On February 18th, NHL commentator and former player P.K. Subban went on ESPN’s “Get Up” to voice his opinion on the Four Nations tournament and compared it to the NBA
“(The USA vs Canada) was the most viewed game that we’ve had in years. You see, it is because it’s not just based on skill and talent. It’s based on pride, honor, playing for the guy next to you. I got a question for the NBA players. What are you playing for?…It was the players that did that for the Four Nations, it’s not the league. The league set it up, but the players decided, ‘We’re all in.’ When is the NBA going to do that?”
Honestly, we couldn’t agree more.
The Four Nations tournament not only galvanized hockey fans, but it provided a unique alternative to the traditional All-Star format – something that’s been needed for many years.
When you eat a food item too much, over time, it gets redundant and leaves a bland and boring taste in your mouth. This “bland” taste has been the All-Star game for not only hockey, but the NBA and NFL as well. Yes, people like seeing the best athletes playing against each other, but not when no one is really taking the game seriously.
Gary Bettman has provided a blueprint to Roger Goodell and Adam Silver for making the season a little more interesting and engaging – however, their feedback isn’t getting the same praise as the NHL.
Roger Goodell himself has implemented new formats for the Pro Bowl; they’ve gone away from the subsequent two hand touch game and instead added individual games leading up to the flag football game such as Tug of War, a relay race, and even playing Madden 25. Even with these new additions, the Pro Bowl hit a record-low viewership, raking in 4.7 million viewers, which is a decline of 19% from last year and 25% from two years ago.
As for Adam Silver, he’s also received a lot of flack for his handling of the festivities, games, and format for the All-Star weekend – the dunk contest sucks, teams aren’t even guarding or contesting shots, and the effort is non-existent. From this, Silver decided to change the format this year by implementing a mini-tournament featuring four teams: three teams of NBA All-Stars plus the winners of the Rising Stars Challenge.
Promising? Yes. Lived up to the hype? God no. Yes, it was better than years prior, but Draymond Green accurately called out Silver and the NBA. “I had to work so hard to play on Sunday night of All-Star Weekend,” Green said Sunday on TNT’s All-Star pregame show. “And because ratings are down, because the game is bad, we’re bringing in Rising Stars. That’s not a fix. I never played in the Rising Stars game. My first two years, I didn’t touch that game. And these guys get to touch the All-Star floor on Sunday night, like when the floor is the floor?”
Sorry Silver, but not every commissioner can be Gary Bettman – let alone, have players buy in and not play for money, but for their country and each other.
The Four Nations was an exciting and rejuvenating event that not only engaged the entire world, but also represented an evolution of sports – going away from the standard, stale format and keeping the competitive edge that makes professional sports interesting.
The Four Nations is not an every year thing, nor should it be. However, having an event like this keeps the viewers engaged, invested in the sport, and has them interested in watching a competitive, highly-skilled event instead of watching contrived competitions.
To truly mimic the success the NHL has had, the other major sports will need to come up with more than a mini-tournament, or adding a Best Catch challenge, or implementing international NFL games. The extra challenge is coming up with an idea that the players will buy into as well.
