Executive Summary The Nation Hockey League has seen increasing success as well as ample controversy, coming off of a great season in 93-94. The league hit a huge dilemma in the next season when a lockout happened and the season was cut in half, this brought about serious talk of where the industry was headed and the next steps necessary to get there. The issue lies in the overwhelmingly large fan bases of the other major American sports coupled with the lack of hockey exposure in America. Much of the population finds themselves cemented into a certain sport and even more specifically a certain franchise, unfortunately not many find this sport to be hockey. With hockey being the least televised sport, only very recently hitting the television channels people don’’t see it in the same league as football, basketball and baseball. It is looked at as more of a big brawl on ice than a competitive, respectful sport, something needs to be done. With the elder population being too well established in other sports the target demographic comes down to the youth of the country. Targeting young adults, teens as well as children seems to be the most viable option. The proposed way of doing this will be to bring hockey leagues to the hometowns of the kids, making it more appealing and accessible as well as establishing a fan base from early on in a person’s life. Other methods of increasing hockey exposure and revenues are looked at however setting up leagues is the proposed solution. To do so sponsorships will need to be set up, schools will need to be contacted and youth will need to be inspired by NHL role models.

Situational Analysis Hockey the sport born in the cold and played on ice finds itself to be an overlooked and under appreciated industry. Ever since it’s birth in 1917 the NHL has seen constant controversy and many different struggles. Initially starting with only 6 teams the sport flourished in certain area’s attracting some die hard fans, however many were not taken by the violent sport that often led to on ice brawls. Americans already had their Football, Baseball and Basketball it seemed as though the potential for fans was minimal however the industry persevered. Finally seeing expansion in 1967 the league doubled and fan numbers grew dramatically, more teams joined again and the league found themselves at 26 teams by 1994. The fans were streaming in however revenues for hockey were much less than other sports due to difficulty at getting the games on the air. The NHL industry as a whole now finds themselves in a pivotal moment of decision making. The much debated topic of which method should be employed to increase fans and revenue is a hot one. Hockey isn’t generating the kind of revenue the other main three American sports do. The problem seems to lie mainly in a few things, lacking exposure through television, trouble converting fans, and difficulty attracting youth. These three things create a barrier for the NHL to grow and increase it’s overall revenue as an industry. While the other sports are seeing large numbers of American households tuning in to watch their games, (NFL leading at 12 million) NHL seems to have a much lower turnout. With only 2 million houses on average tuning in to watch the games, revenue opportunities through t.v advertisements and other Television based income are going down the drain. Another thing causing the problem as previously mentioned is the struggle that lies in converting fans from other sports to watch hockey as well, or even sometimes instead. Many Americans find themselves embedded in a team generally one which is past down to them from their parents or family from a very young age. More often than not these teams aren’t NHL franchises and that means the industry needs to attract people who haven’t established their chosen die hard sport or franchise, because once chosen it is exceedingly difficult to sway them from it. The third main thing acting as an obstacle to increase hockeys exposure and have it sweep the nation is the difficulty getting kids involved due to the game being played in a very specific location. There have been major advances in this field with the game being played in the street now as well as at schools in gyms and things like that, the problem now is to get kids from the gym to the ice. Once any of these issues have been resolved the hockey industry will see an influx of fans, the main problem as a whole is just getting exposure.
SWOT Analysis
|Strengths |Weaknesses |
| | |
|- Hip newly popular game that only recently got |Competing in a very well established market with the other |
|television publicity, creating a buzz around it |American sports, which have been around and successful for longer |
|a loyal fan base , growing constantly with the new teams that have |than the NHL. |
|been added in since it’s expansion in 1973 |Does not have the same number of fans tuning in to watch the games|
|huge growth opportunity due to the many of untapped exposure options|on television as other sports. |
|and the market constantly expanding. |T.V stations unwilling to give full season coverage, only playing |
|An intrigued younger market liking the hockey image and the status |a select few games. |
|going with it. |Limited revenues leaving the less unprofitable teams to make |
| |salary cuts and weaken their teams performance. |
|Opportunities |Threats |
| | |
|Major television expansion opportunities |Controversial rules mainly due the the allowed fist fighting on |
|Endorsement spots available for the well known athletes to increase |ice. Possibly keeping fans who oppose any violence away. |
|exposure |Selective playing areas ( ice rinks, ponds ), coupled with the |
|Merchandise opportunities with NHL franchises seeing an increase in |high cost of equipment for children's league hockey make the game |
|sales of products. |hard to pick up. |
|Charity programs able to be set up and increase the image of the NHL|Families sticking to their ties with other sports and raising |
| |their children as fans of their favorite teams in the other |
| |industries. |

The SWOT table confirms where the problem lies, the lack of exposure and the other sports holding too much of the spotlight. It also reflects back to the situational analysis talking about the die hard fans being hard to sway while adding extra insight about the expense of the sport making it difficult to pick up.

Future Options The previously mentioned problems that create the struggle to gain exposure prove to be a difficult thing to overcome. However a few methods could prove themselves to be effective in generating revenues. First is the option to increase revenue and exposure through the youth, instilling a love for hockey in them at a young age. A method of doing this would be setting up programs that bring hockey to kids and including famous hockey players to entice them to play. This could be done by setting up hockey leagues for kids starting very early and having players from the NHL that come from the area to make special appearances and do publicity events. A second option would be to run celebrity endorsements, paying hip stars of the target demographic to attend hockey events and represent different teams apparel. When people see their role models, people who they look up to doing a certain thing, it creates a chain of events leading to more fans due to the influences of the media. A third method to increase exposure would be to get hockey players in the spotlight, landing them deals with sponsors and scoring them spots on television ads. The more the public sees certain people they become familiarized with friendly well known faces, if this were to happen to the hockey super stars it would draw in many more fans. All three of these options bring in more fans and have significant benefits and disadvantages.
Evaluation chart. 1 being the best, 3 being the worst.

|Hockey Leagues |Celebrities |Advertisement | |Cost |3 |1 |2 | |Consumer Satisfaction |1 |3 |2 | |Effectiveness |1 |3 |1 | |Total |5 |7 |5 | | These three points were chosen because the highlight the three main things relevant to the situation, how affordable it is, how happy the public will be with it and how effective it will be for the NHL. Two of the methods seemed equally effective on paper as both advertising and setting up many hockey leagues would touch a wide audience. While the hockey leagues would take more time and be harder to set up, it brings the personal touch that will instill love for the game of hockey in the hearts of the American children. For this reason this would be the best method in moving forward with a plan to raise revenues and increase exposure.
Plan of Action Bringing hockey to the children of America is a daunting task to say the least, with a large population constantly growing it is something that will take time. Implementation of a hockey league for youngsters that grows with them all the way until the end of high school where professional opportunities then begin to open up is a big goal however it is doable. Sponsorships will be required to fund local teams however this provides an excellent opportunity for outside brands to connect themselves to the up and coming sport that with the right marketing could become a powerhouse in the industry. Being there when it counts allows companies to reap the rewards later and this kind of sales pitch should bring about investors and sponsors to help jump start the program. The promise of NHL stars to make publicity appearances in home towns where the league programs are booming will help to increase participation. Hockey needs to become the sport kids are playing from a very young age and to do this it needs to become included in the schooling programs, setting up not only league teams but school teams as well would bring an even bigger buzz to having hockey in town for anyone to play. Everyone wants to be the top athlete and with a new sport to contend in and a big following for the sport growing kids will be eager to become good at it. With the target demographic being the youth it will provide added incentive for kids to play and get their friends involved as well when the different marketing streams make their way to them. Implementation of this plan would be a long and continuous profit but it is sure to gain positive exposure and pick up as the sport sweeps the nation and a huge fan base begins to form with new potential fans being born every day.