“Some fans are even following athletes in sports they don’t watch just because they’re interesting humans,” Browning notes. The first of those, she says, is the idea that “humans are greater than highlights”, which is the notion that fans want to have a personal connection with athletes. Heidi Browning, Chief Marketing Officer, NHLĮxpanding on exactly what the league has learned from its Power Players, Browning explains that the NHL has been able to identify “four key pillars of insight” which “either validate or drive our strategy”. This idea of humans over highlights and peeling off the visor of our NHL players and showing who they are – both on the ice and off the ice – is a huge mission of ours. So that was our inspiration.”īrowning says that there are currently 27 Power Players whose counsel helps to inform the league’s decisions in several areas. Those selected to join the youth advisory board meet with the league twice a month to offer honest feedback on things such as marketing, fan engagement and social content.

She knows every rule in the book by the number, but she still didn’t know what we were doing. And then to find out that this 11-year-old, she didn’t know about these programmes. “You’re out there marketing, marketing, marketing, and you think you’re connecting with everyone. And for us, that was a huge ‘aha moment’. “In fact, many of those ideas we were already implementing, but she wasn’t aware of them. “She came in with her mom, and she brought a whole PowerPoint deck filled with really great ideas,” Browning recalls. That meeting, attended by NHL staff from across different departments, would far exceed expectations. Impressed by her creativity, Browning invited Solomon to present some of her ideas to the league. Debuted in 2019 and now in its third season, the programme provides youngsters aged between 13 and 17 with a platform to voice their opinions on how the league’s digital content and marketing campaigns can be more relevant to their demographic.īrowning hails the project as a “gift that keeps on giving”, revealing that the idea was born out of a letter she received from an 11-year old girl and keen NHL fan, Sabrina Solomon, soon after being appointed as chief marketing officer five years ago. One specific way the NHL is looking to engage with the next generation of fans is through its Power Players youth advisory board. Browning not only discussed the league’s digital strategy, but also some of the fan engagement initiatives it developed during the pandemic and its aim of capturing the imagination of Gen Z fans.

Speaking to Gareth Capon, the chief executive of Grabyo, on day three of November’s SportsPro OTT Summit, Browning explained how the NHL has grown interest in the league since she joined the organisation. Meanwhile, in October, ESPN’s broadcast of the matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and reigning champions the Tampa Bay Lightning was the most-watched NHL season-opener in the league’s history, reaching an average audience of 984,000 and peaking at more than 1.1 million viewers.

At the time of writing, the NHL boasts more than 16 million followers across its Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages, while the league’s TikTok account has already attracted 1.6 million followers. Since Heidi Browning arrived at the league in 2016 as its chief marketing officer, her goal has been to leverage social media and the evolving digital landscape to bring those traditions to both new and existing fans as the NHL seeks to keep pace with other major competitions such as the National Football League (NFL) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Throughout its 32 pulsating arenas, where supporters embrace the full-blooded on-ice action, one thing that remains consistent is the NHL’s diehard fan culture. The second oldest of North America’s major sports leagues, the ice hockey competition’s history and culture have shaped its evolution over the last century. Tradition is a word that resonates strongly with the National Hockey League (NHL).

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