Keeping New Fans Interested In Hockey During the Off Season

The Olympics are infamous for bringing a big buzz to the headline sports in the two week event.  This year, hockey enjoyed the dividends from being one of the biggest events on national television in both the U.S. and Canada in February. 

Combined with a new marketing plan from the NHL, the Olympics helped bring more fans to hockey than they have ever seen before.

To say the NHL is happy with this new viewership is an understatement.  On Monday, they reported that the playoffs brought in the largest audience in NHL history and more growth in their non-traditional markets, such as the south United States. 

The question now becomes: how can they keep these new fans?

Sure, their marketing strategy played a role in attracting viewers but there’s no doubt the Olympics brought new fans after the United States' almost undefeated run and the North America gold medal final. 

The gold medal game was viewed by over forty million people (22 million in Canada watched Crosby score the winning goal and 27.6 million Americans watched at least some part of the game).  You have to expect that with those numbers, the game attracted some new fans who tuned into the NHL games in the following weeks.

The 2008 Summer Olympics brought in short term fans to swimming after Michael Phelps won his eight medals but only two years later, swimming has all but disappeared from the main stream media once again. Will hockey suffer the same fate or will they find a way to stay in some part of the spotlight?

The question now becomes, "How many of the newly acquired fans can the NHL bring back after the off season where hockey is only a memory in the back of people’s minds?" How many people will remember Chicago’s historic Stanley Cup victory when the new season kicks off on October 9 in Europe?

It will take a near genius marketing strategy to keep hockey fresh in the minds of new fans, and those riding the big ratings train hope the NHL can pull something out of the bag before the memory of hockey fades completely. 

The season may be over until October, but keeping new fans interested in the sport is a year round job that should be a top priority for the NHL in coming months.