Yes it’s that time of year again! The NBA and the NHL have begun their playoff seasons, but I feel like people wonder which one is better? Let’s break it down one piece at a time!
Quick Background of the 2 Leagues:
The NBA was established in 1946 and the NHL was established in 1917. The NHL has been around longer than the NBA. The NHL’s most accomplished team is the Montreal Canadiens with 24 stanley cups. The most accomplished NBA team is the Coston Celtics with 18 NBA finals trophies.
So now which one is better? According to the Boston Globe newspaper they say that the NHL is better but is that really true? Let’s find out!
Competition:
A strong finals should have a high level of competition and feature close games. The NBA in the last few playoffs has not been exciting in competition because of blowouts. The Boston Celtics in the 2023-2024 season destroyed and only lost 3 games in the NBA playoffs in 2024 and went on to win the NBA finals that year for their 18th trophy. On the other hand, in the NHL in 2024, the Florida Panthers were up 3-0 in the series for the Stanley Cup against the Edmonton Oilers, but surprisingly, the Oilers charged back with 3 wins in a row! Eventually, the Panthers won the Stanley Cup in the end. If you look over the past years, the NHL has definitely had better playoffs than the NBA so NHL has a 1-0 lead!
Popular Star Players:
The NBA is going to have way more popular star players than the NHL. The NBA does the best job at making players standout than any other league in North America.
The NBA is the 3rd most popular league behind the MLB at #2 and the NFL at #1, and the reason for that is the players. Even if you’re not a basketball fan, you most likely will know who Michael Jordan and Lebron James are, but a non hockey fan will not most likely know who Wayne Gretzky or Alexander Ovechin is. So the NBA has this one. 1-1 – It’s all tied up!
Fans:
Which league has the most die hard most fans? If we were talking about celebrity fans, the NBA would have dominated! However, let’s just talk about fans in general. Honestly the NHL has more die hard fans than the NBA, and the reason why is that you see more game traditions in the NHL like when the Detroit Redwings get close to winning the Stanley Cups, fans throw octopi on the ice or like the Florida Panthers when they get a hat trick they throw rubber toy rats on the ice and in the NBA you just don’t see that often. So NHL leads again 2-1.
Quick fact: did you know that Tim Hortons the donut shop was owned by an NHL player named Tim Horton?
Tv Ratings:
The NBA definitely has way more viewers in North America and also around the world, but recently the NBA has been declining due to the same teams and players in the playoffs. However, the NHL has been rising due to new teams. That said, the NBA will always have more viewers in any game any time because of how big the league is.
So the NBA wins this and now they are tied with the NHL 2-2. We’re off to have a tie breaker!
The viewership between the NHL and the NBA in the postseason since 2020.
The Tie-Breaker! The Live Experience:
Yes, you cant forget the experience of being at a playoff game. So, which one is the best? Well first the NBA: The NBA has good fandom, but sometimes it can be lifeless at NBA games compared to the NHL. The NHL has honestly way more greater experiences like the chants, the fans, the players, the atmosphere, and the mascots. For example the Winnipeg Jets home whiteout game and also the fans are always in it and I hear more fans cheering in NHL playoff games than the NBA. According to Snapback Sports on Youtube they gave the NHL for atmosphere 8.1 and they gave the NBA a 7.9 so who wins this tie breaker? It is the NHL who wins it all! 3-2!
And that concludes this article – the NHL wins it by a hair!
Overall, the NBA is still more popular than the NHL, but if the NBA doesn’t do anything to make their games more exciting for the fans, they may begin to lose their edge in the regular season as well!
