Hockey Ratings Soar!
"A script so classic that if it were a movie, they would send it back because it was unrealistic," commented Bob Costas on what nhl.com cites as the "most watched television broadcast in Canadian history." The 2010 Olympic Gold Medal hockey game between the U.S. and Canada drew 16.6 million viewers in Canada (80% of the entire Canadian population watched). It had a 15.2 rating with a 30 share, eclipsing the 2002 Olympic Gold Medal Game between the same countries. To compare it with major sporting events in the United States, the game between Canada and the United States surpassed the 2010 Rose Bowl, the 2009 World Series, the 2009 men's NCAA basketball championship game, the 2009 NBA Finals, and the 2010 Daytona 500 in terms of viewers.
With viewing attendance and ratings so high for hockey in Canada, the focus shifts to CBC Sports' Hockey Night in Canada. According to recent BBM figures, Hockey Night in Canada is up 50%*. CBC also provides extensive Stanley Cup playoff coverage with a focus on Canadian teams and has exclusive English-language rights to the Stanley Cup Finals. The 2009 Stanley Cup had an average audience of 7.5 million people and a total of 22.2 million overall**.
If you’re looking to gain exposure in Canada, now is a better time than ever to advertise during the NHL playoffs and Stanley Cup. CBC offers sponsorship packages such as:
- Hockey Night Coast to Coast: Opening/closing animation + voice over + verbal mention
- The Hotstove: Minimum 2:00 minutes of exposure
- Overtime Magic: Feature aired during each Overtime Broadcast of HNIC Playoff and HNIC Stanley Cup broadcasts
- Call for Indie Music: Sponsor logo included in opening sequence + billboard online
- HD Sponsorship: Commercials during HD broadcasts
- Ariel Cam: Feature aired "In Play" during Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts
- Multi-Language: Partner with Hockey Night in Canada & take a leadership position in introducing 'new Canadians' to our game!
- Peter Puck: Multi-language + broadcast/online features
- Brandsell Only Package: Title, Presenter, and Feature sponsorships are available and include :10 billboard and :30 brandsell in Prime and ROS, plus Bonus Prime and ROS spots (some feature sponsorships may include on-screen logo/animation)
- NHL Playoff Preview & Draft Day Promotion: Dynamic playoff coverage, large growing audience for draft day, great advertisement with presence on key start pages (homepage, NHL, and fantasy hockey for duration of flight), ROS/RON media, and sponsored landing page for NHL playoff coverage and draft day coverage
(*) - Bill Brioux of the Canadian Press
(**) – Jeff Klein of the The New York Times