NHL Expanding its Presence in eSports

The National Hockey League is the latest to join the eSports fray — with their video game I mean. However, it took a couple of tests before the League was sure it would jump headlong into the world.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman handed out the NHL’s second championship trophy to its latest winner in Las Vegas. However, Erik Tammenpaa didn’t accepted the trophy to wild cheers and chants from the crowd but boos echoing throughout the Esports Arena Las Vegas at the Luxor. But does it matter when you take home the title, the trophy and $50,000. Tammen played a heavy schedule with a number of back-to-back competitions but ruled the day undefeated in the EA Sports’ “NHL 18.”

The NHL Gaming World Championship became the peak of the NHL’s entrance in the eSports industry. While it didn’t garner a huge crowd like some of the Overwatch, League of Legends and Call of Duty championships, a few hundred filled the arena with NHL executives, family, friends and players. However, the newest edition to the esports world drew thousands to the online streaming event on Twitch.

Bettman told interviewers following the event that the transition was an effort toward introducing the younger generation to the NHL and expand the connections between the generations on the ice. Obviously, the hockey organization won’t be jumping to the level which Fortnite or League of Legends, but over time the NHL could seem some real opportunities within esports. At the very least NHL Chief Revenue Officer Keith Wachtel consider the NHL’s first esports appearance to be a “test and learning” experience and an apparently successful one at that.

Over 15,000 players showed up for the first qualifier for the three-month-long tournament. The turnout was not too far off of what other games using FACEIT, one of the many event organizer in esports, for their tournaments.

“It’s been a great success from the standpoint of testing and learning, but we also know that we have something special and exciting here that people are really interested in,” said Wachtel.

With a successful NHL ’18 opener, the Nation Hockey League intend to host additional tournaments as sponsorship opportunities have the potential to grow. Currently Bridgestone, Dunkin’ Donuts, Honda and Geico supported this year’s tournament along with partnerships with NBC Sports, Sportsnet and Viasat. One of the NHL’s most vital partnerships currently sits with Gamer Agency who will help in the League’s efforts in building into the esports world.