Would a Pro Summer Outdoor League Work?

[njdevils923]

To be honest I think for roller hockey to start off you have to bring it back to its roots. I say you start a brand new league in the summer and you play the game outdoors. I know people are thinking why the summer and outdoors? First, the reason to play in the summer is because thats the offseason for hockey the playoffs are over, the Worlds are over and the only other sport going on is baseball. I say outdoors because it brings a nice appeal to the game the weather is most likely nice depending on the area and people would rather be outside on a nice summer day than inside a cold dark boring arena. Also, outdoor rinks are easier to find like in cities, so for example your walking the street of NYC and you see roller hockey going on with people in the crowds cheering and your hearing music playing the backround thats going to draw your attention from the street and maybe encourage you to ask someone when the next game is. Also, you would get the better players in the summer because all of the other 3 leagues are over as well as high school and college.
I think a summer outdoor league would really help this league tell me what you guys think.

[autoant29]

Everything sounds good, but there is always the bad. First thing is Roller Hockey isn't appealing to most people. There is a reason every time you bring someone to your game, even at the "Professional Level", they say, " I think ice hockey is better." If it were to work you would need to be super organized. One problem with these Aihl's, Piha's, and MLRH's is that half the time you show up for a game its 30 mins behind and the reffs were called from the rinks directory. Another huge issue is insurance. You are not going to find many sanctioned bodies to invest in an outdoor professional league. You do bring up some good points with the atmosphere. I think it would attract people for the simple fact that its outside. I play in an outdoor league in South Philly. We attract a lot of people in the local community, and the league is not up to par skill level wise. I think and outdoor tournament with legitimate players would be the avenue to go down.

[kevinsmithAZ]

I think California and the Jersey Shore are your hot spots for this. Right near the beach, like Pro Beach Hockey. People in California will watch anything, and there's a huge hockey market in the Atlantic. It could work if it was done correctly.. short season, games Friday, Saturday, Sunday. That's when people are down at the Shore and when people AZ people go to Cali.

All of these guys would have to work Mon-Fri though. Good thing is a lot of them already live in Cali.



The other idea I've had lately with X-Games on is what about getting inline into X Games next year? It's always end of July-Late August, so all of the NARCh Pro teams that will be in San Jose could head down to LA after and play (with a little coordination.) It'd be huge exposure for the sport, ESPN has done roller hockey stuff before (ESPN3/AIHL, RHI, Pro Beach) and X Games have had other inline sports (aggresive, speed skating) before.

Only thing to make it more TV/Xtreme friendly would be to maybe change a few rules (add a back court violation so once you cross the center line, you can't take it back, maybe penalty shots instead of penalties or have the choice, possibly add hitting, etc.)

Also, having guys like Itan Chavira add a mass appeal in the same way that Tony Hawk (in the past) had for skateboarding, and other guys that do Big Air and big trick (Danny Way, Jake Brown) add now.