A total of 59 brands, which included many globally recognised brands from across the world, partnered with the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2022/23 season & post season. The combined worth of these brand partnerships with the annual series is estimated to be $487 million annually, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Post Event Analysis: 2023 Stanley Cup Finals,’ currently adidas has in place the most lucrative deal, worth a total $490 million across seven seasons, to serve as the league’s official kit supplier for all 32 franchises in the NHL. The second most lucrative deal the team had in place was with Apple, worth a total of $26.5 million. The NHL’s third most lucrative deal across the 2022/23 season was from the sports corporation Sportradar, which has a ten-year deal in place with the league, worth $25 million annually to serve as the official integrity partner of the NHL.

Tom Subak-Sharpe, Sport Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “As the NHL is one of North America’s most lucrative sporting properties, the league continues to attract many brands from across the globe that are willing to sign multi-year agreements to partner with the league and have the ability to associate their brand with one of the biggest and most popular ice hockey competitions, the Stanley Cup Finals.”

With the NHL having strong traction and popularity across the US and Canada, the league has managed to secure multi-million dollar partnership agreements with many brands. A majority of the brands partnering with the league are currently North American-based organisations. However, brands from across Europe and Asia have also signed deals to become connected with one of the top sports leagues in the US. These include adidas, Danone, Honda, Hyundai, and Jagermeister.

Subak-Sharpe concludes: “Despite NHL regular season matches and the recent Stanley Cup Finals witnessing a drop in viewing figures, the league remains appealing for brands, and this is expected to continue over a long period of time as the league generates billions of dollars from sponsorship and media rights deals. Many brands have shown long-term confidence in the NHL by committing to partnering for over two decades and subsequently investing large sums of sponsorship funds.”