NHL Club Business Meetings show continued growth, collaboration

A record of more than 1,300 representatives from the NHL’s 32 teams and League offices are in Seattle this week for the NHL Club Business Meetings presented by Ticketmaster, which are hosted by the Seattle Kraken.

“We do annual meetings because it’s really important, not only as we work with all of our teams on a day-to-day basis, but as our peers collaborate around the League, getting together in person has always been incredibly important,” NHL executive vice president of club business affairs Susan Cohig said. “There is so much you can do, sharing information and ideas, talking about challenges, thinking about the future that in-person meetings help facilitate. It's something we’ve been doing for decades, and they’ve grown considerably in recent years.

“In the last five or six years, we’ve started adding more groups in these annual meetings. So, across the organization we have many more business areas represented than ever before. That’s really why they’ve grown so much and they’re so productive now as a result.”

Seattle is hosting for the first time. The Kraken became the League’s 32nd team when their expansion application was approved by the NHL’s Board of Governors on Dec. 4, 2018, and they played their inaugural season in 2021-22.

The Kraken welcomed participants to a celebration at Climate Pledge Arena. The League will host a 5K run/walk along Seattle’s new waterfront park promenade Thursday, and meeting attendees also attended a Seattle Mariners baseball game at T-Mobile Park, the site of the 2024 NHL Discover Winter Classic between the Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights.

The meetings are expected to generate $3.1 million in economic impact for Seattle, according to Visit Seattle, a destination marketing organization.

“Seattle was really important to us,” Cohig said. “It was really a seamless process working with the team, working with the city and working with Visit Seattle to say, ‘What would this experience be,’ knowing the size of the group.”

The seventh annual Stanley Awards winners were also announced at the meetings. The Utah Mammoth (Home Opener Campaign), Winnipeg Jets (Social Media Club of the Year), Detroit Red Wings (Designer Merch Collaboration), Tampa Bay Lightning (Game Presentation of the Year) and St. Louis Blues (Bluesnatics and Blues App, which is focused on a more personalized fan experience through delivery of unique fan journeys, automated rewards, incentives, contests, and crafting memorable moments with the usage of emerging technologies) each won for the first time.

Winners were chosen from a record 146 submissions by an external judging panel consisting of leaders in the sports and entertainment industry. The awards are produced by NHL senior director of club business affairs Nicole Allison.

Former NHL forward Anson Carter hosted the awards. Presenters included former NFL Hall of Fame offensive tackle Walter Junior Jones, who played his entire career with the Seattle Seahawks; former NBA forward Detlef Schrempf, who played for the Seattle SuperSonics from 1993-99, and former women’s hockey player Jayna Hefford, who won gold four times with Canada and is now executive vice president of hockey operations for the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

“Not only is it really important for us with the Stanley Awards to recognize the great work being done around the League in all the categories that we’re talking about, the underpinning of the work and everything we’re going to be discussing at the club business meetings really springs out of work reflected in Stanley Awards,” Cohig said.

“It’s a combination of recognizing work that’s being done. A lot of the discussions center around the programs and submissions we get, and those like the meetings themselves have continued to grow over the years.”

The growth of the club business meetings will remain an integral part of the League’s success.

“This message is something (Commissioner) Gary Bettman conveys when he opens the meetings and gives his remarks -- every single person at our teams contributes to the success of the business of the NHL,” Cohig said. “So, whether it’s team performance on and off the ice, also when we talk about the League as a whole and the growth and the success of our business, and being able to have meetings in an incredibly successful expansion market like Seattle, everyone who attends the meetings and as well, in all of our markets because we stream our opening session, every single person is contributing to that success.

“That’s an important message for everyone to hear, whether you’re a social media manager or a club president. It’s not just about what happens on the ice. It’s incredibly important what happens off the ice and engaging with our fans in every market. Every single person that is at the meetings contributes to that.”

The 2025 Stanley Awards winners are:

1. Best Marketing Campaign -- Program intended to promote the Club’s brand and/or a related product, service, or business initiative.

Winner: Utah Mammoth for Home Opener Campaign. It is Utah’s first Stanley award win.

2. Social Impact and Growth Initiatives -- Programs designed to build a healthier and more vibrant community, generating greater access, opportunity, and inclusion (e.g., hockey participation/programming, community development initiatives, purpose-driven campaigns, etc.).

Winner: Nashville Predators for their Music Heritage Nights that celebrated their unique home by hosting four nights inspired by the music of Nashville’s diverse makeup: Hispanic, Pride, API & Black Music Heritage. It’s the Predators’ second Stanley win.

3. Social Media Club of the Year -- This award recognizes overall excellence by a club’s social media team, including maximizing the teams’ official social media channels to engage existing fans and capture the attention of new fans with outstanding creativity, consistency, and proven instinct to innovate within the NHL and across #smsports.

Winner: Winnipeg Jets. It’s their first Stanley win.

4. Sponsorship Activation -- This award recognizes a creative and/or successful partnership campaign, platform or promotion executed in conjunction with one or more club sponsor(s) with the goal of achieving mutually beneficial brand and business objectives.

Winner: Toronto Maple Leafs for Oreo -- “Stay Playful”. It’s the Maple Leafs’ fifth Stanley win (second in Sponsorship Activation).

5. Ticketing Initiative -- Effort designed to generate new ticket sales or increase season ticket member sales or retention (e.g., new season ticket sales campaign, partial plan promotion, membership program, etc.).

Winner: Detroit Red Wings for Designer Merch Collaboration. It’s their first Stanley win.

6. Game Presentation of the Year -- Recognizes overall excellence by a club’s Game Presentation team, including successful execution of creative, entertaining, artistic, experimental, and technically complex elements within Game Presentation. It’s the first time this award has been presented as part of the Stanley Awards.

Winner: Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s their first Stanley win.

7. Venue Business Initiative -- This award acknowledges the club and arena which improved the fan experience via enhancements, or new offerings in Premium, Food & Beverage, Guest Experience, or Mixed-Use Development around the arena.

Winner: New Jersey Devils for the Center Pier Club and Eastback Kitchen at Prudential Center. It’s their third Stanley win.

8. Strategy, Analytics, and Innovation -- This award identifies overall excellence by a club’s Strategy & Analytics group. Nominees should demonstrate a specific project that impacted the overall business via the use of data and technology (data warehouse, programming tools, statistical packages, APIs, front-end visualization tools, etc.).

Winner: St. Louis Blues for Bluesnatics and Blues App. It’s their first Stanley win.