Unique visitors to NHL.com International’s six European-language websites increased 28% during the ’19-20 season compared to last year. Overall visits were also up 25% and social media numbers soared even higher: Facebook video views increased by over 1,000% in some countries and views on Twitter jumped by as much as 442%.
NHL.com Int’l Senior Dir & Editor in Chief Matt Cubeta, who oversees the six European sites along with the league’s French and Spanish pages, attributed the NHL’s digital success in Europe to several factors. "Our audiences are in constant growth in Europe," Cubeta said. "It’s almost like an untapped market that we’re trying to hit." To do so, the league has leaned on social media -- video views on the NHL’s Czech-language Facebook page, for example, are up 1,070% YOY. "Over the past two seasons, we saw Facebook happens to be extremely popular in the Czech Republic," Cubeta said. "So, we targeted a lot of our content on Facebook and that’s where our video consumption really soared."
NHL.com International Senior Dir & Editor in Chief Matt CubetaNHL
Facebook’s ability to drive traffic in Europe hasn’t been limited to the Czech Republic. Video views on the social media platform more than doubled for five of the NHL’s six European-language channels during the ’19-20 season. "A lot of our sites and our content is built around data that we’ve consumed over the years," Cubeta said. "We really learned across all of our languages the past few years, that Facebook is a large driver of video consumption. … And even Twitter and Instagram, we generate a lot of video traffic through social platforms."
The NHL’s German and Swedish Twitter pages saw YOY video view increases of 245% and 355%, respectively. Cubeta also highlighted the league’s partnership with digital sports consultancy Seven League, which ran Instagram, Facebook and Twitter channels for the NHL in German, Finnish, Czech and Swedish this season. "A lot of our video consumption increases are attributed to our partnership with Seven League."
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NHL.com Int’l continued to deliver European-focused content during hockey’s coronavirus pause, hosting nine native-language Zoom calls with European players. Chats featuring players such as Penguins C Evgeni Malkin, Oilers C Leon Draisaitl and Bruins RW David Pastrnak were held in six languages: Swedish, Finnish, Russian, French, German and Czech. Cubeta said fans, players and especially the league’s European media partners appreciated the new content. "I got tons of thank you emails and saying, ‘When are we doing another one?,'" he said. He added the player Zoom calls were "a big change and something totally different that we’ve never done before. … I think we will continue to do more things like this."
Cubeta was keen to stress that for all his team’s social media maneuvering and market cultivation, the success of NHL.com Int’l ultimately comes down to the league’s European stars. “Everything for us is driven by our players,” he said. "Whether it was individual moments from guys like (Rangers LW) Artemi Panarin, (Capitals LW Alex) Ovechkin’s milestone goal, each language is driven by these star players."
