The NHL Takes a Holiday as Covid-19 Ices Sports Marketing

The omicron variant of Covid-19 put the entire National Hockey League on an impromptu holiday vacation. But the latest pandemic surge is stealing much of professional and college sports marketers’ Christmas cheer. On Monday, the NHL cited a flood of coronavirus-related postponements for forcing the league to suspend play after Tuesday night’s games. NHL action shuts down from Dec. 22 through Christmas day, with practice resuming Dec. 26 and the league schedule returning on Dec. 27. A list of all NHL games suspended due to Covid-19 That puts 19 games on hold—not including the more than two dozen games postponed between Dec. 13 and 21 because of the current spike in Covid-19 cases. For NHL partners such as Apple, Amazon, Honda, Pepsico, Verizon and Anheuser-Busch InBev, it means returning to a familiar pandemic routine. “Over the next few weeks brands need to work with their team and league partners to figure out plans b and c for the upcoming wave of Omicron and make the best of it,” said Adam Holt, svp of sales for sports data group FanAI. “Sports can and will once again be the first steps back to 'normality' for so many people and those moments are perfect opportunities for brands to leverage.” Shared uncertainty The NHL and its partners share their uncertainty with the rest of the sports world. Professional football and basketball, as well as college sports, have also postponed or canceled games during this span. That has an immediate effect on sponsors like ticket reseller StubHub, which includes NCAA, NBA, and NHL teams among its partners. StubHub insists that its policy for postponed and rescheduled events has been consistent before and throughout the pandemic. Tickets for canceled events result in either a refund or a 120% credit toward a future purchase. StubHub won’t offer a refund or credit for postponed and/or rescheduled events. However, ticketholders who can’t attend can resell their tickets through StubHub which will waive its sales fee. Fans will be testing those policies sooner rather than later. The National Basketball Association suspended seven games between Dec. 14 and 21 as Covid-19 infections depleted team rosters. However, it isn’t considering a pause similar to the NHL’s at this time. The National Football League, meanwhile, moved a Las Vegas Raiders-Cleveland Browns matchup from Dec. 18 to Dec. 20. The NFL also shifted a game between the Seattle Seahawks-Los Angeles Rams and a meeting between the Washington Football Team and Philadelphia Eagles from Dec. 19 to Dec. 21. NFL Stadiums Are Looking More Like Branded Theme Parks More bad luck for college sports More than 100 NFL players tested positive for Covid-19 during a three-day span, leading the league to overhaul its pandemic protocols. The league’s Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo about the schedule changes to league executives that held some assurances for the NFL’s 38 corporate sponsors. “The emergence of the omicron variant is precisely the kind of change that warrants a flexible response,” Goodell wrote in the memo. “We will make every effort, consistent with underlying health and safety principles, to play our full schedule within the current 18 weeks.” College sports sponsors may not get so lucky. NCAA basketball has been literally plagued with pandemic-related postponements and forfeits. Nearly 50 men’s basketball programs have paused their seasons to deal with the latest Covid crisis. Women’s basketball games have been either paused or canceled for similar reasons. “For brands this time calls for patience as the world of sports once again figures out what to do,” FanAI’s Holt said. “At the end of the day people want to enjoy sports and they offer a glimmer of hope and normality for us all” Don’t Call It a Rebrand: The NHL’s Coyotes Turn to Overlooked Fans for Survival

Sports Marketing News

The NHL Takes a Holiday Break as Covid-19 Cancellations Put Sports Marketing on Ice

A pandemic surge also has forced the NBA, NFL and NCAA to shift their schedules as marketing partners tread cautiously

Jason Notte

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Jason Notte