The 2023–24 NHL season, which started Tuesday, is set to be a banner year for sponsorships, as the league continues to attract new partners and expand its existing relationships. NHL teams generated nearly $1.3B in sponsorship revenue last season—a 21% increase from the previous year.

The NHL has announced several new partnerships for the upcoming season, including a multiyear deal with Kal Tire, naming the brand the Official Tire Expert of the NHL. Global digital services and solutions provider Presidio has also come aboard for the upcoming season as the league’s Official Technology Innovation Partner, joining other sponsors like WestJet, ServiceNow, and Fastenal.

Dietary supplement maker BioSteel is the biggest sponsor in pro hockey, partnering with the league and all of its 32 teams. A sponsored post between the brand and Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard—which showed him doing some amazing moves on the ice at BioSteel’s NHL Camp for 30 top players and prospects in September—was the most engaging post of the offseason, with 113K followers. Bedard—the first round pick of the 2023 draft and potential future face of the NHL—currently has six partnerships, with brands including BioSteel, Lululemon, and Hyundai Motor, among others. 

Earlier this week, the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL’s first primetime game of the season on ESPN. During the broadcast, the power of digitally enhanced dasherboards (DEDs) were on full display, as nine brands—Bet MGM, GEICO, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Honda, Jersey Mike’s, Discover, ESPN+, Jagermeister, and MassMutual—again lit up the dynamic new asset after buying them during their  league debut last year. 

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