NHL isn’t stopping at helmet ads to generate revenues this season and beyond
Anthony Scultore
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Ads on helmets are here with teams “proudly announcing” their sponsorships. Those ads are said to be for this year only, but I assure you that they are not going anywhere anytime soon.
NHL seeking further revenue opportunities this season
Elliotte Friedman recently reported on many of the ideas the NHL is going to tinker with for this season. While some of these will be difficult to implement, others may naturally have to go away once fans come back into arenas. It’s just a sign of things to come.
As the article states, the league will be able to “retain $80 to $90 million” in sponsorship money simply by playing. Now they are hunting for more and it will likely be permanent from here on out.
At some point, the ice will be a minefield of ads
The NHL is looking at technology to project ads onto the ice. Friedman states these ads will be just inside the blue-line. SMT who created the virtual yellow line when you watch football is the league’s partner for this initiative.
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Just a couple of weeks ago, I not only wrote about the topic of ads, but warned that all this was going to happen.
Are you thinking that I am over-reacting? Remember the boards? It started with a few paper ads glued on. That turned into ads around the rink. Then ads on the ice. And now with the magic of television, we have changing ads and ads on glass...Because this is going become a snowball rolling down a mountain. It will begin slow at first until that snowball becomes an avalanche.
Friedman is now reporting that the NHL is testing a new LED system that will expand the ads which appear behind the benches. Sure the league is “concerned” about glare, but with no fans in the stands they don’t have to worry about what it would be like to see through them.
At least those will be gone once fans can come back. Oh wait! The report also states the NHL is looking at see-through versions of this technology.
Ads on the glass won’t just be behind the bench…there will be more on the glass around the rink. See-through stickers just above the boards are coming? The hits just keep on coming.
Tarp seat covers just like we saw in the bubble
Finally we have tarp seat ads like you saw during RTP action. If you recall, the NHL hid the empty seats with very nice looking tarp seat covers that predominantly displayed the NHL logo. Those will be back this season with sponsor logos. These will be removed once fans come back to arenas.
Of course, they will eventually have a “see-through” version of those too. Good news is that future hockey fans won’t have the worry if the roof leaks one day.
Fans, it has begun and soon those ads on the helmets will work their way down. First to the shoulder pads on the jersey until they eventually end on the socks.
The snowball I spoke of is already the size of a boulder.