NHL & Players Association Extend Deal with Visa for Canadian Market

The National Hockey League (NHL) and National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) have announced the renewal of their sponsorship agreements with Visa Canada, asthma making Visa the official payment card of the NHL and NHLPA.

Visa Canada will partner with both the league and its players through the current NHL season and two subsequent campaigns. Its previous three-year deal with the league expired at the end of the 2010-2011 season.

Kyle McMann, vice-president of partnership marketing for the NHL, said the league plans to highlight Visa’s status as “official” payment card – which was not a part of the previous sponsorship deal – in future marketing and sales initiatives.

“You’re going to see a lot more of an NHL push around Visa as the preferred card of the NHL in Canada,” said McMann. “We’re doing a lot more direct-to-fan applications and we’re embracing our card payment preference through our transaction business.”

He added that Visa’s “Hockey Love Hurts” campaign, which was introduced last season, would likely continue in some form.

“We know they certainly had a lot of success with “Hockey Love Hurts” and tagging it to a unique fan insight that no one else was attaching themselves to, and it really brought through the card utility,” said McMann.

“I think what we’ll see is an evolution of that campaign and we’re sitting down as we speak to work out what it’s going to turn into.”

Visa’s NHL and NHLPA sponsorships cover the Canadian market. The league has a separate partnership in the U.S. with the credit card company Discover.