Editor’s note: This post has been updated for the 2024-25 season. It was originally published in 2023.
Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. Are you wondering why the advertisements on the boards during NHL games keep distracting you? If so, we’re here to help.
Fall is here and that means hockey season is officially back in full swing. The 2024-25 NHL season promises to be filled with exciting games, captivating stories, and some darn good hockey to boot.
While a lot of the talk this season will be centered on the action on the ice, you can be sure that NHL fans will once again be complaining about one thing in particular: the league’s digital board advertisements. So, what are these digital board ads and why do hockey fans hate them with a fiery passion? Let’s dive in.
What are the NHL's digital board ads and how do they work?
At the start of the 2022-23 season, the NHL implemented digital advertisements — also called digitally enhanced dasherboards — on the boards along the edge of the rink. Usually, that space is filled with physical advertisements for local places of business or larger sponsors of the team and the arena in general.
However, thanks to the aid of cameras facing the boards and a bit of modern technology, the NHL has replaced the physical ads with digital ones during game broadcasts, allowing the league to control what is shown on the boards and when. The boards don’t stay changed the entire game, just the ones from the usual front-facing camera angle, as camera cuts to the sides of the rink still show the local, physical advertisements.
The idea sounds cool for enhancing the overall game experience — such as showing real-time statistics or goal celebration packages — but in reality, it’s been an incredibly janky mess.
Why do NHL fans hate the digital board ads?
For starters, the digital board ads haven’t always exactly worked as planned since the NHL implemented them.
These new NHL digital ads are wild pic.twitter.com/uN6InE68Zr
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) October 13, 2022
I’m so glad the NHL went to digital ad boards. Really enhances the viewer experience pic.twitter.com/Xwbt3YZCwI
— kenny (@ken___64) February 2, 2023
Since their implementation in 2022, NHL fans have been incredibly vocal about their dislike of the digital ad boards, stating that they’re too distracting, are extremely glitchy, and also pose a health risk to people with epilepsy.
Why does the NHL keep using the digital ad boards if everyone hates them?
Well, they’re definitely helping the NHL make money. According to ESPN, the NHL experienced a 21 percent increase in sponsorship revenue year-over-year for the 2022-23 season. Plus, at least 700 brands have gotten involved in the digital board ad space, with clear room to grow.
Not only that, the digital ad boards were nominated for a Sports Emmy back in April 2023, so it’s clear they’re going to stay, despite fans’ hopes otherwise.
What has Gary Bettman said about them?
In typical Gary Bettman fashion, the NHL commissioner has sidestepped fans’ concerns as — according to the league — fans find the digital ad boards a “non-issue”.
Bettman says that digital dasherboard ad backlash is a “non-issue” because their polling indicates fans find games more watchable with those digital ads replacing physical ones.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) December 13, 2022
Is the NHL changing anything about the digital board ads for the 2024-25 season?
It doesn’t seem like the NHL is making any wholesale changes to the digital board ads for the 2024-25 season. Last season, according to ESPN, the NHL was considering making some changes to the digital board ads, specifically to the brightness — so they don’t stand out more — and adding motion blurring to smooth things over.
For now, though, we’ll just have to wait and see if the NHL’s previous changes bring about a more polished experience for hockey fans watching across the globe.
