The National Hockey League is always looking to expand its fan base, and one untapped demographic in the United States for hockey is Spanish-speakers. Using radio broadcasts, the NHL hopes to boost the popularity of its product in that population
For years, only the Florida Panthers had NHL Spanish radio broadcasts. The large amount of native-Spanish speakers in the broadcast’s reach made it worth the expense. The team put an end to those broadcasts in 1998 when it relocated to Sunrise, Florida, and for 16 years, there was no NHL team broadcasting its games in Spanish.
Vinnie Viola purchased the Panthers in 2014, and determined that the Spanish broadcasts were worth reviving in his efforts to turn the fiscally-struggling franchise around. Once again, Florida had a Spanish radio broadcast, but they were still the only NHL team to ever do so.
That changed in 2016, when the Chicago Blackhawks partnered with Spanish-language media power Univision to test a broadcast. The program was a success in The Windy City, and the two entities extended their partnership for 14 games this season. The rest of the league is starting to take notice.
According to Ian Thomas of the Sports Business Journal, the expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights are exploring the possibility of Spanish-language radio broadcasts. In the article, Las Vegas Golden Knights President Kerry Bubolz explained why it makes sense for the team.
"“One of the first pieces of due diligence I did was looking at the people that make up this market, and 30 percent of it is Hispanic, and it is one of the fastest if not the fastest-growing segments,” said Bubolz. “If you have 30 percent of your market being of one demographic, you have to find a way to reach that audience. It’s a no-brainer.”"
While the Golden Knights appear to support the idea, there is some doubt about how expansive the concept will become. The NHL says that its research suggests that second-generation bilingual fans prefer to listen to English broadcasts. Additionally, doing regular alternate language broadcasts requires approval from the radio broadcasters that the NHL and its member franchises already have rights contracts with.
It’s difficult to see how the idea wouldn’t be worth exploring for all the NHL teams in the United States. Hispanics are the second-fastest growing population demographic in the United States, and a forward-thinking business not only explores how to give the fans of today what they want, but does the same for the fans of the future as well.
If Spanish radio broadcasts take off in the NHL, even if just in specific markets, the next logical step would be television. Again, that would require approval from the broadcast rights holders, in this case NBC. Telemundo has stated that they are willing to explore broadcasting NHL games if NBC is willing to allow it.
All that may be in the years ahead, but the NHL is just exploring how best to make a foray into this untapped market. For now, radio seems to be the vehicle of choice.