Interactive displays are just one of the many attractions fans in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland will be able to check out during the tour’s six stops.NHL
After "finding success traversing North America with a traveling fan tour during its centennial season" in '16-17, the NHL "is hoping for the same result when it embarks on a slate of games in Europe starting next week," according to Ian Thomas of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The NHL Global Fan Tour will make six stops across Germany, Sweden and Switzerland, all countries that will host NHL exhibition and regular-season games in the month ahead. The tour begins in Nuremberg, Germany, on Saturday, followed by stops in Bern, Switzerland; Cologne, Germany; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Berlin, wrapping up on Oct. 13. NHL Group VP of Int'l Strategy Jaka Lednik said that the league "is looking to more deeply engage with overseas fans." He said, "For European fans, they can see our games on TV during the week, there are official NHL websites dedicated to the fans there in different languages, and we have games again in Europe. But what we really want to do over the next couple of years is help them engage with the NHL in ways that North American fans can as well and help them get a bit closer to the action." Lednik added that the league "is looking at the European tour as a pilot program but has high hopes for stops in markets it thinks are already ripe with NHL fandom" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/17 issue).
