Industry News

NHL Stadium Series continues to attract huge crowds

The NHL believes the popularity of its outdoor game series has helped it become the league’s signature event.

Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Steve Mayer, the North American ice hockey league’s chief content officer and executive vice-president, said the opportunity to play at large outdoor stadia helps the sport to engage new and existing fans.

Mayer was speaking after 67,318 fans attended the Coors Light Stadium Series game between Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins at Heinz Field, the home of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, on Saturday. That huge crowd was almost four times the 18,400 capacity of the Penguins’ regular PPG Paints Arena.

While the Pittsburgh game was the only outdoor fixture during the 2016-17 season, compared to two last year and four in 2014, Mayer believes players and fans alike have come to appreciate that the Stadium series is something special.

The games feature pyrotechnics and entertainment from high-profile bands, with Kaleo and Train performing at the weekend. More unconventional attractions were also on display in Pittsburgh with seven penguins from the local zoo allowed to enjoy themselves on a sheet of ice within the arena.

“When you look at all the other sports, every sport has their signature,” Mayer told Sports Illustrated. “This has become ours. This is really different.

“A lot of our choices and the things we’re trying to do is based on connecting with sports fans who might become hockey fans. Hockey fans are obsessed with the sport and rightfully so, they’ll watch it no matter when. There’s a lot of fans out there that we know if we can get them to watch a game, they’re going to love it.”

The Stadium Series is also popular with local businesses because it attracts out-of-season visitors and NHL fans from across the country. The 2011 game between the Penguins and the Washington Capitals was said to have generated $22m (£18m/€21m) for the area’s economy.

“Since then we’ve had an increase in the amount of seats that could be taken, and also prices have gone up since then, so we expect the $22m will be exceeded this time,” Visit Pittsburgh chief executive Craig Davis told CBS.

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