How popular is the NHL?

Here is one measure of the popularity of various sports - it counts the number of visitors to their associated web sites. Top Online Sports Sites:

Brand or Channel...Unique Audience(000)...Active Reach(%)
ESPN.................................4,336.......................3.87
eBay Sports.......................2,521.......................2.25
Yahoo! Sports.....................2,509.......................2.24
MLB.com...........................1,881.......................1.68
nascar.com........................1,517.......................1.36
NFL Internet Network............1,462.......................1.31
AOL Sports.........................1,288.......................1.15
SI.com................................1,082.......................0.97
NBA Internet Network.............1,056........................0.94
Sportsline.com.......................922.......................0.82

The eBay Sports website at number two is just sports memorabilia, not news. Seeing Yahoo!Sports at number three is surprising - never realized it was that popular. The NFL Internet Network is comprised of NFL.com and the websites of the league's 32 clubs. Sadly the NHL is not on this radar screen. The recent NHL TV deal with NBC also highlights this problem of trying to measure the potential audience for professional hockey when it has become overshadowed by so many other sports options.

Top Online Sports Sites [CenterForMediaResearch.com]

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