A Look at the NHL’s Social Channels

By: Daymond Kovaly

The National Hockey League (NHL) is the top hockey league in the world's fastest game. The fast-paced play, lower commercial times, and uniqueness of the game make it an exhilarating sport for fans worldwide. With that being said, how do their social channels stack up? How does the league capitalize on its strengths and create excitement for its games day in and day out?

Top Social Channels

The NHL generally posts a compilation of highlights, lowlights, and player interactions and can't-miss moments from the night. This is consistent through its Instagram, Facebook and X pages. TikTok has differences in both content and how often the league posts. The ranking of the followers is as follows:

Overview

As far as performance and aesthetics, Instagram holds the top spot. The highlights and videos look the best, they perform better, and it is a great medium for videos, interactions, and story posts. X follows the same formula as Instagram, but the execution does not flow as nicely. X has a lot of reposts from the teams' pages and not as much original content. On top of that, the performance does not reach Instagram levels. The NHL’s Facebook page posts more infographics and pictures than videos and highlights but does not get the same results as the top two. TikTok is where the NHL tries something new. This page does not follow the same recipe as the other three. Instead, the league posts a lot less, and when it does post, it is more player-centric, behind-the-scenes, and goofy content. The NHL is trying to capitalize on short videos presenting a new look at the games and a look into player personalities, with a sprinkle of highlights. 

• Strengths

  • The NHL holds the right to share all of their content

  • The youth that has hit the league, could make it easier to market players to the youthful crowd

  • New advanced stats and trackers takes the game to a new level, giving fans more interesting facts such as how hard a puck is shot, how fast players skae, and how far in miles a player skates during a game

• Weaknesses

  • Hockey has a gatekeeping problem. The sport has a hard time growing and hockey fans are reluctant to welcome change

  • The NHL is trying to excite people about the sport and attract more fans, as hockey is not the easiest sport to get into

Out of the “Big 4” leagues, the NHL has the least amount of followers on Instagram

The NHL is often bottom of the group, but perhaps growing the game and the league starts on social media

Overall Grades and Suggestions

I give the NHL a 7.2 out of 10. The league does a good job of showcasing highlights, videos, and key moments on the Instagram channel, but the formula does not flow as nicely on X or Facebook. I would like to see them market the players and their personalities a little more, or post some more of their content on X. As for TikTok, I say let the players control the feed, or hand it over to the league’s mascots and let them post content. That feels like the right fit for a TikTok page. Overall, I like what the league is doing on its social channels and I see lots of potential for more. 

NHL Audit

A full layout of all of the NHL social media channels, by Daymond Kovaly