Hockey is the least watched sport in the United States. Behind football, basketball, and baseball, professional hockey pulls the least amount of viewers.
But hockey is seeing a new life come to the surface. Take away comparisons to other leagues, and look at hockey as its own market. From a promotional standpoint, hockey is full of untapped potential. It’s the unwavering dedicated fans that make a difference.
Why has hockey been exclusive?
There are many reasons for hockey’s exclusivity, the first being location. Whereas Americans can claim football, basketball, and baseball, hockey was born in Canada. This means hockey’s traction in the U.S. was limited to the northern states for many years. If a frozen pond wasn’t available, there was a rink open somewhere. This couldn’t be said for most states. Another barrier is money. Whereas kids playing basketball really only need a ball and a public hoop, a kid playing hockey will spend a couple thousand dollars per year on travel and equipment alone.
How the NHL is expanding their reach
The NHL is seeing success in removing these hurdles. USA Hockey reported that the number of registered amateur hockey players grew from approximately 400,000 in 2010 to over 550,000 in 2019. Teams are growing the sport at the grassroots level with various programs to garner interest.
The Hockey Is For Everyone initiative, launched by the NHL and the players’ association, is making hockey increasingly popular in previously excluded communities. The NHL is promoting “diversity and inclusion among those of all sexual orientation, genders, ethnicities, abilities and socioeconomic statuses,” (Comitor). Demographics positively impacted include the black community, the LGBTQ+ community, women and girls, and lower income households.
The NHL and NHLPA also founded the Industry Growth Fund in 2013, putting hundreds of millions of dollars into initiatives that are bringing hockey to kids and communities. They’re funding teams, rinks, educational programs, and countless other impactful endeavors.
With the league’s commitment to expansion, new NHL teams make rinks available and start outreach programs in their areas. These programs are created to pull in new fans, and include skating lessons, hockey camps, free gear, and free and discounted tickets.
In Las Vegas, a city unfamiliar with professional sports (and ice), professional hockey hit the ground running in 2017. The Golden Knights were immediately embraced by the community. Expansion teams offer a chance for new hockey fans to be the first supporters of a team – the two grow together. Expansion teams also create new rivalries. Just four years after Vegas’ inaugural season, the Seattle Kraken joined the NHL. The two teams already possess strong enough fan bases that Seattle hosted Vegas this year in the 2024 Winter Classic.
Lastly, the age of social media is working in the NHL’s favor. A new generation of players is proving to be influential in changing the stoic reputation of the league. They’re talented, flashy on the ice, personable on camera, and willing to work with social media marketing. Older figures in the sport have pushed back against the behavior of new players and the NHL’s initiatives. But what fans love about hockey, at its core, remains untouched.
With social media, fans are getting acquainted with players before they’re even drafted. The hype behind generational phenom Connor Bedard transcended the hockey community, as his story took social media and sports television by storm. As a result, Bedard’s NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks “drew an average viewership count of 1.43 million on ESPN, making it the most-watched regular-season NHL game ever on cable television,” (Rasmussen).
While sticking with what they know will keep their dedicated fans interested, NHL teams are also taking advantage of the opportunity to resonate with new fans and younger fans through social media. On every platform, teams are highlighting themselves and individual players through dedicated creative efforts. From innovative graphic design to goosebump-inducing hype videos, to informal, funny Tweets, hockey is excelling in social media marketing.
On TikTok, for example, teams follow popular trends, even “silly” ones. They listen to their audiences, posting content of well-liked players and asking players fan questions. Young players like Quinn, Jack, and Luke Hughes garner lots of attention on their teams’ social media platforms. The brothers, all playing in the NHL, are loved league-wide by fans. It’s not uncommon to see “cute” videos of these three, which entices female fans to try watching the sport, which previously wasn’t marketed to them.
Invest in hockey
Truthfully, it doesn’t matter that hockey is the least-watched sport of the four top leagues. From the very beginning, hockey has sustained a niche community whose dedication rivals top leagues. Fans have always believed that hockey reigns supreme, and they’re the only ones in on the secret. That attitude isn’t changing anytime soon.
The proof is undeniable. “According to Ampere’s Q4 2022 survey of US sports fans, the average amount that NHL fans would be willing to pay to watch sports was 54 per cent more than the typical US sports fan. They also report spending 2.3 hours a week longer watching live sports matches than the average fan in the US,” (Moore).
Hockey is a tight-knit community, with rich histories and a welcoming attitude. Moreover, the NHL is devoted to growing this community organically, connecting with fans, and making everyone feel included. Of all professional sports leagues in the United States, it’s fair to say hockey is excelling in both tradition and progress.
What matters most is ever-present loyalty. If you’ve got hockey fans’ attention, you’ve struck gold. SCA Promotions knows loyalty, and they know hockey. At the halfway point of the NHL season, it’s not too late to contact SCA and see how you can draw on hockey to promote your brand.
