Social media drive NHL’s growth
Bettman credits digital connections for increases in attendance, revenue
Let’s get this out of the way: The ratings for the 2015 NHL Winter Classic were not what anyone wanted.
Despite the lowest broadcast numbers in the seven years of the event, NBC Sports PR says the 2.3 overnight rating was still 77% above what a regular-season NHL game pulls in.
Even with lukewarm numbers for the New Year’s Day game, some measures indicate the NHL’s appeal is at an all-time high. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says part of that success is attributable to the league’s embrace of digital and social media.
“The ability for (fans) to connect with us and with each other through social media has, I believe, helped grow the game.”
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman
While the 10-year, $2 billion deal the NHL signed with NBC in 2011 was a huge step forward in the USA, the league faces problems reaching and engaging new fans. To bridge that gap, it has turned to digital and social media.
“Historically, we were a league that was underserved by traditional media,” Bettman told USA TODAY Sports. “So the ability to use digital platforms and connect with our fans more than ever … has been vitally important to us.”
NHL-branded accounts have 3 million followers on Twitter, 3.7 million fans on Facebook and another 753,000 followers on Instagram. And that’s not counting the thousands of others who follow individual team accounts.
That footprint puts NHL content in the hands of millions of people on a near-constant basis. Tweets, Facebook posts, Instagrams and Snapchats serve as an instant link between fans and teams.
“Our fans tend to be the best educated, most affluent, the most tech savvy and the most avid,” Bettman said.
To reach that base, the league launched a new NHL app this season and redoubled its social media efforts.
“The ability for (fans) to connect with us and with each other through social media has, I believe, helped grow the game.”
The 2013-14 season set viewership records across the NHL’s U.S. broadcast partners, NBC and NBC Sports Network. The combined average of 532,000 viewers a game was up 12% from the previous full season.
There also were more sellouts in NHL markets than in the NBA last season, according to CSN Chicago.
“We’re growing season by season with record engagement, record attendance, record revenue. We think the digital space is responsible for that,” Bettman said.
While the NHL has embraced social media fully as a league, it advocates cautious use by players and staff. Twitter especially can prove to be troublesome for young athletes. Tyler Seguin, before and right after his 2013 trade to the Dallas Stars, ran into social media trouble after inappropriate tweets were sent from his account. He quit Twitter for about a year after the incident.
To avoid mishaps of that nature, which could cause serious harm to the league and a player’s reputation, the league works with the NHL Players’ Association during the rookie orientation program to make sure players understand social media can be a minefield, Bettman said.
“Our players are constantly counseled,” he said. “We send out memos reminding them that we live in a world where there’s total transparency, everything you say is out there.”
While that might not necessarily be a bad thing, Bettman wants to make sure players and front office staff understand they’ll be held to a higher standard.
“We try to make sure that everybody who’s engaged in social media … understands that you’re viewed as a role model and that you should be responsible in what you say and do,” he said.