NHL

 Ice hockey in the Czech Republic is not just a sport – it is part of the cultural heritage that significantly shapes national identity and connects fans across generations and regions. The NHL, the world’s most prestigious hockey league, holds a unique position in the Czech environment. Thanks to the long-term presence of Czech players and a strong fan base, it enjoys exceptional attention and represents a symbol of hockey excellence.

Challenge

 In a dynamic environment where games take place almost continuously during night hours, the goal was to secure both high-quality and quantifiably measurable media coverage of the NHL in Czech media, increase awareness of the league and its players, and strengthen relationships with key journalists and media outlets. One of the main challenges was the speed of news reporting, where it is not possible to compete with the Czech News Agency (ČTK). Therefore, our added value lay in providing unique insights and materials about clubs and players. This allowed us to systematically strengthen the NHL’s position on the Czech market through strategic media communication. However, additional challenges also emerged during the year – for example, the absence of a Czech team at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament naturally led to lower media interest, resulting in a reduced number of outputs.

Solution

Given the characteristics of the sports media landscape and the specific expectations of Czech fans, we had to approach the NHL systematically. The strategy was built on several key pillars:

Daily Media Service: Ensuring daily communication between the NHL and Czech media, including the distribution of exclusive content (video materials, statistics, behind-the-scenes information) and prompt reactions to current events in the league.

Personalized Interaction: Organizing regular media meetups enabling direct contact between journalists, players, and NHL representatives. This approach significantly strengthened trust and the quality of media relations.

Focus on Czech Players: Acknowledging the strong domestic media interest in Czech players, we focused on targeted promotion of Czech talent. Practically every player interview attracted journalists from leading sports newsrooms.

Collaboration with Key Partners: Establishing successful cooperation with both public service broadcasters (particularly Czech Television) and commercial media, which regularly used our materials in their sports reporting.

On-site Support: During the NHL Global Series in Prague in October 2024, we provided full on-site support. This included coordinating press conferences, managing post-game interviews, and facilitating individual player interviews directly in the locker rooms.

 

Results

• Primetime Broadcast: Daily highlight segments in Branky, body, vteřiny
• Total PRAM media outputs: 3,017 (a 27% increase compared to the previous season)
• Gold-tier PRAM media outputs: 2,072 (68.68% of total coverage) – KPIs exceeded by 130% (average 230 out of expected 100)
• Total reach of PRAM media outputs: 447 million

Comprehensive media support from PRAM during the NHL Global Series in Prague delivered compelling results. PRAM was actively involved in the majority of outputs (320 out of a total of 628) related to this event, representing a significant share of overall media coverage. The event generated over 51 million media impressions, demonstrating strong public and media interest.

The NHL holds a stable position in the Czech market, with room for further growth if the combination of daily media service and leveraging engaging on-ice and off-ice storylines is maintained. The key benefit of the collaboration was not only achieving exceptional coverage results, but also establishing PRAM as a partner capable of keeping the NHL consistently in the spotlight of Czech media attention.