A Solution for the NHL and NBA

The other day I was watching 5-year-olds play hockey at an indoor rink in Minneapolis. Their coaches placed temporary boards at center ice to create two hockey rinks for two separate games because the kids at that age are so small that the hockey rink is too big to play the full length of the ice.

It got me thinking: if the rink is too small for the kids, is it possible that the playing surfaces in professional sports might be too small? The growing size of our professional athletes would suggest the answer is yes. When analyzing the major pro sports, I believe there is a correlation between the size of the playing surface and the popularity of the sport.  

In terms of popularity, the NFL has captured the hearts of Americans and is running away from the field. The MLB, once the breadwinner of American sports, is clearly number two. In a distant third is the NBA. According to an ESPN Survey, NHL is number seven on a list that factors in college sports.

1. Pro Football

2. Pro Baseball

3. Pro Basketball

4. College Football

5. College Basketball

6. NASCAR

7. Pro Hockey

Why is Pro hockey so far down the list and why is the NBA a turnoff to many sports enthusiasts? To answer this question, let's review the four major sports and their playing surface size.

The NFL

The NFL is filled with enormous humans who are 300-plus pounds that battle on the offensive and defensive lines. However, the casual fans pay no attention to these players unless they take a holding penalty or they sack the QB. The linebackers are usually 6-foot-2-inches to 6-foot-5-inches, have a freakish speed to size ratio and are fearless attackers of the ball.

The quarterback position is often played by tall guys around 6-foot-4-inches who are asked to grasp complex offenses, make quick reads and consistently make accurate throws. Rarely does a QB excel in the NFL, and when they do, they play well into their 30’s.

The most exciting players are typically the running-backs and wide receivers, as they touch the ball the most outside of the quarterback position. These players are often between 5-foot-9-inches and 6-foot-1-inch and 175-220 pounds—smurfs by NBA standards. Chris Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Desean Jackson and Percy Harvin are all examples of smaller players under 5-foot-10-inches who dominate the game when they touch the ball.

Similarly, the great defensive players who play cornerback and safety are often smaller guys in the range of 6-feet (give or take a few inches). The tall receivers and tight ends measure between 6-foot-2-inches and 6-foot-6-inches and usually can run very well. To conclude, the NFL has a great blend of speed and size, with the ball usually ending up in the smaller and faster guys’ hands.

The Football Field – 120 yards long by 53 yards wide

There is clearly enough room on an NFL field for players to utilize their speed. The demand for small and fast athletes remains very high. In fact, when the NFL instituted rules which protected receivers within their first 5 yards from the line of scrimmage, the demand for smaller receivers and cornerbacks went up. The demand for tall and large athletes also remains high for specific positions.

The NFL football field size seems to be a perfect fit to accomodate a wide range of speed and body types, which creates a great viewing experience on Sunday afternoons for fans all across the country. 

Major League Baseball

The size and speed of the players varies depending on position like the NFL. Players became artificially bigger and stronger in the past decade or two, changing the game into more of a power-hitting slugfest. Recently, the game has cleaned up its act and the style of play has returned closer to its traditional roots. Like the NFL, Major League Baseball accomodates the small and fast athletes as well as the large powerful athletes.  

The Baseball Diamond  – 60 Feet Mound to Home Base. 90 Feet from Base to Base. Fences vary in distance but typically are about 325 feet to 410 feet from home base.

The infield sizes have strict dimensional guidelines while the distance to the fence, height of the fence, foul ball territory and so on vary. Despite the variance of the ballparks, the traditional aspects of the game remain in tact. With “natural” athletes, the ballpark seems to be the perfect size for the speed, power and size of the players as it always has been.

The NBA

The NBA is dominated by the tallest men in the world—and it keeps getting taller. Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns is one of the smallest players in the NBA and he’s 6-feet-3-inches. On TV, he looks like he’s 5-feet-7-inches because he’s playing next to guys who are between 6-feet-6-inches and 7-feet-2-inches.

Forget about playing in the NBA if you’re less than 6-feet, unless you have a 72-inch vertical. It’s a sport that requires you to be tall first and foremost to qualify, then athleticism comes into play.

The NBA Court - 94 Feet Long by 50 Feet Wide

“A bunch of tall guys playing on a postage stamp,” is how my mother describes the NBA. She’s right, the court is tiny compared to the size of the players. The 10-foot height of the hoop is ridiculous in comparison to the height and reach of the players. The 7-foot players can get down the court in a few long slow strides. The result is a slow game dominated by a few extremely athletic and tall individuals.

The size of the NBA court is an awful fit for the size of the players that now occupy the league. A recent "Google Search" turned up that the average size of NBA player is 6-feet-7-inches.  How many people do you know who are that tall?

The NHL

The problems with the NHL are the most disheartening to me because I’m a hockey guy and I think it has the potential to have mass appeal. I played Division I college hockey and currently coach high school hockey here in Minnesota.

Three of the top five NHL prospects from Minnesota High School boys hockey this year are 6-feet-3-inches, 6-feet-4-inches and 6-feet-5-inches, which is very tall for hockey. The size and speed of NHL players varies like the other sports, however, the demand for tall players remains extremely high and is growing.

The most crafty and speedy players compete for just a few spots on the top lines and they often are in the 5-feet-10-inches range. If a smaller player is unable to fill one of the few scoring roles on an NHL team, they are typically sent to play in the minors. The remaning spots are filled with bigger role players or bigger players with potential to be future stars.

The Rink – 200 Feet Long by 80 Feet Wide

The NHL size rink is known for being the smallest of the rinks in hockey. The Olympic size ice sheet is the largest (200 Feet Long by 100 Feet Wide) and is used in the Olympics, many college rinks and even many HS and youth rinks.

The size and speed of NHL hockey players has increased over the past 40 years due to improved skate technology, recruiting and weight room training. Yet the NHL game has less skating and is more controlled than it use to be. The casual hockey fan prefers Olympic style hockey as evidenced by TV ratings from past Olympics compared to NHL ratings. The NHL rink is no longer a good fit for the speed of the game and the size players, the Olympic size ice sheet is the perfect fit. So let's use it.

Bigger Surfaces and Smaller Players for the NHL and NBA

I strongly believe that the NHL and NBA’s playing surfaces are too small and have slowed the games down over the years because there is less and less room for the increasing size of pro athletes.

Hockey and basketball are meant to be team sports that rely on many different skills, including speed, which has now taken a back seat to size. The NBA and NHL are less exciting to watch than they were decades ago. Meanwhile, the speed of NFL games has gotten faster, accomodating the increase of size and strength, making the games more exciting.

Moroever, the NFL has also created more complex offensive and defensive strategies to utilize their awesome talents and wide range of body types. The NFL field allows for the very fast players to excel because they have the room they need to utilize their speed. Make the NFL field 20 percent smaller and you wouldn’t see a guy under 6-feet-4-inches out there.

A Solution for the NBA and NHL

Both the NBA and NHL would benefit immensely from adding to the size of their respective playing surfaces. Traditionalists may cringe but the unwillingess to chage is simply ignorance on their part.

People want to see speed in addition to power. When you take speed out of the equation, you naturally will lose much of your fan base. Take a note from the NFL, where 5-feet-6-inch guys are being chased by 350 pounders—that's entertainment.