The NHL has announced that the Board of Governors has approved helmet ads for the upcoming 2020-21 season.
Things are definitely going to look different for the NHL in 2021, including 56-game schedule & divisional realignment.
There’s also this: for the first time, NHL teams will be able to put advertisements on the sides of players’ helmets. Only for this season.
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) December 21, 2020
Ads on Helmets for 2020-21 NHL Season
The idea behind helmet ads is not a new one. As we have seen in most European leagues as well as international tournaments that are played overseas, there are helmet ads. For the NHL, this is a new concept. Entering the 2020-21 season, the NHL is looking to find a way to boost revenue. As everyone knows, the NHL is a gate driven league. That means they rely heavily on ticket sales and having people in the building. However, COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the NHL’s plans to have fans in the building this season. And while some teams might be able to have fans, it was not going to be enough to close the gap in hockey-related revenue since the players were owed 72 percent of their salaries. So the NHL needed to come up with a way to make up the lost revenue.
At first, they wanted to get it from the players. But that was not going to fly with them. Once the NHLPA did not back down from their stand, the NHL had to come up with another way to make up the difference in lost revenue and hockey-related revenue. There had been some talk of putting ads on the jerseys themselves, but the NHL does not want to touch the sanctity of the jersey. And understandably so, some of these jerseys and logos have a long history and people buy the jersey for the logo, not the advertisement. So instead of placing an ad on the jersey, it will be on the helmet. And these ads could generate as much as $2.5 million in revenue for an average team in the NHL.
What Will It Look Like
I can confirm NHL teams can now put a sponsor’s branding/logo on helmets starting this 2020-21 season, subject to category restrictions.
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) December 20, 2020
The ads will be placed on both sides of the helmet. And it is currently unclear the exact size of the ad sticker will be. As we have seen in Europe, some can range from taking up a small portion of the helmet to one that covers the entire helmet. And only one brand will be allowed on the helmet at a time. Unlike in Europe, where there are multiple ads on the helmet. Teams will have the option of selecting one brand for all home games and one brand for all aways games. However, they will not be able to swap different sponsors throughout the season.
Future Advertisements
Right now this is a one-year experiment that could continue into the future. The NHL and its sponsors want to gauge it this season. If things go well for these NHL partners we could see helmet ads for years to come. And what about the rest of the equipment. IF things go well this season, we may see part of the pants being sold to sponsors or even the socks. One thing is for sure the NHL will definitely try to find new ways to generate revenue for their clubs and players.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
