Will the hockey lockout be good news for the Raptors?

[Eric Akshinthala]

Without a doubt Raps will get more attention and business compared to a normal season. Overall though MLSE will suffer huge losses as Hockey is their main product. Raps can capitalise on the opportunity by going above the Cap at trade deadline to try and go deep into the playoffs. If I'm right they failed to do so the last time there was an NHL lockout.

[Ion66]

Aside from maybe getting more hockey starved fans, does anybody here wonder if the new MLSE ownership might make an effort to help the Raps win that they might not have in a non NHL lockout season?

[Sig]

It won't really change anything, each local TV station has a right to a portion of the Raptor games and can exclusively air them.

If TSN gets really desperate, they'll probably start showing B-list sports and reruns of old "classics".

[wallz]

What I get from hockey fans is that they consider basketball not to be a "manly" sport, not macho enough, "they wear short pants" and comments of that ilk.

Then there is always the one that "basketball isn't worth watching except for the last two minutes."

I hear that a lot too, and it only comes from the ones that haven't played basketball before.
I think most hockey fans wiill resort to football before basketball, but I'm guessing there will be a bit more viewers nonetheless

[stretch]

What I get from hockey fans is that they consider basketball not to be a "manly" sport, not macho enough, "they wear short pants" and comments of that ilk.

Then there is always the one that "basketball isn't worth watching except for the last two minutes."

[Puffer]

I have actually already read some comments along the lines of "With NHL likely out for the season I will probably watch more Raptors games.

Not every fan is a 16 year old kid. If you work, are married, have a couple of small kids, and have ANY interests at all outside of sports, then no way you have the time to watch 3-4 Raptors games a week and 3-4 Leaf games a week, unless you have a PVR and never watch any shows with your significant other. Even with a PVR it takes 1.5 hours to watch a game. Forget overtime games, interrupting phone calls, refreshing the drink, making popcorn or getting your fave snack, rewinding to watch in slow mo, whatever. Who has two hours a day for watching sports? (Okay, some of you, but not if you are also playing any a couple of times a week and travelling an hour each way to work for your 8 hour a day job).

So my essential point is that, without the NHL, it will be a lot easier for puck fans to sample or even dive a little deeper into the Raptors or the NBA.

I bet a lot of Leaf fans will take advantage of the gaps in their TV viewing time to check out the Raps now.

[stretch]

I haven't done a scientific poll but I find that the hockey fans I know are very loyal to their sport and, for the most part, have little interest in basketball. TSN has already started running Canada -USSR reruns and probably have more classic hockey matches in the vault in case there is a lengthy lockout.

[Ion66]

If the lockout happens like it looks it will, do the Raps come out winners in this? On the heels of an NBA lockout that may have cost the team some of it's casual fans, the NHL looks to be dug in for a lockout of it's own. New Ownership of MLSE by Bell/Rogers for the first time as well. With the new owners having only one product to sell in the near future, is this a benefit to us? Also, with major Canadian sports channels having nothing much with a puck to show off, do the Raps get extra attention? On the plus side, more attention means more fans turned on to Raptors, and basketball itself. On the downside, we're in a pivotal year, with lots of new faces and a team, much like the Leafs, hoping to end a long playoff drought. Does the extra scrutiny help the Raps, or put even more pressure on them to perform? Do you see us nearing the All-Star break, with hockey still a ways off and MLSE putting more effort into making the Raps a marketable/winning product than they might have with the Leafs competing for fan attention? Is this a win for us, or too much attention on a young team that's not ready for the full spotlight?