NHL reveals new surprising new (sponsored) division names
First came the advertisements on helmets. Now comes the sponsors attached to division names in this realigned NHL season.
The league announced Tuesday the official division names for the 2021 season, and each of them are joined by a corporate sponsor for the first time in history.
The divisions are as follows: Scotia NHL® North Division, Honda NHL® West Division, Discover NHL® Central Division and MassMutual NHL® East Division.
According to ESPN, the selling of naming rights to its divisions is "viewed internally as a one-year-only campaign."
As the league gets set for a Jan. 13 start to an abbreviated, 56-game season, it has also realigned to limit travel during the pandemic, especially as Canada closed its border. During this season, teams will only play others in the same division, often multiple times in a row.
The NHL also announced recently that it would allow advertisements on player helmets. ESPN reported 13 teams have announced those sponsors.
According to Forbes, sales for tickets, suites, sponsorships, concessions, and parking account for more than 70% of total revenue usually. However, last season, the league played 15% of its regular season with fans, per Forbes, and all of its playoffs. The league is starting without fans this season.
Forbes said that the average NHL team value fell 2% (to $653 million) and league revenue dropped 14% (to $4.4 billion) during the 2019-20 campaign.
The Scotia NHL® North Division is comprised of the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Candiens, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets. The Honda NHL® West Division includes the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues and Vegas Golden Knights. The Discover NHL® Central Division consists of the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning. The MassMutual NHL® East Division has the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NHL division names unveiled with a corporate sponsor twist
