North American ice hockey league the NHL has expanded its partnership with Japanese automotive firm Honda to take in the Canadian market.
As part of a multi-year agreement, American Honda Motor will include Honda Canada as league sponsor in the automotive category in North America. Honda will sustain its commitment to the league's national broadcast partners, NBC in the US and Rogers in Canada. Honda will further support its NHL relationship through a significant media commitment including promotions across the NHL’s media platforms such as NHL.com, NHL Social and NHL Mobile.
The new agreement also leverages the NHL brand through use of league marks and collective use of team marks in Honda’s national consumer and trade advertising and promotion.
Honda will continue its participation and activations at key NHL events throughout the season. Honda's vehicles will activate across events including Face-Off, Winter Classic, All-Star Weekend, Heritage Classic, Stadium Series, NHL Awards, and NHL Draft, as well as throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final.
At the 2015 All-Star Weekend, Honda will serve as title sponsor for the All-Star Skills Competition taking place on January 24, where the greatest players in the league will face off in a series of on-ice contests including the fastest skater, accuracy shooting, hardest shot, and the breakaway challenge, among others. Honda will also be the title sponsor of the 2015 All-Star Game on January 25, where the Columbus Blue Jackets will host elite NHL players.
“Honda has been a long-time supportive sponsor of the league and this expansion of the relationship into Canada is a validation of the power of the NHL brand and our fan base,” Keith Wachtel, the NHL's executive vice-president of global partnerships, said. “We look forward to exciting and engaging activations for hockey fans on both sides of the border.”