Samsung has announced a new content partnership with the NHL, packaging a unique suite of services for hockey fans’ smartphones and tablets.
The deal, announced Monday, groups a number of existing media properties under some new tech that makes it easier for fans to access hockey info. It integrates some information into a phone’s display for at-a-glance reference, and promises to make getting at deeper data easier.
Some top-level stats, such as game time countdown clocks and real-time scores, are made part of a display that runs even when a phone is locked. With a gesture, users can go directly from a lock screen into the NHL mobile app.
“Based on surveys we’ve done with user groups, the intent is to deliver as much compelling information at the top layer,” said Philippe Lozier, Samsung Canada’s director of content and services. “So without having to dig down into an application, you’ve got just-in-time information.”
A new widget also provides access to exclusive content through the existing Samsung-sponsored Situation Room platform, which pushes video and other content related to games being watched. So if the referee makes a controversial call, the NHL (working as a content partner with a team at Samsung) will publish a video that might highlight the rules in play or a review of the action.
There is currently no ad inventory for third-party advertisers aside from what is currently available within NHL.com’s existing app.
The partnership is the result of a year-long collaboration that saw the NHL’s New York development team working with Samsung developers in California.
The sports league partnership is a first for Samsung.
Hockey and the second screen
“This is a very big moment for Samsung,” said Paul Brannen, executive vice-president of mobile solutions for Samsung Canada. “The way people enjoy sports has really evolved from years ago. Sports are trying to figure out how to embrace technology and bring it into the user experience… The dual screen has become a part of our lives. It drives the ability for us here in Canada to get out to 17 million hockey fans.”
With Situation Room and the new functionality around the NHL app, Samsung is playing in a growing and competitive market in Canada, where mobile hockey experiences are seeing significant investment. Rogers (which owns Marketing) recently invested more than $10 million in new camera technology to sell referee cams and bench cams as a second screen experience called GamePlus.
Does the NHL see their new partnership as a competitor?
“We don’t look at it that way,” said David Lehanski, NHL senior vice-president of integrated sales. “We just see this as content we’re pushing out. We think it’s different, and it certainly has the NHL shield attached to it, so that positions it differently in the marketplace. NHL fans will receive it differently because of that. We just tried to sit down with [Samsung] to figure out what’s not currently being distributed. There may be other platforms that are similar, but to us, this is so unique.”
Samsung’s Brannen said this could be just the first step for the partnership as new developments in wearable technology may provide future venues for new kinds of hockey content.
The partnership’s offerings will be promoted to mobile phone owners through league-owned media such as NHL.com and with a broader media buy in the weeks to come.
