NHL sells divi­sion naming rights

Naming rights, jersey sponsors and the like – for a long time, such things in US sport were limited to certain areas. The coronavirus pandemic has now prompted the NHL to open up new areas.

13 of the 31 teams will take to the ice with advertising on their helmets this season, while the league itself is also placing naming sponsors on an unusual "advertising space": the four divisions, which have been temporarily realigned for the upcoming season in order to minimise travel.

The four divisions will now be titled the "Scotia NHL North Division", "Honda NHL West Division", "Discover NHL Central Division" and "MassMutual NHL East Division". The NHL stresses that this is intended as a one-off measure for the upcoming season, shortened to 56 games.

This is intended to offset financial losses: according to "Forbes", tickets, sponsorships, fan parking and the like account for 70 per cent of franchise revenues. Last season, the average value of a team fell by two per cent, while league revenues declined by 14 per cent.