NEW YORK — The NHL’s potential to leverage expertise to boost fan expertise, engagement and progress was on the forefront of a panel dialogue involving NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and former New York Rangers goalie Mike Richter on the Paley Center for Media on Wednesday.

“It’s not just being about relevance, it’s about fans engaging in ways that they haven’t been able to before,” Bettman mentioned following the 30-minute session that was a part of Day 2 of the Paley International Council Summit 2023. “It’s making sure that the connection fans have with their sport is as great as it can be and at the same time figuring out new connections which will engage existing fans in more ways and will bring new fans to the game. Nothing in this world is standing still. You have to be moving forward otherwise you will fall back.”

The panel dialogue “How the NHL is Engaging Fans and Reaching New Ones” was moderated by Aryeh B. Bourkoff, a enterprise government and Paley board member who’s the founder and CEO of LionTree LLC.

Bourkoff mentioned throughout the dialogue that he has a 19-year-old daughter who’s a hockey goalie and requested Bettman how the panorama for rising the NHL has modified.

Bettman talked about how the NHL is continually working to evolve — together with with altering demographics — to attach with youthful and new audiences whereas remaining true to the traditions of the sport that longtime followers revere.

He introduced up the League’s affiliation with Roblox and partnering with The Disney Channel and its present “Big City Greens” for a real-time dwell animated broadcast of a recreation between the Washington Capitals and Rangers final season.

Bettman additionally emphasised the League’s puck and participant monitoring and the brand new web site devoted to it, NHL.com/EDGE, that offers followers entry to some information that beforehand was obtainable solely to groups and broadcasters and a few that’s new.

“We don’t change the game to suit the technology,” Bettman mentioned. “We try to figure out what technology can bring people closer to the game.”

Richter credited the NHL with maintaining the “character and integrity” of the sport robust whereas marrying within the technological developments.

He mentioned the League has struck the proper steadiness between selling gamers and permitting them to advertise and be their very own manufacturers whereas additionally ensuring it stays the final word staff sport.

“In the locker rooms, the 700-odd players that are playing, it’s sacrosanct to keep the character and integrity of the sport,” Richter mentioned. “To market to a new generation of kids and to engage them — to have that balance and not change the game, but change the technology to enhance people’s understanding to the character and deep devotion of the game is a really difficult thing to do.”

After the panel dialogue ended, Richter mentioned that NHL gamers themselves are reluctant to shine the sunshine on themselves the best way gamers in different sports activities do as a result of the ethos of the sport has all the time been about staff.
“Look at how humble Sidney Crosby has been, Mario Lemieux earlier than him and Connor McDavid is now,” Richter mentioned. “These are true superstars but they’re saying, ‘I’m spreading it around.'”

Richter mentioned expertise has allowed followers to really feel connected to gamers, which has fostered constructive progress in individualism throughout the staff idea.

“It’s kind of come to a good equilibrium in the League because you still have access to these guys but it’s in an authentic way,” Richter mentioned.

Said Bettman, “Younger players are Gen Z themselves and are responding. We’re encouraging it and old-school general managers getting used to it and even embracing it saying, ‘It’s OK to be out there on social media.’ Fans, particularly younger fans, want to know more than just how may goals you scored, how many assists you had, how many saves you made. They want to know what kind of car you drive? Where do you workout? What’s your routine like? What do you eat? What movies do you like? What music do you like? That’s all part of putting yourself out there. Players have been embracing it and the teams have as well.”