If SlamBall Can Get A 2-Year Broadcasting Deal, Then We Can Easily Bring Back Pro Beach Hockey For At Least One Summer
You know how you always wish you could know you're in the "good ol' days" while you're actually in the good ol' days? Well I'm here to tell you right now that if it's not the summers of 1998, 1999, or 2000, then you most certainly are NOT in the good ol' days.
Because ever since the summer of 2000, the world has gone to shit. Year after year after year, we stray further away from our peak as a society. That's because ever since the summer of 2000, Pro Beach Hockey has been out of our lives.
Outdoor professional inline hockey played during the summer in California, with a ball, cheerleaders, live band performances, and ramps behind the nets for "increased speeds". I don't even want to say that Pro Beach Hockey was ahead of its time, because it seemed perfect for the late 90s, early 2000s. How or why it didn't stick around will continue to baffle even the greatest of historians.
But the news came out today that ESPN has reach a 2-year broadcasting rights agreement to bring back SlamBall. And if SlamBall can come back for 2 years, then I just don't see the reason why Pro Beach Hockey wouldn't be able to come back for at least one summer. I don't want to get ahead of myself here. I want to remain realistic. But I just don't see the downside for trying it out for one summer. You can stream most of the games on ESPN+, maybe bump one or two games throughout the regular season on regular ESPN, and then watch the ratings soar for the championship.
Pretty much every other industry is currently cashing in on the nostalgia of the 90s/early 2000s. It's time for Pro Beach Hockey to get themselves a little piece of the pie. Bring it back. Or at the very least, let the Chiclets Cup resurrect it.