Watching a Buffalo Sabres game today looks a lot different than it did a few years ago.
Players aside, there now are ads on player helmets. Some teams have ads on their uniforms.
And TV viewers see ads displayed on the glass and along the boards that fans in the arena can’t see.
It’s all part of the National Hockey League’s efforts to bring in new sources of revenue – and it’s paying off.
NHL team sponsorship revenue rose 21% during the 2022-23 season from the season prior, totaling $1.28 billion, outpacing growth in all other major professional sports leagues, including the NFL, according to SponsorUnited, which tracks sports sponsorship data.
In some ways, the changes grew out of necessity, and it stems from the desperation the league felt coming out of the pandemic.
The loss of revenues from teams playing offsite games in a “bubble” and then in empty and reduced capacity arenas over a two-season span created financial challenges for the league.
It forced the NHL to find new income sources to bounce back from the sudden halt and then slow down in the global live sports industry.
It started with allowing teams last season to start forming jersey patch partnerships with corporate sponsors, while pushing similar helmet sticker sponsorships, which first came into effect for the 2020-21 season. Last season, the NHL also introduced digital advertising on the dasher boards of arenas to help raise pivotal revenues.
Not all teams have fully cashed in. The Sabres struck a new deal this season for a helmet partnership with health care staffing agency Trusted Nurse Staffing. Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and KeyBank were original sponsors for the Sabres’ helmet stickers in 2021.
The team said it also has experienced success with introducing digitally enhanced dasher boards. But the Sabres are still in search of a jersey patch sponsor.
“As our world continues to evolve and innovate, we are thrilled that partnership…
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