The National Hockey League’s (NHL) marketing strategy seems to depend on fans’ visits to the plays. The NHL attempted to establish hockey players’ presence in media affairs and publications. The NHL developed a number of grassroots marketing initiatives to promote the young public’s curiosity about street hockey, roller hockey, and in-line skating. Moreover, the organization has planned and performed a hockey competition, a summer carnival, and street hockey activities in local markets to attract more sports attention.
The strengths of the NHL include several factors. First, it is high revenue from sponsorship, which amounts to “$1.4 billion this season” (Shapiro, 2022, para. 1). Second, according to Helfrick (2022), NHL is the most desired career opportunity for professionals, which results in an experienced workforce. Third, NHL has a large loyal fanbase, constituting, for example, 2,735,079 fans for only one command (‘Ranking of NHL teams popularity, 2021, para. 2).
However, the NHL has several weaknesses as well. Compared to other national leagues in the United States, it has a smaller fan base: for example, 7 million people have attended AHL games (American Hockey League, n.d., para. 1). Next, NHL had several labor disputes, which points out its internal problems (Harvard College, 2022). Finally, NHL has a low presence in developing markets such as Asia (Park-Lee, 2019). Thus, although the company is a strong competitor in the US, it still has issues in larger markets.
Furthermore, the sports organization has opportunities and threats. As such, the shift to digital technologies can help NHL advertise its items to its wealthy fan base. For example, it can use virtual stores to show off its products (Klingelh, 2021). Moreover, the organization can invest in R&D to develop an advanced marketing strategy due to its high revenue (Shapiro, 2022). Next, NHL still has the opportunity to penetrate the Asian market since hokey is becoming more popular there (Park-Lee, 2019). As for the threats, the other major players in the market, such as AHL, can attract more viewers ((American Hockey League, n.d.). The NHL is also at threat of legal pursuit for doping use among its players (Vlad et al., 2018). Finally, the working conditions that do not satisfy the players in the league can provoke them to change employers (Harvard College, 2022). Thus, there are both positive and negative sides to the organization’s future.
References
American Hockey League. (n.d.). Our fans. Web.
Harvard College. (2022). Dispute resolution, NHL style. Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. Web.
Helfrick, E. (2022). Top 10 best ice hockey leagues. The Hockey Writers. Web.
Klingelh, C. (2021). Digitization: Product development and design is becoming virtual. ISPO.com. Web.
Park-Lee, B. (2019). NHL: rushin’ to the Chinese market. Ivey Business Review. Web.
Ranking of NHL teams popularity. (2021). Web.
Shapiro, S. (2022). NHL revenues reach record high thanks to jump in sponsorship, licensing deals. The Athletic. Web.
Vlad, R. A., Hancu, G., Popescu, G. C., & Lungu, I. A. (2018). Doping in sports, a never-ending story? Advanced Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 8(4), 529–534. Web.