Colin would quit if he had to cover an eSport.

[Brian Fein]

ESPN televises based on two things: the cost to acquire the programing & the projected viewership/ad revenue generated by said programing.  Poker is quite popular and probably cheaper to acquire the rights to than NHL.   ESPN would show more hockey if people would watch more hockey. 

I'd love you to take a poll to see if people would rather watch a hockey game or a poker game.  We'll see which is more popular.

ESPN doesn't cover hockey for one reason: they don't have the contractual rights to do so.  NBCSports has the exclusive rights to show all hockey games and they do a great job.  If ESPN had the rights to NHL, they'd be showing wall-to-wall playoffs coverage.

[Dave Gray]

I'd rather watch poker.  I do watch it sometimes. 

I don't really care about ESPN's coverage of hockey, in terms of showing full games, but I do think that they should give time to talking about the storylines more than they do (UFC, as well).  You rarely see a real hockey discussion on PTI and usually it's just some fluff piece. 

But ESPN is protecting its own interests.  It talks about the games that it shows.  It's understandable....just unfortunate.

[MikeO]

Under what objective definition can table tennis not be considered a sport?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RN82Tz8EkM

Agree! They even celebrate like other athletes. Table Tennis IS a sport!

[MikeO]

I'd love you to take a poll to see if people would rather watch a hockey game or a poker game.  We'll see which is more popular.

Be careful, NHL might not win that poll

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I'd love you to take a poll to see if people would rather watch a hockey game or a poker game.  We'll see which is more popular.

Or rather than a poll we could use the nelson ratings.  Poker is slightly more popular regular season hockey, but considerably less popular than post-season hockey.

ESPN doesn't cover hockey for one reason: they don't have the contractual rights to do so.  NBCSports has the exclusive rights to show all hockey games and they do a great job.  If ESPN had the rights to NHL, they'd be showing wall-to-wall playoffs coverage.

And the reason why they don't have the rights is they didn't think it would be popular enough to justify out biding NBC.  

[Brian Fein]

Or rather than a poll we could use the nelson ratings.  Poker is slightly more popular regular season hockey, but considerably less popular than post-season hockey.

Data please.

[Spider-Dan]

Under what objective definition can table tennis not be considered a sport?

Under what objective definition is table tennis a sport but air hockey not a sport?

It seems like people in this thread are basically using the term "sport" as a shorthand way to categorize competition that they view as serious or unserious.

[MikeO]

Data please.

http://wickedchopspoker.com/2014-wsop-ratings-state-poker-tv/

While these are not the same 1.6’s we saw in the heyday of televised poker, the numbers still outclass your typical regular season MLB, CBB and NBA game (and crushes MLS, even though MLS pulls a growing 18-34 male demo). And unlike MLB, CBB and NBA games, ESPN can re-air the shows to steady .3-.4 ratings throughout the year.

The WSOP on ESPN is also typically the #1 or #2 DVR’d show, something that “stick & ball” programming can’t claim.

http://www.tvweek.com/tvbizwire/2015/04/with-l-a-and-boston-not-making-the-nhl-playoffs-opening-games-ratings-surprisingly-strong/
And this is the opening round this year of PLAYOFF (not regular season, but PLAYOFF) hockey

[Dave Gray]

Under what objective definition is table tennis a sport but air hockey not a sport?

It seems like people in this thread are basically using the term "sport" as a shorthand way to categorize competition that they view as serious or unserious.

Just playing devil's advocate here, since I agree that they're both sports, but the "physical" part of the definition is up for interpretation.  There is SOME gray area there.  If you were to draw the line by saying that table tennis is on one side and air hockey is on the other, I'd have no problem with that.

[Fau Teixeira]

Gotta be honest I think you went a bit far here. Gaming, at most, involves movement of nothing more than your forearms, while sitting in a chair.  I'm not sure how you would consider it to be "athletic exertion" if you're only moving your thumbs or clicking a mouse...

are you telling me a DDR competition isn't athletic ?

[Brian Fein]

http://wickedchopspoker.com/2014-wsop-ratings-state-poker-tv/

While these are not the same 1.6’s we saw in the heyday of televised poker, the numbers still outclass your typical regular season MLB, CBB and NBA game (and crushes MLS, even though MLS pulls a growing 18-34 male demo). And unlike MLB, CBB and NBA games, ESPN can re-air the shows to steady .3-.4 ratings throughout the year.

The WSOP on ESPN is also typically the #1 or #2 DVR’d show, something that “stick & ball” programming can’t claim.

http://www.tvweek.com/tvbizwire/2015/04/with-l-a-and-boston-not-making-the-nhl-playoffs-opening-games-ratings-surprisingly-strong/
And this is the opening round this year of PLAYOFF (not regular season, but PLAYOFF) hockey

So you're comparing 459,000 viewers of poker to 448,000 PER GAME (x 7 games = 3.1 million viewers) and telling me that poker is MORE popular?

Just making sure.

(this doesn't even account for the fact that many more households receive ESPN than NBC Sports)

[MikeO]

So you're comparing 459,000 viewers of poker to 448,000 PER GAME (x 7 games = 3.1 million viewers) and telling me that poker is MORE popular?

Just making sure.

(this doesn't even account for the fact that many more households receive ESPN than NBC Sports)

You made it sound like NHL would crush poker in ratings when in fact they lose. And that is PLAYOFF NHL. Poker destroys your regular season NHL game

[Brian Fein]

They lose?
I don't see where you think 3.1 million < 459k

[Cathal]

Why are you comparing a per game viewership and multiplying it out by 7 by the viewership on one event? (Just curious)

[Brian Fein]

Because the discussion, as ludicrous and tangential it is, was that more people are interested in hockey than poker.

Yet, somehow it devolved into tv ratings for a particular event.

You want to compare ALL poker events (one) to all hockey events as a metric?  fine.  But don't compare all poker events to an AVERAGE of all hockey games and tell me that "more people like poker than hockey." 

People who watch hockey like different teams, have different interests.  We're not comparing the World Series of Poker to the Canadiens vs Senators game.  Compared to one singular game, Poker might have more viewers (depending on who's playing), but other games, like that Rangers/Pens game, almost doubled WSOP at its peak.

Selective stats rule!