They are probably piggybacking on the USA's awesome gold medal to up their national profile and better compete with the NFL for market share. What do you think, Clutchfans? Are you ready to "catch the cold"? Gift article. NHL Launches $800 marketing campaign in major push to attract new fans. NEW YORK—In an unprecedented effort to “pour gas on the fire” and grow the popularity of the league, NHL officials announced Monday that it was launching a new $800 marketing campaign in a major push to attract new fans. “Move over, NFL and NBA, because we are pulling out all the stops to make the NHL the biggest thing in sports, starting with a bold new banner ad we’ll be running on Yahoo.com,” said NHL chief marketing officer Heidi Browning in a press release, noting that the three-figure initiative aims to highlight the most exciting elements of the sport, from “the toots of the refs’ whistles” to “the game’s many rules” to “the players’ high-tech safety gear.” “We’re going to be passing out hundreds of promotional stickers and snazzy brochures encouraging folks to check out their local NHL team. And once the computer whiz we hired for $30 an hour finishes getting our Google business profile set up and blasted out to the web, it’s just a matter of time before everyone in America ‘catches the cold’ of professional hockey!” At press time, NHL officials confirmed the campaign was already paying in dividends after the Yahoo banner ad racked up 14 unique impressions in the first day.
It's just not a great sport for tv -- I can get into major events, but following the NHL like other sports just isn't going to happen for the casual fan. It just seems like hockey is best watched live at the arena more than any other major sport.
