Hockey Gets A U.S. Brand Boost Thru Itezsms TV Partners…

It is still not the mega event that pitchers and catchers reporting is, nor is it the buzz generator that the NFL's kickoff weekend is, but the embracing of “Hockey Day In America” by NBC and Versus this weekend i. smart, and a huge step up for USA Hockey in their quest to get more bandwidth for the sport. NBC and its leadership team has created with the NHL its signature January 1 event, but a followup that gives the league a nice bump in key markets leading to the playoffs and on the heels of the All-Star success was needed, and “Hockey Day in America” fits that mold.

While today is largely a TV play, and ironically ends with The Heritage Classic in…well, Canada…outside in Calgary on Versus, it still shows the lengths the networks will go, along with the digital activation of the NHL, to keep trying to find ways to grow the property. Four years ago the launch of the idea was disjointed and involved some grassroots but little NHL and TV support. Now four years in, there is more awareness through USA Hockey at the grassroots level, activation through NBC (with a piece on Hockey Moms on the Today show and other elements) and a stringer platform to leverage off of. Next should be additional support in each market with events, as well as a concerted effort for college and high school games, digital efforts and sponsor platforms. Yesterday for example, ESPN's Bracket Buster weekend got support at so many levels from Sears and other partners, and showed the interest for all levels of college hoops. That is what would be needed for “Hockey Across America” to be a true mega-success, grassroots ties showing the passion of the game in the States just as it is in Canada, with all the goodwill that goes with it. Now the timing still isn’t great…it goes against the rush of baseball starting as well as NBA All-Star Weekend and Daytona and its President's Weekend so a national holiday also deflects interest…but the timing will never be great. Maybe next weekend is better, right at the end of February and before March Madness, but the powers that be will have those answers.

Regardless, with the support of the networks and the NHL, a great balance can be struck, and that media push combined with the grassroots balance give the day, and the weekend, more attention than ever before, and hopefully an additional leverage point for brand hockey in 2012 and beyond.