Advertising, You and the Ice Rink

By Rochelle Bergman

I love hockey.
I grew up as a Toronto Maple Leaf fan, true and totally blue (colour of uniform).
I started out seeing the game with my dad’s season tickets. If he couldn’t sell the tickets, then I got to see a game! When my dad said I was going, I jumped for joy! I had my coat on, hours before we had to leave the house!

It seemed to me that back then the players played for the love of the game. I mean, there weren’t big pay checks waiting for them at home. Players didn’t fight managers and managers never closed hockey rinks! Yes, the players made money, they needed to support families and such but it never got out of hand before. It seems to me that the whole money thing is out of hand. Players making millions while the prices for seats, food and such seems to just go higher and higher. It might get to the point when only the rich can see a hockey game.

Back then, it wasn’t important for the public to know what company supported who or what corporation paid for seats at the blue line. I really don’t think we cared. It wasn’t important to the game or to the way players played.

Today the players make millions per season. Companies parade their logos on everything and on everybody. Advertising at a hockey rink is big business! To me, I feel overwhelmed with all the advertising. It is the same all of the time, the same products, the same amount of money, same-old things!

I am not impressed with all the advertising I see going to my seat. But, I do have one advertising pet peeve. I don’t know if you all know this, but I have helped in writing advertising projects before and one thing my teachers always said to us…location, location and one more time….location.

So when I see advertising for a company around the rink’s white boards, I shake with confusion all the time. The number one place to advertise besides the ice itself and company’s don’t know how to do it! First, the idea of advertising around the boards and on the ice is fine if the message has a ice cold theme to it.

I might sound to you that I support advertising at the hockey rink. I really don’t, I get my advertising fix during the rest of the day! But, if the big companies will continue to use the rink as an advertising billboard, then step up and make them smarter and with reference to the professional game.