NHL Abandons 'Hot for Hockey' Campaign Amidst Fan Backlash

The National Hockey League (NHL) has ceased its week-old "Hot for Hockey" audiobook marketing campaign, removing the short stories from Spotify following a largely negative fan response. The initiative, launched to capitalize on the popularity of hockey-themed romance novels and related media, featured short audio stories in the style of romance novels, often incorporating current players.

The league released seven audio stories, each between 30 and 90 seconds long, last Thursday. However, the campaign quickly drew criticism on social media, leading to its abrupt discontinuation. A league spokesperson stated that the campaign was a "start of the season concept" designed for the opening week and that the NHL's current marketing efforts are focused on other initiatives, including a celebrity campaign and tune-in messages.

Sports Business Journal had initially reported that the NHL intended to release these stories throughout the season. However, a league representative clarified to Front Office Sports that the campaign was planned as a one-week activation tied to the season's commencement.

While the audio stories did not explicitly depict romance, they aimed to emulate the tone and style of the burgeoning hockey romance subgenre. The NHL had enlisted popular authors from this genre to write and narrate the content. Among the early releases were stories featuring players Jack Eichel and Sebastian Aho.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had previously indicated the league's interest in the trend, citing the significant number of new fans acquired in the previous year who were introduced to hockey through the popular shows "Off Campus" and "Heated Rivalry." Bettman noted that the genre's cultural prevalence made it a logical area for the league to explore.

This marketing effort by the NHL enters a landscape where player-focused fan content has previously drawn scrutiny. Three years prior, the wife of former Kraken player Alex Wennberg publicly addressed concerns regarding fan fixation on her husband, describing it as "sexual harassment, inappropriate comments" and questioning the normalization of such behavior when directed at athletes.