World Cup won’t be an overnight international success
NHL-run tournament years away from comparing with soccer, rugby championships
Ten days ahead of the World Cup of Hockey’s opening, United States head coach John Tortorella told reporters he wouldn’t tolerate any Kaepernicking. If any of his players sat out the pre-game national anthem — as San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick has done to protest systemic racism — Tortorella vowed to keep them seated the entire game.
It’s not clear why Tortorella’s opinion on Kaepernick’s protest should matter, but his comments on the controversy centred on police brutality unwittingly amplified an NHL marketing message.
Talking hockey wouldn’t have earned Tortorella much media coverage, but talking Kaepernick in his capacity as the U.S.’s World Cup coach allowed him to remind people that the tournament actually exists.
A week before the puck drops for real, World Cup of Hockey marketing is aggressive. Between the posters plastering Union Station and the TV ads proclaiming that “Hockey in- vented Canada,” the event already has consumers’ attention in Toronto.
ESPN, the tournament’s U.S. broadcast partner, has plastered its NHL page with World Cup of Hockey content, but the tournament has so far earned little traction with national outlets like The New York Times and USA Today.
And while Tortorella created shortterm attention, making the World Cup a truly global sports and business event is a stiffer long-term challenge.
“The NHL is very cognizant of their global fan base,” said Peter Widdis, a sports marketing professor at George Brown College. “Now, you have to maintain a constant, consistent experience so the fan base becomes that much more entrenched, and sponsors are that much more inspired.”
Organizers say ticket sales are strong, and expect to sell out the Air Canada Centre for every tournament game. But World Cups in others sports attract a much larger global audience. The 2014 World Cup of Soccer reported reached 1 billion TV viewers, while 120 million people watched last October’s Rugby World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand.
It’s partly a question of branding.
Hockey’s more inclusive competitions — the Olympics and the world championship — don’t carry the World Cup label. So this month’s World Cup, staged by the NHL and its players’ association, is less a global competition than a showcase for the league and its stars.
Given those goals, the tournament’s eight-team format makes sense, even if it excludes European and Asian teams with few NHL players.
Calling the tournament the Six Nations Cup of Hockey might be more accurate but marketing experts say the World Cup label connotes tradition and grandeur, even if they’re manufactured to promote the NHL brand.
“You get away from that by focusing on the players,” said Anthony Zanfini, president of Ambit, a Torontobased marketing firm. “This is an international all-star tournament, and just like any all-star (event) you . . . put the players front and centre and they’re able to deflect the negativity around the motivations for this tournament.”
Organizers remain eager to engage hockey fans beyond Canada, and say scheduling European teams into afternoon games is aimed at boosting TV ratings overseas.
“We’re trying to create familiarity with the game’s greatest players, tying into national loyalties, and put it at a time where more fans can consume it live,” says Kyle McMann, the NHL’s VP of integrated marketing.
But gaining and maintaining traction in Toronto remain important, and organizers have made the Distillery District their local focus.
For the tournament’s duration, the neighbourhood will transform into the Scotiabank Fan Village, a hockeythemed carnival featuring a concert stage, and a giant TV screen for communal game viewing. It will also include food from every country in the tournament, and interactive exhibits, many branded by tournament sponsors. Organizers hope the initiative gives the tournament a rallying point, attracting both hardcore and casual fans. Somebody drawn to the village for the Sept. 23 Green Day concert, for example, might decide to stick around and watch hockey.
Zanfini said places like the fan village are growing more common as fans chase more immersive experiences and corporate partners seek ways to activate their sponsorships.
“It’s not just the fans in the seats anymore — you can extend the experience if you give something of value,” he said. “The pavilions and fan zones allow fans physically to feel more connected and involved.”
A two-week party at in the Distillery District might help counter cynical opinions that the World Cup is simply a cash grab from a league and union reluctant to play in future Olympic Games. But experts say what happens next is vital if the NHL hopes to keep the tournament viable and marketable outside Canada.
Creating a true World Cup might mean including teams like Germany and Japan, regardless of their rosters’ NHL content. And creating a reliable TV event means setting a regular schedule. Where soccer and rugby World Cups follow a four-year cycle, the World Cup of Hockey has only been contested twice since1996.
“I don’t think it happens overnight that it’s got credibility beyond being a showcase for the NHL,” Widdis said. “It’s got to have consistency like they’ve done with the Winter Classic. They’ve built a property. Now they need to nurture it and treat it like a brand.”