ECC Appoints Infront As Commercial Partner Of New European Hockey Club Competition

The Board of the European Club Competition has appointed int'l sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media as the exclusive commercial partner for the new pan-European club hockey competition. The cross-season, int'l league format will start with the '14-15 season and determine the European club hockey champion out of 40 top-tier clubs and national league winners. ECC Chair Anders Ternbom said, "The time is right now to establish a pan-European league for top club ice hockey." The inaugural season will see 40 clubs from the national leagues in Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland take part. The new brand name of the int'l league, which will stretch out from August to February each season, will be announced in early '14 (Int'l Ice Hockey Federation).