Like most teams, the Calgary Flames have long provided players for autograph sessions at local charity events. In the past, the athletes would dutifully sign as many autographs as possible for fans who were quickly shuffled past them as if on an assembly line.
Today, at the suggestion of its players, Calgary does things a little differently. The Flames take the time to hold real conversations with the people who are so eager to meet them. Jarome Iginla and his teammates may sign fewer photos and cards, but everyone comes away happier and the team gets better promotional mileage out of the event.
It's one of the small but telling signs that National Hockey League players are gaining a bigger voice in the way their sport is being marketed, a striking departure from the old adversarial relationship between players and owners and one of the promised outcomes of the new collective labour agreement.
"The players really kind of hated doing those [events], where all you do is bury your head and sign your name a whole bunch of times," Flames defenceman Andrew Ference said. He is also the team's player business representative, a new position created by the National Hockey League Players' Association to ensure that its members have a say in league and team marketing and other initiatives designed to boost revenue.
Certain players have always had opinions about how the business of hockey could be improved. But now they have a strong motivation for making themselves heard, because their incomes are tied directly to revenue. The idea of designating a player on each team to serve as a point man on issues related to the business side of the sport stems from that motivation and from the closer co-operation between labour and management fostered by the league and the NHLPA since the end of the season-destroying lockout of 2004-05.
Both the NHL and the union insist that the biz reps are not there for window dressing. "It's a whole new world," said Ken Kim, the NHLPA's senior director of business. "We've never had more input than we do now. We're seeing a real change and it's encouraging."
But Kim added that the onus is on the players to take advantage of the opportunity. "We want to be able to come up with ideas and co-operate with [club operators]. Our role in the future will completely rely on how effective we are in contributing to their businesses."
This past summer, 14 players picked to become the first reps got together at the NHL meetings in Montreal to discuss business issues with league officials and club executives. The players were consulted on marketing strategy, reviewed advertising agency proposals and came up with a list of their fellow athletes who they thought should be spotlighted in league advertising.
"A lot of what we're doing is based on discussions, both formally and informally, with the players," said Ed Horne, the president of NHL Enterprises.
The old NHL did a lousy job of promoting its stars, relying mainly on the game itself to sell tickets and draw television audiences. That had to change, particularly if the league wanted to regain lost ground in the overcrowded U.S. sports market. But the general managers, coaches and players also had to be sold on the idea of marketing individuals in what has always been a team-first sport.
It was no problem persuading players that there had to be greater promotion of the game's leading attractions, Ference said. "One of the biggest battles we've had is that you talk about hockey to so-so fans and the only players they know are [Wayne] Gretzky and Mario [Lemieux], and they're both retired," he said.
Ference, 27, isn't eager to trade in his hockey gear for a pinstriped suit any time soon. But he said he has always been fascinated by the business side of his sport. "It's an opportunity for me as a player to educate myself and see that part of the game," he said. "There's always life after hockey."
The business reps are so new (and at least one is yet to be chosen) that they're still in the process of figuring out their role. And it will differ from market to market. Half a dozen, including Ference, Tampa's Tim Taylor, Minnesota's Todd White, Detroit's Mathieu Schneider, Chicago's Adrian Aucoin and Jamal Mayers of St. Louis, also serve on an advisory board dealing with league-wide issues.
Aucoin said he expects to be invited at some point to attend club business meetings when the Blackhawks' marketing people kick around strategies. "We have really good [front-office] guys here in Chicago," Aucoin said. "They're very open to ideas. We're all here for the same goal: to make hockey better."
The 12-year veteran said it's too early to tell how the new relationship will develop, but added: "It's positive because we're building bonds, players and teams. That's something that we definitely lacked. And I can only see it getting better."
