Why basketball has become more popular than hockey (in Canada)

To hold a popularity contest from sport to sport may be trying, but consider this one factor that will see basketball surpass hockey in popularity (in Canada, at least).

Hi. Welcome. How are you?

Also, total bandwagoner here. I’ve watched the Toronto Raptors on T.V. before this playoff run, but never with so much intensity as I do now.

I recently read an article discussing how the NHL should be weary of how successful the NBA is doing in Canada — popularity wise. There are many factors that play into this shift. There are no Canadian hockey teams left in the playoffs. The Toronto Raptors, much like the Toronto Blue Jays, are ‘Canada’s Team’, with no national competition on the same stage. And anytime a Canadian team has a shot at the ultimate prize, there’s certainly going to be the bandwagoners like me.

But if you are to step back and consider the larger, longer picture towards the incredible climb in popularity the Raptors have achieved throughout their historic run, this factor may help explain the grassroots success of Raptors popularity: Affordability.

I can easily picture you gawking at me as you read that word. Affordability? Especially with the most recent announcement that court-side tickets to tonight’s potentially championship-winning game are going for $120k. But I am discussing a different form of affordability. Not the cost to go to a game, but the cost to play it.

Consider this: According to a 2018 Ipsos poll of 1000 Canadian parents, the average family who enrolled one child in a season of hockey was $744, the most expensive sport on the list. Comparatively, the cost of one child to play a season of basketball was $371, or almost exactly half the cost.

So there is a large difference here. Clearly. But you may be asking how this affects the overall popularity of sport in Canada. My argument: to build the popularity of a sport in a country, you start with youth playing it. And just based on the cost alone, I argue that you are more likely to see youth playing more basketball than hockey in the future. Now I know that some families have cultural or historical ties to certain sports, and they’re more likely to continue those traditions, but with increasing financial stress, along with the desire to enrol kids in extra curricular activities, cost matters.

When I was thinking through this idea, I brainstormed other factors that may exacerbate this effect. Here are some of the ideas I came up with:

Cost of Equipment:

According to a 2013 Globe and Mail article, the average Canadian family spent an average of $600 per year on new hockey equipment. This cost fluctuated depending on growth and broken equipment (i.e. sticks), but adding this on top of the registration AND tournament fees AND private lessons, the cost of the sport quickly adds up.

Comparatively, the cost of basketball equipment pales in comparison. Besides the purchase of shoes and simple running gear, the cost is exponentially less, minus any additional training.

Seasonality:

I acknowledge that there are all-year leagues for most sports in Canada, but typically you see parents diversify their children through sports. Growing up, it was often hockey in the winter and soccer in the summer for me. But this was because the hockey rink in my hometown wouldn’t keep ice the whole year. There was limited space to be able to play organized hockey outside of the local rink. And often space was so limited it made the cost of playing go up.

Conversely, the ability to play basketball is not bound by court availability. There are outdoor and indoor courts. Parks and playgrounds. The ability to play basketball year-round far exceeds that of traditional ice hockey.

Contact:

This is one of the first things that came to mind, especially as someone who suffered a few too many head injuries growing up. The physical contact and related injuries associated with contact in hockey is making the sport less safe. According to a 2017 Globe and Mail article, in Alberta and Ontario from 2014 to 2015, there were nearly 3,000 cases of youth being treated for head injuries from hockey alone. Parents are become more weary of sport injuries, especially those affecting the head.

Conversely, I couldn’t find a single article arguing that basketball has a concussion problem. So I am assuming the rate must be minimal.

Representation:

This point comes from the sociologist in me, but the sport of basketball seems to transgress cultural or religious barriers at a far greater rate than hockey. Prime example: Superfan Nav. And I am more than open to be called incorrect in my following argument, but it seems as though the simple representation of players in the two sports are vastly different. Hockey is heavily overrepresented by white people; basketball by people of colour. And to maybe make the far-reaching conclusion here: with Canada welcoming a greater number of refugees, which sport better represents multiculturalism? Add this to the cost factor I discussed above (with the financial stress of being a new immigrant) and you are likely to see immigrant children enrolled in basketball — even non-organized basketball — than hockey.

Now I know there are outliers in any analysis. Kids can play road or ball hockey. Kids can play high-level rep basketball. But when we’re talking about averages and typical sport registration, affordability reigns supreme.

The takeaway: As was outlined in the above-mentioned article, the NHL should be weary of the growing popularity of the NBA in Canada (albeit the MLSE are making big bucks by owning the Leafs, Jays, Toronto FC, Argonauts and Raptors, regardless).

The popularity of a sport in a country lies in the grassroots support through play. The more children play basketball (and NOT hockey), the more popular basketball will become in the future.

Thanks for reading. Goodbye. Go Raps Go.

Follow me on Twitter: @kevinkoudys