The NHL plans to develop several enhancements to its Web site and real-time scoring system through a new alliance with Sun Microsystems, announced last week.
The three-year, seven-figure deal calls for Sun to become the official technology partner of the NHL and NHL Players' Association. The company will buy advertising on NHL national broadcasts and have exclusive marketing rights in the technology category. It also will be identified at the top of every page on nhl.com. In addition, the NHL will rewrite its real-time scoring system using Sun's Java technology.
Sun will help the NHL develop a new internal communication system used for things like trades. Upgrades to nhl.com will include an application where a user can predict a player's performance against an individual team or goaltender.
"We expect the NHL is going to be a very good customer of ours going forward," said Sun CEO Scott McNealy.
McNealy said the deal was not a sponsorship, but NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said it included "sponsorship elements," and league officials stressed that it included a cash rights fee paid by Sun.
Sun also has a $30 million deal to power mlb.com, with most of the value derived from products and services.
