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Chris Daniels,KOMONewsSeniorReporter
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SEATTLE — The NHL Club business meetings ended their run on Thursday in Seattle with a 5K, after a four-day conference that brought representatives from all 32 teams to the city.
It was the first time the NHL held the event in Seattle.
“How can we improve it? How do we engage with our fans?" said Susan Cohig, the NHL Executive Vice President of Club Business Affairs, as the meetings were wrapping up. "It’s all about sharing, sharing how to do things better."
"We wanted to be in Seattle because Seattle is one of our newer teams," Cohig added. "Everyone's really excited to be here."
More than 1,300 representatives gathered for the conference, including attending a Mariners game and a private event at Climate Pledge Arena too.
Ali Daniels, Vice President of Marketing for the Seattle Kraken, said multiple employees also wrapped a vacation around the week, spending time on the refurbished waterfront. She pegged the event as generating more than three million dollars in revenue to the city.
“While we're really competitive on the ice, it's like a very fun competitiveness when you talk about the home offices, our audiences don't cross over that much, and so we can learn from each other," said Daniels. "We have similar challenges, even though we have we're all at a different part of our journey with our fans."
Cohig said the league is focused on new technologies, and teams shared ideas on that front too. She was asked specifically about the signage that has evolved around the rink in the last few years.
“When you think about our virtual signage and digitally enhanced dashboards and other things, that's a great example of depending on where the broadcast is originating from," Cohig said. "The signage around the rink built into the broadcast could be for an international feed, so the advertisers are for that. It could be a Canadian feed, so it's Canadian partners, instead of US partners."
There were also the “Stanley Awards” that were held in Seattle, honoring the best business units in the league.
Here’s how the league described each winner for the 2025 Stanley Awards:
Marketing Campaign – Program intended to promote the Club’s brand and/or a related product, service, or business initiative. Winner: Utah Mammoth for Home Opener Campaign. This is Utah’s first Stanley Award win.
Social Impact and Growth Initiatives – Programs designed to build a healthier and more vibrant community, generating greater access, opportunity, and inclusion (e.g., hockey participation/programming, community development initiatives, purpose-driven campaigns, etc.). Winner: Nashville Predators for their Music Heritage Nights that celebrated their unique home by hosting four nights inspired by the music of Nashville’s diverse makeup: Hispanic, Pride, API & Black Music Heritage. This is the Predators’ second Stanley win.
Social Media Club of the Year – This award recognizes overall excellence by a Club’s social media team, including maximizing the team’s official social media channels to engage existing fans and capture the attention of new fans with outstanding creativity, consistency, and proven instinct to innovate within the NHL and across #smsports. Winner: Winnipeg Jets. This is the Jets’ first Stanley win.
Sponsorship Activation – This award recognizes a creative and/or successful partnership campaign, platform or promotion executed in conjunction with one or more Club sponsor(s) with the goal of achieving mutually beneficial brand and business objectives. Winner: Toronto Maple Leafs for Oreo- “Stay Playful”. This is the Maple Leafs fifth Stanley win (second in Sponsorship Activation).
Ticketing Initiative – Effort designed to generate new ticket sales or increase season ticket member sales or retention (e.g., new season ticket sales campaign, partial plan promotion, membership program, etc.). Winner: Detroit Red Wings for Designer Merch Collaboration. This is Detroit’s first Stanley win.
Game Presentation of the Year – Recognizes overall excellence by a Club’s Game Presentation team, including successful execution of creative, entertaining, artistic, experimental, and technically complex elements within Game Presentation. This is the first time this award has been presented as part of the Stanley Awards. Winner: Tampa Bay Lightning. This is the Lightnings’ first Stanley win.
Venue Business Initiative – This award acknowledges the Club and arena which improved the fan experience via enhancements, or new offerings in Premium, Food & Beverage, Guest Experience, or Mixed-Use Development around the arena. Winner: New Jersey Devils for the Center Pier Club and Eastback Kitchen at Prudential Center. This is the Devils’ third Stanley win.
Strategy, Analytics, and Innovation – This award identifies overall excellence by a Club’s Strategy & Analytics group. Nominees should demonstrate a specific project that impacted the overall business via the use of data and technology (data warehouse, programming tools, statistical packages, APIs, front-end visualization tools, etc.) Winner: St. Louis Blues for Bluesnatics and Blues App. This is the Blues’ first Stanley win.
You can listen to more of the conversation with Susan and Ali on this week’s edition of “Inside the Arena” with Sports Director Niko Tamurian and Senior Reporter Chris Daniels.
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