The NHL will hold its sixth annual trade show for licensed products, called NHL Exchange, July 20-21 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The show is where licensees will debut new NHL-licensed apparel and hard goods for the ‘11-12 season. The 500 attendees include NHL licensees, retailers and representatives from all 30 clubs, as well as representatives from league partners Reebok, Old Time Hockey, Hunter Forever Collectibles and New Era Cap, among others. Representing the NHL will be Exec VP/Marketing Brian Jennings, Group VP/Consumer Product Licensing James Haskins, VP/Consumer Product Licensing Dave McCarthy and VP/Retail Sales & Marketing in Canada Barry Monaghan. Held in St. Louis last year and Boston in ‘09, the trade show was originally exclusively for hard goods, though it has evolved to include apparel as well. The show will occupy 17,000 square feet (Fred Dreier, SportsBusiness Journal).
DELAY OF GAME: True North Sports & Entertainment Dir of Corporate Communications & Hockey Operations Scott Brown said that the Jets are “continuing to work with the NHL and other partners to finalize" the team's graphic brand. He indicated that the logo “could be unveiled in the next couple of weeks.” Upper Deck yesterday tweeted, “The delay in releasing uniforms and having photo shoots for the #Winnipeg #Jets is really hindering our ability to get cards done of them” (WINNIPEG SUN, 7/14).
