First, let me tell you that all this started as a joke. But after a couple of minutes thinking about it, I thought it's something that could happen. First, we all know that some teams in the NHL are struggling financially. So, those teams needs money but they face majors problems. First, having less people in the stands and watching on TV, sponsorship money is hard to get as you can imagine. Ads on the boards, stands and on the ice mean what for sponsors if there's not enough people seeing it? So, those teams would need to capitalize on the "away" games where there's more people watching, but how? The uniform is the only thing traveling with the team but unlike European Hockey and soccer teams, advertising on the uniform is illegal in the NHL. Right, but what I thought of is incorporating the uniform into a major sponsorship program. Having no sponsor name on the uniform, but if a team decide to sell their overall look to a major sponsor to look like it, would it work? Here I have some examples made just for fun, but still, I made them with serious thoughts. It's around 5M$/year to sponsor and have the arena named after you, so, how much for the uniforms?
OK, first, imagine a team in trouble like the Phoenix Coyotes, getting sponsored by Coca-Cola who sees a good way to sponsor one team, but still being seen in 29 other cities across North America. I thought it could look like that.
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You use the same font as the sponsor for your team's logo, use their colours and ad some elements so it becomes almost obvious. Added to maybe having Coca-Cola's logo in the home arena, on the table during press conferences and you got a big package to offer to a major sponsor to get new money into the team while still following the NHL rules. You can use the alternate jerseys for special promotions too. Imagine the Coyotes wearing an alternate jersey like the one below, the game right after a shutout.... ZERO goal allowed, get it?
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So now, imagine the rivalry The Coyotes could have versus another team in danger, using the same sponsorship program, but with a rival company. A team like the Nashville Predators sponsored by another well known soft drink maker:
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So now, enough with soft drink and let's talk about a brewery helping another team in a weak financial situation, a team like the Atlanta Thrashers.
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Like I said, it was all a joke at first, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some new advertisement strategies appearing in the NHL really soon. Remember when advertising on the boards was a outrage? Now, we see ads on the boards in every NHL cities and even right on the ice too! Be prepared, the goal posts are next. Anyway, I always believed that something done with taste is always acceptable and if it helps some teams to stay healthy and keeping providing us with great hockey entertainment, who would complain?
Thanks for watching. |
