In addition to the event, EA Sports and the NHL Foundation have pledged to donate a combined $100,000 to support the CDC Foundation’s COVID-19 relief efforts. Each NHL club chose one or two athlete representatives from their roster to compete in the virtual tournament. On April 30, the NHL commenced the NHL Player Gaming Challenge, an ongoing video game tournament that features all NHL teams, including Seattle’s incoming franchise, and is a part of the NHL’s #HockeyAtHome initiative. They also integrated their real game-day sponsors into their simulations to further add a sense of realism. To help establish an even more realistic simulation, the Devils had Matt Loughlin, the team’s radio play-by-play announcer, provide live commentary for the simulated games. The Devils mobilized its content and marketing staff and expeditiously began streaming game simulations using EA Sports’ NHL 20 platform for all of the remaining scheduled regular-season games since March 12. When the league suspended play, Jake Reynolds, the team president of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, looked for opportunities to engage their audience. To restore a sense of normalcy to the scheduled season, Reynolds’ New Jersey Devils responded quickly and creatively by attempting to recreate the game-day feeling for fans through online gaming. From streaming game simulations on EA Sports’ NHL 20 to head-to-head video game matchups between NHL players, teams have used esports to help maintain fan engagement. With tens of millions of fans thirsty for new hockey content, many teams have tried to fill the void through the flourishing industry of e-sports. E-Sports: The Newest NHL Marketing Opportunity This article will highlight a few of these strategies and will focus on how your company may consider implementing similar marketing tactics. Consumers have seen many professional hockey organizations get creative with their engagement-focused marketing as they attempt to remain relevant in the eyes of the consumer. The league is projected to suffer a loss of over $1 billion if the NHL season is unable to be played out this year, a concern whose weight increases with each passing day for team owners and league executives.ĭespite the massive loss in revenues that affects teams league-wide, the marketing departments of the league and various NHL teams deserve high praise and accolades for their recent and ongoing efforts. With the league on hold, the NHL will likely be required to provide television networks with some sort of concessions in return for missed games. To put things into perspective, the NHL’s current television contract with NBC yields over $200,000,000 annually in the United States alone while the Canadian TV contract is worth roughly $433,000,000 per year. However, both of these sources of revenue have been halted to keep everyone safe. Like many other professional sports, television revenue and live game ticket sales represent significant portions of an NHL club’s annual income. NHL Marketing: How the Coronavirus is Affecting SportsĪlthough the NHL’s decision to suspend play was made to preserve the health and safety of players, game officials, and the general public, the postponing of games has been accompanied by serious financial repercussions for professional hockey organizations. They, like everyone else, are having to navigate through social distancing practices while they anxiously await to resume play and the NHL marketing team figure out how to pivot. The decision to postpone play was made as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic and has left many superstars like Alexander Ovechkin, Connor McDavid, and Patrick Kane in a position where they are unable to showcase their elite talents to the world. Since March 12, 2020, hockey fans have been deprived of live sports entertainment due to the abrupt halt of the 2019-20 National Ice Hockey League’s season.
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