The stakes came to life in the NHL. The Hockey League has flooded them with digital advertising on television broadcasts. However, the project, which cost tens of millions of dollars, is embarrassing.
Anyone in the Czech Republic who, despite the time difference, watches NHL game broadcasts abroad or at least clips, has probably noticed this. The guardrails are littered with advertisements, but in a different way than in previous seasons. Thanks to new technology, it changes during the game.
The news, that no club has been lost, however – at least so far – does not work ideally. Viewers have already noticed a number of instances where the commercial screening directly interrupted the action on the ice. For example, in the game between Edmonton and Vancouver last week, neither the players fighting for the puck nor the referee looked good at one point. He covered them with digital logos.
Similarly, in other duels, a part “disappeared”. gates or maybe player equipment.
The problem only affects broadcasts. Directly at the stadium, the billboards remained the same, that is, with advertising, but not digital. It’s also evident in some shots where new technology isn’t enough and where you can see what the mantinel actually looks like.
While the NHL admits “some glitches”, overall they are happy with the news. It has been debated internally for nearly a decade and spent according to the station to get it up and running ESPN tens of millions of dollars. Of course, with a view to future profit.
Now it can promise companies that they will be more visible, because a logo that at some point surrounds much of the barrier, or even the whole of it, will attract the viewer more than a relatively small space next to other companies. Another advantage is that the viewer in Boston, for example, will see advertisements for companies in their region and not in distant San Jose or Calgary.
However, the fans themselves are usually not enthusiastic. It’s not just the technical problems that bother them, they reject the novelty in general, saying it bothers them while they watch the game. In fact, a lot of ads they are not just decent.
“I’ll pay more not to see these cheap digital screens. If this was your plan to make hockey barely watchable, it’s working. It almost hurts.” he wrote on the social network of Darcy Warrington of Saskatoon, Canada.
Some media even rushed to criticize, for example Boston globe.
“I don’t care how much money the digital ads bring into the league’s coffers. They are terrible. They interrupt the game viewing experience in such a way that it is unbearable,” commentator Matt Porter wrote.
“Watching an NHL game itself requires a certain level of attention. Now imagine you’re looking at a player with the puck, wondering what he’s going to do with it, and suddenly an ad pops up right next to him,” he said.
The NHL expected criticism. “Like anything else, some people will not like it and will think it is the wrong thing to look at,” competition commercial director Keith Wachtel said ahead of the season. “But they will get used to it over time, that’s the way it is with everything. So we have no worries.”
Advertising in the best hockey league is gradually increasing. It was played with goalposts without a single sponsor logo. The change was initiated in 1981 by the North Stars of Minnesota, who later relocated to Dallas, the current location.
This was followed by advertising on ice in the center area, which recently spilled into the corners behind the door. Following the loss of earnings due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL then allowed advertising on helmets and above all on the shirts, thus breaking the ancient taboo. Digital handrails are the next step.
