Teams begin to unveil helmet advertisements
There will be advertisements on NHL players’ helmets this season as teams try to recoup revenue lost to the pandemic.
New Jersey, Washington and Nashville became the first teams to unveil helmet ads Tuesday. It’s a one-year trial with fans not allowed in most arenas and a financial shortfall coming with a shortened 56-game regular season.
“Of course, the teams are in a big hole,” Nashville chief revenue officer Chris Junghans said after the team announced its deal with Bridgestone. “So, they’re looking for valuable, real valuable, tangible assets that will help us, guys like me, make partners whole. And it needed to be valuable, it needed to be dynamic.”
TheNHLis leaving jerseys alone, largely because it was quicker and easier to sell ads on helmets than anything else. CommissionerGaryBettman said in 2017 after the NBA approved jersey advertisements that itwould take an “unusual circumstance“to make that leap in hockey.
Thiswouldqualify, though helmets were a natural first step.
“This is very unobtrusive, and that’s something thatwe took into account aswewere looking at this,” said Devils President JakeReynolds, who boasted about being the first NHL team to find a helmet sponsor in Prudential. “We wanted this to have a natural fit and a natural look to it, andwewanted tomake sure we did this the right way.”
COVID rules require coaches to mask up
NHLcoaches are required to wear masks behind the bench, owners are barred from having face-to-face meetings with players, and teams can travel with no more than 50 people.
Those areamongthe coronavirus-relatedprotocols the NHL released Tuesday in preparing to open the 2021 season on Jan. 13. Players scheduled to report for the start of training camp over the next two weeks.
The NHL also announced it is tweaking its offside rule for the upcoming season.
Both of the player’s skates mustbefully across the plane of the opposing blue line ahead of the puck in order to be offside. That’s a switch from the previous rule in which a player was considered onside if he had at least one skate physically touching the blue line.
Under the coronavirus protocols, players arriving at their home cities for the start of training camp will be required to self-quarantine for a seven-day period, during which they will be tested four times. The NHL’s seven teamswhich failed to qualify for the playoffs open camp on Dec. 31, with the remaining 24 teams beginning four days later.
Coaches are required to wear face coverings at all times, except when on the ice and when eating and drinking.