Growing the Game: NHL Moves to Connect with Gen Z

Image Courtesy: AP Photo/Jason Redmond

The National Hockey League (NHL) holds its history and traditions in high regard. However, their disinterest in branching out from their customs since their foundation in 1917 had limited their ability to attract new viewers in recent years.

This issue stems from the NHL’s longtime focus on creating fandom around the team rather than highlighting stand-out players. A potential solution for the NHL could be using trending social media platforms to introduce their star athletes to a younger generation.

Marketing Your All-Stars

The NHL’s inability to adapt to newer marketing formats has created a gap in terms of pop culture relevancy compared to the NBA or NFL. These leagues capitalize off their all-star players, making them the faces of the league and household names. For example, everyone knows iconic players such as Lebron James or Tom Brady. The NHL has failed to produce household names of the same caliber since Wayne Gretzky—who retired in 1999.

The lack of recognizable hockey players in today’s pop culture harms their brand’s relevance when compared to players in the NBA and NFL. Failing to adapt to this new wave of sports advertising has left them unable to draw in younger audiences.

Fan-Led Insights Help Steer NHL Advertising

The NHL’s marketing team created the Power Players program in 2019 to help expand their marketing reach. Each season, 30 young fans from the U.S. and Canada are chosen to serve on a youth advisory board and offer insight on social media and fan engagement. The program schedules online meetings with the NHL marketing team twice a month where members are encouraged to give unbiased commentaries and suggestions.

The Power Players program helped the NHL identify and organize its two largest marketing goals: increase social media reach and market players. Encouraging Power Players to serve as a voice for younger generations has pushed the NHL to turn towards new ways of garnering new fans through media attention.

Each member of the program has some involvement in social media or community engagement. Some standout qualities of recent Power Players consist of writing for their school newspaper, running Instagram accounts, or owning a YouTube channel.

Capitalizing on younger fans’ love for the game and gathering their unique perspectives has shifted the NHL’s focus toward creating a stronger social media presence. Hockey lovers, between 13 and 17 years old, can use this opportunity to steer future marketing endeavors toward opportunities that will generate interest in hockey amongst their age group.

Social Media Trends Help the NHL Break Out of the Hockey Bubble

Being able to access and follow your favorite athletes through social media has intensified sports fans’ loyalty to select players. Athletes with standout personalities gain new followers who might be interested in the person more than the sport itself—the success of the Kelce documentary featuring NFL star Jason Kelce is an example.

The NHL jumped onto this trend and shifted its social media scope to look at players beyond the team logo—developing a player’s personality on and off the ice became crucial. Prior to this move, the NHL had the fewest number of athletes on social media in comparison to other sports with little engagement.

One method that has helped the NHL’s social media engagement is customizing their content depending on the platform. Long-form highlight reels receive more engagement on Facebook meanwhile short-form videos spotlighting a specific player are thriving on TikTok. 

Using the viral aspect of social media bridges the gap between NHL marketing measures and those who have little exposure to hockey. Viral trends can introduce people to the NHL and increase people’s awareness of the league without the pretext of being interested in hockey. TikTok does not limit the NHL’s reach to its followers which has increased engagement from a more diverse audience—younger fans, predominantly women.

By acknowledging their missteps in effective advertising strategies, the NHL made an opportunity to grow hockey’s status as a professional sport. Their plans to increase media engagement could produce a new age of recognizable all-stars in future seasons.

Zoe Rahaim