with the unemployment rate hovering at an all-time low, B.C. is running short of workers of all sorts. "You see the Help Wanted signs everywhere," Mr. Gardner says.
He knows it won't be easy to find the workers needed for the planned expansion - but he's confident Britco will succeed, and cash in on its Olympic contract, before and after the Games.
"For us, it's a once-in-a-lifetime project," he says.
Britco's ambitions are the standard-issue Olympic dreams in B.C., where the entire province is focused on turning the two-week sporting extravaganza into an enduring economic benefit. But those hopes are coming face to face with the reality of the B.C. economy. Like neighbouring Alberta, B.C. has an unemployment rate lower than what economists believed - at least until very recently - to be possible over the long term.
And super-low unemployment means that, to an extent, any big new initiative such as the Olympics will be diverting workers from existing jobs.
Economists call this crowding out, but another way to look at it is the teeter-totter economy: For something to rise, something else must go down. Concrete used to build the Sea to Sky highway isn't being poured as the foundation of a new office tower. Carpenters who might be renovating homes are building ski jumps instead. And, if the 2010 Games hold true to earlier Olympics, B.C. tourist attractions will find that some of their business ends up flowing into Olympic venues instead.
Despite the glitz and glamour, economists don't believe the Olympics will fundamentally reshape the B.C. economy, which would chug along quite nicely without the 2010 Games. "The overall structure of the economy would not be much different," says Ken Peacock, director of economic research of the Business Council of British Columbia.
Just three blocks away from the rapidly growing Britco's Penticton operations, Greyback Construction Ltd. faces a much different outlook. The 25-year-old construction company doesn't have any direct connection to the Olympics, but it is feeling the pinch from the constricted labour market. It is experiencing the downward swing of the teeter-totter economy.
Greyback has all the work it can handle, and more, from construction jobs throughout the B.C. Interior. The construction sector is sizzling, yet Greyback is turning away work. The reason for this paradox: The company can't find the skilled workers it needs to take on a larger volume of jobs. "If we could get them, we'd go get more work, 'cause there's lots of work," says Larry Kenyon, Greyback's president.
He could always hire staff from competitors, but he has made a deliberate decision not to snatch workers from rival firms. Mr. Kenyon doesn't cite economic theory as his motivation - just the gut conviction that, once he starts luring employees from other firms, his own staff will be targeted. But his hunch aligns perfectly with what economic theory has to say about the state of the labour market in B.C., where full employment means that recruiting employees is a full-time headache.
In part because of the fact of full employment in B.C., the most recent study of the economic effect of the 2010 Games found only a limited impact. British Columbia's gross domestic product is projected to be $186.6-billion in 2016, about 5 per cent more than the $179.4-billion size of the economy if there were no Olympics, according to the study by the Urban Futures Institute in Vancouver prepared for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. And the Olympic effect will largely dissipate by 2016, according to Urban Futures, with the economic growth rate snapping back to what it would have been if the Vancouver Games had never existed.
Still, the expectation remains that the Olympics will deliver a long-term boost to British Columbia. That is certainly the hope of Delta Hotels, which doesn't foresee any great profit windfall from its direct Olympic business, in part because of a deal struck within the industry to limit the price official Olympic visitors pay for rooms in 2010.
But Gordon Johnson, regional vice-president for Delta in the province, says there is a hidden cost to that Olympic business: Other travellers will stay away from Vancouver during the time of the Games. It's an open question for Mr. Johnson as to whether Delta will be better off financially from the Games being held in B.C., at least in the short term.
"This one is so up in the air. We just don't know what business will choose to stay away from Vancouver in February," he says, noting that the arrangements with the Vancouver organizing committee leave the hotel industry with little scope to book other major events during the Games. "My instincts are that it will be a wash."
But he, like much of B.C., remains optimistic that a little of the Olympic glitter will rub off during the span of the Games, boosting the province's profile - leaving Delta to welcome tourists back long after the roar of the crowd has faded. "There are an awful lot of people in this globe," he says, "who have never been to Vancouver."
I thought only Torontonians ravenously consumed mediocrity....?
Packed to the rafters … 200 times in a row
MATTHEW SEKERES
Globe and Mail
VANCOUVER — Chris Zimmerman inherited a good situation.
Unlike his predecessors, the Vancouver Canucks president stepped into a string of full houses at General Motors Place when he joined the NHL franchise in October of 2006. Tonight, the Canucks will face the Dallas Stars before the 200th consecutive sellout, a phenomenon that began in November of 2002.
To the outsider, Vancouver looks every bit the hockey hotbed as Toronto or Montreal, a place where demand to see the local NHL team far outweighs ticket supply at 18,630-seat GM Place.
It's at the point where the Canucks now have waiting-list commitments for 8,000 seats on top of a season-ticket base of 17,000, meaning only a handful of single-game tickets
But Zimmerman doesn't want to hear comparisons to the sold-out-from-now-to-eternity Toronto Maple Leafs.
"That's an incredibly dangerous thing that I would never say," Zimmerman said. "We talk all the time about 'don't take any of this for granted.' Loyalty can be a fragile thing."
Especially in Vancouver, which has historically been a fickle market.
Save two runs to the Stanley Cup final in 1982 and 1994, the Canucks have never been more popular than they are today, but there are enough cautionary tales for Zimmerman and Co. not to rest on laurels. For the moment, the team's slogan — We Are All Canucks — extends to all parts of British Columbia, but there were days when such a statement would have been a single entendre.
Consider that the team was Stanley Cup runner-up in 1994, yet came back the next year to its worst crowds in two decades, a combination of excessive ticket price raises — in some cases as much as 50 per cent — and a 104-day league lockout that delayed the opening of the season until January.
Fans rejected both with their wallets.
One year later, the team moved into a new, downtown building and corrected its error by freezing ticket prices. Yet even with people curious to see the new digs, hundreds of empty seats remained at every game.
Then, in the last two seasons before the turn of the century, attendance dipped again under what Zimmerman called "the perfect storm of disenchantment."
In 1998-99, Brian Burke became president and general manager of the team, replacing the popular Pat Quinn and inheriting unpopular head coach Mike Keenan. The previous season, popular veteran Trevor Linden had been traded to the New York Islanders having already ceded his captaincy to big-money free-agent Mark Messier, whose Broadway popularity did not translate on the Lower Mainland after three of his worst offensive seasons.
Attendance dropped by 1,300 per game in Burke's first season, then plummeted to 14,649 in 1999-00 after Marc Crawford replaced Keenan as coach.
"There was a lack of connection with the community," Zimmerman said. "I'll be honest with you, it's a little hard for me to imagine."
Just as hard to imagine was Burke's routine. This wasn't a sunbelt market that needed primers on the hockey or exposure to a new team, yet Burke would make four public appearances daily, including speeches before and after dinners, selling the community on the team.
Anyone who owned four season tickets and did not renew received a call from Burke, and every year, the Canucks executive would attend a chamber of commerce breakfast with the humble goal of selling four season tickets.
"It was poor performance followed by the beheading of several popular figures. Firing Pat Quinn did not go over well; he was very popular, and so was Trevor," Burke said. "The presence of the [since-departed NBA franchise Vancouver] Grizzlies I thought was a big drain. There are a lot of people who want to bring their kid to a sporting event and basketball works just as well."
Burke said the tide started to turn due to three factors.
First, the Canucks began concentrating on group sales, believing that getting people into GM Place, even with discounted tickets, would keep them coming back.
Second, the team's style of play changed to suit Burke's fiery personality. Crawford instituted an up-tempo style that produced goals and fights and one of the NHL's best lines in Markus Naslund, Brendan Morrison and Todd Bertuzzi.
Third, after a five-year absence, the Canucks returned to the postseason in 2001.
By the beginning of the 2002-03 season, the Canucks were a tough ticket again. But more recently, even with a 99-per-cent season-ticket renewal rate last year, Zimmerman has attempted to strengthen the bond between the community and the team. Here, the comparisons to the Maple Leafs or Montreal Canadiens are welcome.
"The one thing those franchises might have on us is longer histories," Zimmerman said. "[But] we want to create something that, over time, has that kind of brand power and fan affinity."
Zimmerman said hockey in Canada can be compared to soccer in Brazil or Europe because it is so much a part of the local culture. The team is constantly looking for examples, be it from Manchester United or the NFL's Green Bay Packers, to further seed the Canucks into the DNA of British Columbians.
"In some ways, I believe every NHL Canadian city looks at its NHL team to define part of the community," said Zimmerman, a New Yorker and life-long hockey fan who came to the team from equipment manufacturer Nike Bauer. "So, giving back in a significant way, that's an important element."
The Canucks' community partnerships are so vast they cover four pages of the team's media guide and include the Canucks for Kids Fund, which has contributed more than $23-million to charities in the last two decades, including $2-million last season to Canuck Place, a hospice for children living with life-threatening conditions.
Zimmerman made the team's website his top priority and said it is now the No. 1 team site in the NHL. It is updated daily and includes contests, searches and videos, but it also allows the team to cull feedback from fans.
"There is no shortage of passion," Zimmerman said. "Our job is to fuel that passion."
Packed to the rafters … 200 times in a rowMATTHEW SEKERES
Globe and Mail
VANCOUVER — Chris Zimmerman inherited a good situation.
Unlike his predecessors, the Vancouver Canucks president stepped into a string of full houses at General Motors Place when he joined the NHL franchise in October of 2006. Tonight, the Canucks will face the Dallas Stars before the 200th consecutive sellout, a phenomenon that began in November of 2002.
To the outsider, Vancouver looks every bit the hockey hotbed as Toronto or Montreal, a place where demand to see the local NHL team far outweighs ticket supply at 18,630-seat GM Place.
It's at the point where the Canucks now have waiting-list commitments for 8,000 seats on top of a season-ticket base of 17,000, meaning only a handful of single-game tickets
But Zimmerman doesn't want to hear comparisons to the sold-out-from-now-to-eternity Toronto Maple Leafs.
"That's an incredibly dangerous thing that I would never say," Zimmerman said. "We talk all the time about 'don't take any of this for granted.' Loyalty can be a fragile thing."
Especially in Vancouver, which has historically been a fickle market.
Save two runs to the Stanley Cup final in 1982 and 1994, the Canucks have never been more popular than they are today, but there are enough cautionary tales for Zimmerman and Co. not to rest on laurels. For the moment, the team's slogan — We Are All Canucks — extends to all parts of British Columbia, but there were days when such a statement would have been a single entendre.
Consider that the team was Stanley Cup runner-up in 1994, yet came back the next year to its worst crowds in two decades, a combination of excessive ticket price raises — in some cases as much as 50 per cent — and a 104-day league lockout that delayed the opening of the season until January.
Fans rejected both with their wallets.
One year later, the team moved into a new, downtown building and corrected its error by freezing ticket prices. Yet even with people curious to see the new digs, hundreds of empty seats remained at every game.
Then, in the last two seasons before the turn of the century, attendance dipped again under what Zimmerman called "the perfect storm of disenchantment."
In 1998-99, Brian Burke became president and general manager of the team, replacing the popular Pat Quinn and inheriting unpopular head coach Mike Keenan. The previous season, popular veteran Trevor Linden had been traded to the New York Islanders having already ceded his captaincy to big-money free-agent Mark Messier, whose Broadway popularity did not translate on the Lower Mainland after three of his worst offensive seasons.
Attendance dropped by 1,300 per game in Burke's first season, then plummeted to 14,649 in 1999-00 after Marc Crawford replaced Keenan as coach.
"There was a lack of connection with the community," Zimmerman said. "I'll be honest with you, it's a little hard for me to imagine."
Just as hard to imagine was Burke's routine. This wasn't a sunbelt market that needed primers on the hockey or exposure to a new team, yet Burke would make four public appearances daily, including speeches before and after dinners, selling the community on the team.
Anyone who owned four season tickets and did not renew received a call from Burke, and every year, the Canucks executive would attend a chamber of commerce breakfast with the humble goal of selling four season tickets.
"It was poor performance followed by the beheading of several popular figures. Firing Pat Quinn did not go over well; he was very popular, and so was Trevor," Burke said. "The presence of the [since-departed NBA franchise Vancouver] Grizzlies I thought was a big drain. There are a lot of people who want to bring their kid to a sporting event and basketball works just as well."
Burke said the tide started to turn due to three factors.
First, the Canucks began concentrating on group sales, believing that getting people into GM Place, even with discounted tickets, would keep them coming back.
Second, the team's style of play changed to suit Burke's fiery personality. Crawford instituted an up-tempo style that produced goals and fights and one of the NHL's best lines in Markus Naslund, Brendan Morrison and Todd Bertuzzi.
Third, after a five-year absence, the Canucks returned to the postseason in 2001.
By the beginning of the 2002-03 season, the Canucks were a tough ticket again. But more recently, even with a 99-per-cent season-ticket renewal rate last year, Zimmerman has attempted to strengthen the bond between the community and the team. Here, the comparisons to the Maple Leafs or Montreal Canadiens are welcome.
"The one thing those franchises might have on us is longer histories," Zimmerman said. "[But] we want to create something that, over time, has that kind of brand power and fan affinity."
Zimmerman said hockey in Canada can be compared to soccer in Brazil or Europe because it is so much a part of the local culture. The team is constantly looking for examples, be it from Manchester United or the NFL's Green Bay Packers, to further seed the Canucks into the DNA of British Columbians.
"In some ways, I believe every NHL Canadian city looks at its NHL team to define part of the community," said Zimmerman, a New Yorker and life-long hockey fan who came to the team from equipment manufacturer Nike Bauer. "So, giving back in a significant way, that's an important element."
The Canucks' community partnerships are so vast they cover four pages of the team's media guide and include the Canucks for Kids Fund, which has contributed more than $23-million to charities in the last two decades, including $2-million last season to Canuck Place, a hospice for children living with life-threatening conditions.
Zimmerman made the team's website his top priority and said it is now the No. 1 team site in the NHL. It is updated daily and includes contests, searches and videos, but it also allows the team to cull feedback from fans.
"There is no shortage of passion," Zimmerman said. "Our job is to fuel that passion."
NAFTA....and sport
Super Bowl clobbers the Grey CupMARINA STRAUSS
Globe and Mail
Among Canadian football fans, broadcasts of the Super Bowl have gained a slight lead over the Grey Cup in popularity, but among advertisers the American gridiron extravaganza is the champion, hands down.
Both games are among the biggest television draws in the country, and the Super Bowl has just begun to overtake the Canadian Football League championship in the ratings.
When it comes to commercials, however, it's another story. Advertisers are paying about 70 per cent more for a 30-second spot on CTV's Super Bowl telecast next Sunday – about $110,000 (not including discounts) – than what they shelled out for a commercial on CBC's Grey Cup show in November, according to media buyers.
The difference is that the ads are part of the show on the Super Bowl. But many of the ads shown on American television don't reach the audience in Canada.
“If you are an outsider who doesn't understand our business … it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever,” said Dennis Dinga, a vice-president with M2 Universal, which buys media space for advertisers.
“But if you factor in water cooler talk, how many people talk about the Super Bowl … I can't tell you how many meetings we sit in after the fact and look at Super Bowl commercials both in the U.S. and Canada. We rarely do that with any other event.”
Super Bowl advertising is all about the buzz. Media analysts call it the prestige factor and the appeal of being part of an event in which the ads are part of the show.
They also note that CTV, which won the rights to the Super Bowl in Canada last spring after it was shown for 25 years on Global, paid a hefty price and needs to recoup those costs.
Even so, Canadians don't get to see the flashiest ads that Americans view on the U.S. broadcast of the Super Bowl. South of the border, advertisers sometimes blow their budget on a Super Bowl spot, using it as a showcase for their products. Consequently, the ads become the focus of YouTube and dinner party chatter. Canadians only get to hear about those ads later.
But advertisers are still willing to fork over big money in Canada. “You're buying it for the prestige,” said Sylvia Criger, managing director at Media Buying Services. “You're buying it for the half time show, for people talking about it: ‘Did you see yada yada.' ” The Super Bowl attracts more of an upscale viewer – “more from Bay Street” – and more women, she added. As a result, car companies, for example, are more apt to tout higher end models on the broadcast.
Even without the much-hyped ads on the U.S. broadcast, Canadian advertisers are generally reaching their desired adult audience, said Florence Ng, a vice-president at media buyer ZenithOptimedia.
Among the all-important 25-to-54 year old demographic, the Super Bowl drew 55 per cent more viewers than the Grey Cup last year, she said. The American game's ratings were higher in Toronto and Vancouver, but lower in Calgary, where the Grey Cup has a bigger following.
And the Grey Cup remains a big draw. Up until 2005, it attracted bigger audiences than the Super Bowl, according to figures from Global and CBC. The public broadcaster had the rights to air the Grey Cup until it was snatched away by CTV's TSN last year.
Rita Fabian, executive vice-president of sales and marketing at CTV, said Super Bowl ads are almost sold out and the telecast is expected to attract more than four million viewers. Last year, it drew about 3.7 million, according to Global. (However, there are discrepancies in the figures, depending on the source, age group targeted and whether other programming is included.)
Hockey: Now with extra maple leaf syrup
Gold medal game a ratings winner for TSNThe Canadian Press
TORONTO - The Canada-Sweden world junior hockey final Saturday afternoon was the fourth most-watched program ever aired by TSN.
Live coverage of the championship game, won 3-2 in overtime by Canada, attracted a national average audience of 2.22 million viewers, the network announced Monday. Peak viewership was 3.04 million just before the start of overtime.
The ratings were up 23 per cent from last year's gold-medal game in Sweden when 1.8 million watched. Another 168,000 viewers took in the replay later Saturday, while 526,000 watched on RDS, bringing total viewership to 2.8 million.
The gold-medal game was the No. 2 program of the week in Canada. It was edged by Desperate Housewives on CTV (Jan. 6, 2.27 million).
TSN's coverage of Canada's seven tournament games averaged 950,000 viewers, making it the most successful world junior tournament for TSN taking place in Europe, surpassing the previous high of 933,000 in 2007 in Sweden.
Canada's 4-1 win over the United States last Friday attracted 1.02 million viewers.
TSN's most-watched program of all-time was the 2003 gold-medal game between Canada and Russia with 3.45 million viewers.
The record audience for a sporting event in Canada, with more than 10 million English and French-language viewers on CBC, was the Canadian men's gold medal hockey win over the U.S. at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.
Don't expect any help from the UofT!
Toronto Pan-Am bid likely won't go too far Christopher Hume
Toronto's bid for the 2010 Olympics didn't work out, and it couldn't quite meet the deadline for its Expo 2015 entry. Now there's word the city might go after the Pan-American Games to be held in eight years.
If that fails, who knows what we might try for next – the World Tiddlywinks Championships?
But then, why bother? Hosting such an event is simply not in Toronto's fate.
The reasons have nothing to do with civic willingness, but with the larger question of whether the city and its masters – provincial and federal governments – can muster the will. Don't hold your breath.
Writing about the Pan-Am bid, the Star's Jim Byers noted that, "one Queen's Park source said the government likes the idea at this early stage, especially since it's geared to the entire Golden Horseshoe and not focused on Toronto, which would be a tougher sell politically in other parts of Ontario."
God forbid that Premier Dalton McGuinty should be seen to favour Toronto over Oshawa, Peterborough, Wawa and the rest of the province. Wouldn't that be awful?
Little wonder Toronto has always been passed over. Which is why there's little reason to get excited about the Pan-Am Games. However unremarkable the competing cities – former host sites include Indianapolis, Winnipeg and Cali, Colombia – Toronto, make that, Ontario, is unlikely to be chosen.
To begin with, it doesn't make sense to spread the games over an area that stretches from St. Catharines to Barrie. For a second-tier athletic event to have any impact, it needs to be concentrated in a location where it can create a critical mass of activity and awareness.
Secondly, the proposal makes it obvious that the jurisdictions involved – city and province – cannot rise above the political concerns that have historically kept both from realizing their potential.
Furthermore, city council is an embarrassment and the Legislature barely has a pulse. The former rarely manages get beyond its own dysfunction; the latter exists within a bubble that should have burst three decades ago.
Not only has Canada fallen behind its competitors, it is out of touch with the realities of the 21st century, and more critical, of itself. As national borders grow less and less important in an increasingly global economic order we remain steadfastly rooted in the parochial patterns of our 19th-century past.
Although the world is learning to think ever more regionally, Canada, and Ontario, are defiantly local. That may keep the neighbours happy for the time being, but it's no way to run a province, let alone an economy that's under growing pressure to stay competitive.
Yet hope springs eternal. Last week, we were treated to the spectacle of Greater Toronto Transportation Authority (now Metrolinx) chair, Rob MacIsaac, declaring that in just 20 years the city's transit infrastructure will equal London's. Oh really! This in a region that's already 30 years behind the U.K. What's the plan, magic carpets?
The blame goes well beyond Mac- Isaac, of course, but who does he think he's fooling?
Instead of shovels in the ground, we're treated to this sort of glib complacency. Rather than progress, we get gridlock, and words when we need work. It's no surprise there's such cynicism about the political process in these parts.
If the Pan-Am Games were actually awarded to southern Ontario, they'd have to be renamed the Highway Games because visitors would spend so much time travelling from one venue to another.
But as long as we don't offend Fenelon Falls, no reason to worry.
Ontario, still ours to discover.
Who said Toronto sports fans don't know mediocrity...?
Confidential files reveal fortunes of Leafs empire: Parent company's ventures have generated an astonishing 22% profit margin
Rick Westhead
Confidential files reveal fortunes of Leafs empire: Parent company's ventures have generated an astonishing 22% profit marginRick Westhead
Thestar.com
Hours after Mats Sundin collected his 500th NHL goal last season, the nylon mesh net that corralled the landmark puck was removed from the Air Canada Centre and shipped to a factory where workers cut it into 2,000 pieces.
The small bits of net were mounted on a board next to a photo of Sundin and slipped into a matted frame. In an instant, otherwise worthless scraps of nylon had been transformed into valuable sports memorabilia. One Toronto sports marketing executive estimates the Maple Leafs' parent company, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, generated $40,000 from the promotion.
That episode demonstrates the one sure fact sports fans understand about MLSE: It knows how to make money. And now, confidential documents reviewed by the Star reveal the sports empire is poised to earn a lot more – much of it coming from increased ticket prices.
Internal financial statements show MLSE generated profit of $83 million on revenue of $383 million in the year ended June 30. The internal documents also show the company forecasts a profit of $105 million by 2011 on revenue of $477 million. Over the same period, ticket revenue is expected to increase 30 per cent, to $166 million.
The documents also reveal that, for every dollar Maple Leaf Sports generated in fiscal 2007, 21.8 cents was profit. (By contrast, Royal Bank of Canada, the country's largest bank, reportedly had a profit margin of 13.3 per cent for its last fiscal year.)
Asked to confirm the figures, Maple Leaf Sports president Richard Peddie said, "I'm not going to say yes or no. However you got your numbers you got them. I'm not going to discuss any financials. That's been my consistent stand for the past 10 years."
Peddie acknowledged the team's financial forecast for upcoming years is "rosy but with some challenges."
While its owners include the publicly traded Toronto Dominion Bank, details of Maple Leaf Sports' finances have long been a closely guarded secret. Besides the company's management committee, only its shareholders – TD, CTVglobemedia, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, and real estate developer Larry Tanenbaum – have had access to the figures.
It isn't clear whether the Maple Leaf Sports figures, marked "Highly Confidential," had been audited and the financial statements did not appear to take into account several of the company's recent ventures such as the fledgling Toronto FC soccer team or Maple Leaf Square, a real estate development featuring twin towers that is being built steps from the Air Canada Centre.
Peddie confirmed a separate company has been established for Maple Leaf Square, which includes a hotel, condominiums (already sold out), retail and office space. Peddie said profits from Maple Leaf Square would be realized as soon as 2010.
"These are very healthy numbers," said one investment banker who specializes in the sports industry. "They're making money with the appreciation of the company and generating a great annual profit. Where else are (Maple Leaf Sports shareholders) going to get that?"
However, former MLSE vice-president Jeff Newman warns that repeated ticket-price hikes could mean trouble ahead. "The NFL has it all figured out," Newman said. "The average guy living in Detroit working on the GM line can still afford season tickets for $500 or $1,000."
The Maple Leafs, by contrast, have increased prices to the point where many of the team's most loyal fans probably feel disenfranchised, Newman said, a fact that was underscored during a recent Maple Leafs playoff push.
"We encouraged everyone to wear blue but it didn't work at all," he said. "It was still a lot of investment bankers coming to the game in suits. It's Bay Street that goes to those games. Leafs Nation can't afford it."
While it's hard to value the company as a whole, several sports industry executives said based on its financial makeup, Maple Leaf Sports would likely attract at least $1.5 billion should it ever be put on the block. Maple Leaf Sports has shown a flair for marketing ever since its predecessor company bought basketball's Raptors and the Air Canada Centre in 1998.
During the Leafs' final game at Maple Leaf Gardens on Feb. 13, 1999, team staff collected ice shavings the Zamboni had scooped off the ice between periods. The melted ice was cleaned and purified, and poured into about 2,500 acrylic pucks. Within days, the entire lot had been sold for $50 apiece for a net profit of roughly $125,000.
"It's really about trying to sell pieces of the game," said Caroline Wright, a Maple Leafs vice-president who oversees merchandising efforts. "I think when they shut down Maple Leaf Gardens, they even sold the trough from the bathroom."
While Maple Leaf Sports has made millions through investments in digital TV networks, arena management and real estate, one question looms: Where does it go from here?
"I don't know and if I did know I wouldn't tell you," Peddie said. "I don't know what our next big project is going to be."
Peddie said Maple Leaf Sports has snubbed the idea of starting a team-themed restaurant chain. "We've done the (profit and loss estimates) on this a number of times and the numbers just are too low," he said.
Maple Leaf Sports similarly has rejected the idea of buying a Women's NBA, indoor soccer or arena football franchise. It's also not interested in investing in a European soccer team, Peddie said.
"I joked with (Major League Soccer commissioner) Don Garber about whether he'd consider giving us a second team for Toronto," Peddie said. In its first year, Toronto FC sold an average 20,000 tickets at 15 home games, some 5,500 more than it expected.
Maple Leaf Sports is poised to expand its soccer investment, following in the footsteps of Real Salt Lake, another MLS franchise that recently announced plans to build a $25 million (U.S.) youth soccer academy in Utah that could attract as many as 200 players as young as 13 to train with coaching staff and attend private school.
Peddie on Thursday reviewed plans to build a soccer youth academy here and said it's a promising development.
Soccer teams typically generate a large portion of their revenue selling players, often homegrown, to other clubs. In July, for instance, Real Salt Lake sold American teenage soccer phenom Freddy Adu to the Portuguese club Benfica for $2 million.
While soccer has made strides in Canada in recent years, the Leafs – who haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1967 – remain the engine that drives Maple Leaf Sports.
And while Peddie and other company executives said they're uncertain over the best ways to buttress the hockey team's revenue, Jeff Newman, a former Maple Leaf Sports senior marketer, said a natural move would be for the Leafs to adopt so-called variable ticket pricing. The move might mean a ticket to a Leafs-Montreal Canadiens game could cost much more than a Leafs-Phoenix Coyotes contest. The practice could also see Toronto raise ticket prices at particular parts of the season.
The small bits of net were mounted on a board next to a photo of Sundin and slipped into a matted frame. In an instant, otherwise worthless scraps of nylon had been transformed into valuable sports memorabilia. One Toronto sports marketing executive estimates the Maple Leafs' parent company, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, generated $40,000 from the promotion.
That episode demonstrates the one sure fact sports fans understand about MLSE: It knows how to make money. And now, confidential documents reviewed by the Star reveal the sports empire is poised to earn a lot more – much of it coming from increased ticket prices.
Internal financial statements show MLSE generated profit of $83 million on revenue of $383 million in the year ended June 30. The internal documents also show the company forecasts a profit of $105 million by 2011 on revenue of $477 million. Over the same period, ticket revenue is expected to increase 30 per cent, to $166 million.
The documents also reveal that, for every dollar Maple Leaf Sports generated in fiscal 2007, 21.8 cents was profit. (By contrast, Royal Bank of Canada, the country's largest bank, reportedly had a profit margin of 13.3 per cent for its last fiscal year.)
Asked to confirm the figures, Maple Leaf Sports president Richard Peddie said, "I'm not going to say yes or no. However you got your numbers you got them. I'm not going to discuss any financials. That's been my consistent stand for the past 10 years."
Peddie acknowledged the team's financial forecast for upcoming years is "rosy but with some challenges."
While its owners include the publicly traded Toronto Dominion Bank, details of Maple Leaf Sports' finances have long been a closely guarded secret. Besides the company's management committee, only its shareholders – TD, CTVglobemedia, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, and real estate developer Larry Tanenbaum – have had access to the figures.
It isn't clear whether the Maple Leaf Sports figures, marked "Highly Confidential," had been audited and the financial statements did not appear to take into account several of the company's recent ventures such as the fledgling Toronto FC soccer team or Maple Leaf Square, a real estate development featuring twin towers that is being built steps from the Air Canada Centre.
Peddie confirmed a separate company has been established for Maple Leaf Square, which includes a hotel, condominiums (already sold out), retail and office space. Peddie said profits from Maple Leaf Square would be realized as soon as 2010.
"These are very healthy numbers," said one investment banker who specializes in the sports industry. "They're making money with the appreciation of the company and generating a great annual profit. Where else are (Maple Leaf Sports shareholders) going to get that?"
However, former MLSE vice-president Jeff Newman warns that repeated ticket-price hikes could mean trouble ahead. "The NFL has it all figured out," Newman said. "The average guy living in Detroit working on the GM line can still afford season tickets for $500 or $1,000."
The Maple Leafs, by contrast, have increased prices to the point where many of the team's most loyal fans probably feel disenfranchised, Newman said, a fact that was underscored during a recent Maple Leafs playoff push.
"We encouraged everyone to wear blue but it didn't work at all," he said. "It was still a lot of investment bankers coming to the game in suits. It's Bay Street that goes to those games. Leafs Nation can't afford it."
While it's hard to value the company as a whole, several sports industry executives said based on its financial makeup, Maple Leaf Sports would likely attract at least $1.5 billion should it ever be put on the block. Maple Leaf Sports has shown a flair for marketing ever since its predecessor company bought basketball's Raptors and the Air Canada Centre in 1998.
During the Leafs' final game at Maple Leaf Gardens on Feb. 13, 1999, team staff collected ice shavings the Zamboni had scooped off the ice between periods. The melted ice was cleaned and purified, and poured into about 2,500 acrylic pucks. Within days, the entire lot had been sold for $50 apiece for a net profit of roughly $125,000.
"It's really about trying to sell pieces of the game," said Caroline Wright, a Maple Leafs vice-president who oversees merchandising efforts. "I think when they shut down Maple Leaf Gardens, they even sold the trough from the bathroom."
While Maple Leaf Sports has made millions through investments in digital TV networks, arena management and real estate, one question looms: Where does it go from here?
"I don't know and if I did know I wouldn't tell you," Peddie said. "I don't know what our next big project is going to be."
Peddie said Maple Leaf Sports has snubbed the idea of starting a team-themed restaurant chain. "We've done the (profit and loss estimates) on this a number of times and the numbers just are too low," he said.
Maple Leaf Sports similarly has rejected the idea of buying a Women's NBA, indoor soccer or arena football franchise. It's also not interested in investing in a European soccer team, Peddie said.
"I joked with (Major League Soccer commissioner) Don Garber about whether he'd consider giving us a second team for Toronto," Peddie said. In its first year, Toronto FC sold an average 20,000 tickets at 15 home games, some 5,500 more than it expected.
Maple Leaf Sports is poised to expand its soccer investment, following in the footsteps of Real Salt Lake, another MLS franchise that recently announced plans to build a $25 million (U.S.) youth soccer academy in Utah that could attract as many as 200 players as young as 13 to train with coaching staff and attend private school.
Peddie on Thursday reviewed plans to build a soccer youth academy here and said it's a promising development.
Soccer teams typically generate a large portion of their revenue selling players, often homegrown, to other clubs. In July, for instance, Real Salt Lake sold American teenage soccer phenom Freddy Adu to the Portuguese club Benfica for $2 million.
While soccer has made strides in Canada in recent years, the Leafs – who haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1967 – remain the engine that drives Maple Leaf Sports.
And while Peddie and other company executives said they're uncertain over the best ways to buttress the hockey team's revenue, Jeff Newman, a former Maple Leaf Sports senior marketer, said a natural move would be for the Leafs to adopt so-called variable ticket pricing. The move might mean a ticket to a Leafs-Montreal Canadiens game could cost much more than a Leafs-Phoenix Coyotes contest. The practice could also see Toronto raise ticket prices at particular parts of the season.
Follow the Sport sponsorship: Arena Footbal to NASCAR to Poker
Super marketing deals up for grabs
BRIAN MILNER
Globe and Mail
Super marketing deals up for grabsBRIAN MILNER
Globe and Mail
If the favoured Indianapolis Colts prevail in the Super Bowl on Sunday, quarterback Peyton Manning will finally remove the stigma of never being able to win the big game. But regardless of what he accomplishes on the field in Miami, he will not reap the largest rewards off the field. That's because Manning is already a commercial superstar, with a high profile, a bankable image and a slew of impressive sponsorship deals unsurpassed in the National Football League.
Thanks to lucrative contracts with such major consumer marketers as Sony, Reebok, Sprint, DirecTV, MasterCard and PepsiCo's Gatorade brand, Manning raked in close to $12-million (all figures U.S.) last year, putting him first among NFL players and ninth among all athletes. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Manning's leading rival, ranked second among NFL players at $9-million in Sports Illustrated's annual tabulation.
"From a marketing standpoint, his upside is a little bit limited," David Carter, the executive director of the University of Southern California's Sports Business Institute, said of Manning. "He's already pretty much the gold standard for the NFL endorser. He really can't get much higher." But if Manning has little room in his crowded marketing portfolio for more deals, others taking the field on Sunday, or just walking the sidelines, stand to make big scores if their team does well. While everyone else watches the game, the marketing pros will be keeping a close eye on a handful of players from each team, as well as their coaches.
Indeed, Colts head coach Tony Dungy and his Bears counterpart, Lovie Smith, could outdo any of their players in endorsement revenues. Both have what marketers seek: intriguing personal stories that include triumphs over adversity, a renowned work ethic, strong personalities and the respect and admiration of peers, players and fans. The fact that they are the first two black coaches to lead their teams to the Super Bowl may add to their appeal, but probably isn't going to be a big factor for marketers. For the winning coach, "you're looking at seven figures per year, multiple years," said Marc Ganis, the president of SportsCorp., a sports industry consulting firm in Chicago. Dungy's life story, which includes the tragedy of a son's suicide, and his classy demeanour will make him a sought-after pitchman, should he choose to cash in on his marketability. Smith may not turn into a Mike Ditka, Carter said. "But if you can win in Chicago, you can get big recognition," he said.
Among the players, star linebacker Brian Urlacher is the only Bear who stands to reap a windfall from a dominant performance. Urlacher is already well known in the national arena, where he has pitched products for Nike, Under Armor apparel and Sega, among others, and has even appeared in one of Manning's MasterCard advertisements. If the Bears win, he'll be a natural choice for soft-drink, fast-food and other national marketers, Ganis predicts. For the rest of the Colts and Bears, the Super Bowl should be viewed as a platform to help build their images, Carter said. Those who have the one brilliant game will undoubtedly get some short-term endorsements, particularly in their local market, but they will soon be forgotten unless they can parlay the acclaim into a solid career.
Are sport management grads finally gaining some power in the NHL old-boys jockocracy?
Hear the cavemen roar: Hockey as ballet
In an effort to reinvent itself (not again), the NHL is emphasizing skill and speed as part of its sportertainment package.
A record 47% of NHL skaters ( 301 of 640 ) are wearing visors this season, according to a survey by The Hockey News. Six years ago only 24 % used eye protection.
Hear the cavemen roar: Hockey as ballet
In an effort to reinvent itself (not again), the NHL is emphasizing skill and speed as part of its sportertainment package.
A record 47% of NHL skaters ( 301 of 640 ) are wearing visors this season, according to a survey by The Hockey News. Six years ago only 24 % used eye protection.
Branding Grand Rapids 
Arena Football League, a sport entertainment product brought to the consumer by the U.S. Army Recruiting Office, EA Sports and Slim Jim.
The Arena FB viewer
The Arena FB viewer
AFL2 v. AFL
NHL scores YouTube deal: League seeking younger U.S. fans
Rick Westhead
Toronto Star
The National Hockey League has signed a deal with popular video-sharing website YouTube Inc. to market highlight clips in a bid to boost fan interest in some U.S. markets..
Trumpeted as the first of its kind between a professional North American sports league and YouTube, the agreement has wide-ranging implications both for the NHL and for the upstart California-based company.
The NHL is hoping to widen its fan base through an Internet site that's proven popular with young potential viewers. Earlier, in an effort to develop a larger profile, the league changed its rules to make the game more interesting.
For YouTube, which recently agreed to be acquired by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion (U.S.), the pact represents a chance to further legitimize itself, even as some major TV networks and sports leagues assail it for posting copyrighted content.
Through YouTube, consumers view short videos more than 100 million times a day, ranging from clips of a cicada moulting and jugglers to vintage cartoons and sports highlights recorded from television feed.
Users post more than 60,000 videos daily. Most videos are limited to about 10 minutes.
The NHL said that the league would protect its copyrighted material and share in any revenue generated from advertising placed adjacent to its hockey video offerings.
The videos would be posted at least a full day after a game's completion. Brad Pelletier, an executive with the Canadian unit of sports consultancy I.M.G., said the league was probably considering a move to offer "raw, uncut and behind-the-scenes footage" that may not have aired during conventional broadcasts.
Even so, it's doubtful the NHL would generate significant revenue through the initiative, said several Internet marketing experts.
"It's pure PR," said Steve Safran, a Boston-based Internet consultant. "It's encouraging people to share clips from hockey games, which is something they really don't do right now."
For YouTube, said to be the largest video-sharing site on the Web, the NHL contract is noteworthy because it marks the first time a major sports league has embraced its technology.
While users have already been able to access NHL highlights for months at the website — clips available at YouTube, before yesterday's deal was announced, included a 1999 brawl between the Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers and a collection of goals scored by Washington's young forward Alexander Ovechkin — a formal agreement with the hockey league helps to legitimize the Internet site.
"It's further validation for YouTube," said Jimmy Schaeffler, a former producer with ABC Sports who now works as the Carmel Group media consultancy in California. "It's kind of like when the government says something's illegal but doesn't do anything about it, and then they make it legal and, all of a sudden, people rush in and it becomes that much more popular."
Still, Schaeffler said, "how the NHL monetizes this remains the big question."
One looming obstacle that YouTube has been trying to navigate is the complaints raised by TV networks, sports leagues and others who have cried foul when copyrighted content has been posted to the Website.
YouTube is often forced to take popular content off its site. National Football League spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in an interview that YouTube recently complied with a request to remove more than 3,000 clips featuring NFL game footage.
Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association have raised similar complaints.
Just this week, Google said it would set aside more than $200 million to deal with potential lawsuits and copyright settlements over the next 12 months that might arise in the wake of its acquisition of YouTube.
"The only reason this deal was done was because the NHL was going to make YouTube remove all of the copyrighted NHL clips. So YouTube says, `Okay, we'll host whatever you want for free just so it's not negative press,'" said Dan Rayburn, executive vice-president with Internet consulting company Steaming Media.
Rayburn said the deal was of minimal value to the NHL.
"Why not host the clips on the NHL.com site and drive traffic there?" Rayburn asked.
"Why give YouTube the traffic when the NHL will get no revenue in return? If the NHL was smart, they would take the same route that (baseball) has gone and actually make money from their content instead of giving away their videos and hoping they will see something in return from a share of advertising revenue."
Coming off a year during which fans flocked back to the sport after a lockout led to a full season's cancellation, the NHL has failed to post similar gains this year.
The Los Angeles Times reported this month that league attendance was down 2.1 per cent and that 16 of the league's 30 teams have posted declines in attendance.
To be sure, the NHL isn't the first mainstream organization that's sought firmer ties to YouTube, the business started by two men in their 20s who worked out of a garage.
In April, Weinstein Co., a movie company run by producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, premiered the first few minutes of the film Lucky Number Slevin on YouTube and General Electric Co.'s NBC said it would create a channel on YouTube to offer promotional video clips for some of its popular shows such as The Office and Saturday Night Live.
The deal is the second of its kind for the NHL in recent weeks.
The league also signed an agreement with YouTube parent Google where fans can access full-length archived NHL games such as Game Six of the 1967 Stanley Cup finals between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.
Forget Hockey Dad. Meet Anti-Hockey Grandpa.He's the star of the Tim Hortons Olympic ad. But what kind of monster is he?
TONY KELLER
Just be glad he wasn't your father. Or maybe he was.
Among the ads in high rotation during the Turin Winter Olympics were Bell's beavers with cellphones, humans with Yoplait-induced logorrhea -- and three generations of Chinese-Canadian men in Tim Hortons' rinkside soap opera.
At first viewing, it's a heartwarming tale of fathers, sons, immigrants and hockey. Does it get any more Canadian? Watching it, you probably choked up a bit. But after seeing it for the fifth or 43rd time, you may have started to wonder: what kind of a dad hates hockey so much, and loves his little boy so little, that he refuses to go to his son's games -- though he did once or twice sneak a peek through the Zamboni tunnel, keeping his visits a secret, as if the rink were a crack house?
Canada, you know Hockey Dad. Meet his nemesis: Anti-Hockey Grandpa. No, he will not drive you to the rink. No, he will not buy you a chocolate bar afterwards. For those who haven't seen the ad, a plot summary: somewhere in Canada, Grandfather, stern first-generation patriarch of a Chinese-Canadian family, has come to the rink to watch his grandson, Tommy. The father is surprised to see grandfather, who has never been to see Tommy play before. As they sit, the proud father, making small talk, says that Tommy is a good player. "Better than you," shoots back grandpa. The father shakes his head, asking: "How would you know?" You are, after all, Anti-Hockey Grandpa. You never came to see me. You hated hockey; thought it a distraction from school and homework. Flashback to the early 1970s, and the son being dragged out of a road hockey game by the patriarch. "You must study harder," admonishes the old man, leading him into the house while blond neighbourhood boys play on. "Not just hockey all the time." He spits out the word, "hockey."
So how can grandfather know that Tommy is a better player than the father? "I come watch," says grandfather. The son can't believe it. "Okay, what team did I play for?" asks the son. "You right wing," says the old man, pulling out his wallet and finding a fading photo of a preteen in a yellow sweater. And so the secret is revealed: 30 years ago, he watched at least one game. "Thanks dad," says the son, as our tear ducts swell. To which Grandpa replies, never making eye contact with his son, "gimme my picture back."
Thanks? What kind of dad waits until his son is pushing 40 to tell him that -- surprise! -- back when you were six, I did see one of your games, and maybe I didn't think of you as quite the disappointment I always told you you were? And what kind of a son, on learning that, responds with "Thanks?" Folks have spent years on an analyst's couch for less.
He's cold, but Anti-Hockey Grandpa could be a genuine Canadian archetype, one a hockey-mad culture doesn't normally acknowledge. Paul Wales, president of Enterprise Creative Selling, creator of the spot, insists that the story's intergenerational differences speak to us, especially children of immigrants. The Grandpa character, according to Wales, represents a first-generation, small-business owner whose view is, "you work hard and you work first, and that's what your life should be about."
As for the revelation, 30 years too late, that Grandpa went to his son's hockey game, "if we'd done it in a more gentle way, it wouldn't have been genuine," says Wales. "He wouldn't have told him that he went and he saw him. Because it's the way that relationship is with that culture from that generation."
Wales says there's been a huge response to the ad, with some people telling him that it makes them feel "like someone was looking right into my family."
Victor Wong, executive director of the Chinese Canadian National Council, may be one of them. He thinks most immigrant parents are more balanced in their view of life than Tim Hortons' Grandpa -- but he also recalls a time when his teachers told his parents that they were worried that too many of his essays were about his favourite sport: hockey. His parents took it in stride; Wong was doing well in school. "But if you interview more 'Canadian-borns,' " he says, referring to Chinese born in Canada, "they'll relay their own hockey story to you. They all have one."
Which still leaves us with questions: if Grandfather was so opposed to hockey, how did his son end up playing? Who bought him equipment? Was Anti-Hockey Grandpa married to Hockey Grandma? We may never know. Wales says there are no plans for a sequel.
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