- The NHL launched “Hot for Hockey,” a romance-style audio story campaign
- Gary Bettman was asked about it before Wednesday’s Penguins-Flyers opener
- Read below for Bettman’s comments, the video and the first two stories
Gary Bettman is fully on board with the NHL’s romance novel era.
The commissioner was asked about the league’s new “Hot for Hockey” marketing campaign before Wednesday’s season opener between the Penguins and Flyers in Philadelphia. His answer was pretty simple. The league wants the fans who found hockey through Heated Rivalry and Off-Campus.
“We have a number of marketing campaigns that we’re going to be using directed at various audiences, but I would lean in terms of new fans that were acquired last year who were first introduced to hockey either through Off-Campus or Heated Rivalry,” Bettman said. “If new people want to come and be a part of the game, we’re thrilled to have them.”
Taylor Haase of DK Pittsburgh Sports asked the question. Watch Bettman’s full answer:
Bettman also brought up his own viewing habits, which he first talked about last season.
“I binge-watched both Off-Campus and Heated Rivalry, and to the extent that people find it interesting or entertaining or exciting, that acts as an impetus for them to take greater interest in the game,” he said. “I think that’s great for the growth of the game.”
Sports Business Journal’s Alex Silverman laid out the details of the campaign on Tuesday. New chief marketing officer Sean Eggert, who joined the NHL from Under Armour in May, is running it.
Popular hockey romance authors are writing and narrating short stories for the league, each 60 to 90 seconds long and built around real NHL storylines. They’ll drop on audiobook platforms throughout the season and point listeners toward upcoming games.
None of the stories involve actual romance between NHL players. The tone just winks at the genre.
First up are “Jack of Hearts” with Golden Knights center Jack Eichel and “The Storm Between Us” with Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho. Take a look at the Aho cover:
Carolina’s title run is all over it, with a “2026 Stanley Cup Champions” banner swirling through the storm behind Aho. The Canes raised the real one before their opener against Florida.
Here’s the Eichel cover:
Eichel is the jack on a playing card, surrounded by poker chips stamped with Golden Knights logos and pink flamingos. Very Vegas.
Eggert explained to SBJ why the league went in this direction.
“The popularity of hockey romance in not only this country, but North America at large, even parts of Europe, it’s unmistakable,” Eggert said. “You can’t hide from it. And so it’s a great opportunity for us to extend and reflect that culture back in our storytelling.”
He added that hockey is the most popular sport by a wide margin in the sports romance category, which he put at around 16 million downloads a year. The NHL is also bringing in BookTok creators to push the stories.
Those comments came a few hours before the Penguins blanked the Flyers 7-0. His message on the new fans was clear. If a romance novel gets someone to buy a ticket, the NHL will gladly take it.
