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April 11, 2023

NHL STREET Seeks to Have FLAG like Impact on Fan Development

The National Hockey League, in partnership with RCX Sports, recently announced the launch of NHL STREET. The hope is that the ball hockey program, designed for kids ages 6-16, will increase youth participation in the sport.

It is widely assumed playing a sport as a child – and having a positive experience – is the surest pathway to adult fandom.

League research indicates that between 25% and 35% of NHL supporters became fans because they played hockey or had a child, sibling or other family member playing the game.

“Our primary goal in this [effort] is fan development,” Andrew Ference (Director of Social Impact, Growth and Fan Development, NHL) said. “It’s getting [young people] to think about hockey in the context of ‘that was fun, I made some friends,’ as opposed to anything else.”

The NHL’s SGL (Social Impact, Growth Initiatives and Legislative Affairs) department is responsible for growing the game of hockey.

“Trying to find the best and most efficient ways is how we landed on street,” Ference said.

Street is the simplest form of hockey. All that is needed to play is a stick, a ball, a net and a flat surface.

It eliminates the greatest barrier to learning and playing the game – access to ice.

Another benefit to street hockey is “the entry point [for participation] doesn’t have to be at a super young age,” Ference said. A teenager who has never skated before can pick up a stick for the first time and play.

USA Hockey has done research to find out why kids with access to ice, who know how to skate, have elected to exit the sport.

“Some of the reasons [included] competitiveness, hitting [and] costs,” Ference said. “But a lot of it was the commitment, just with the schedule and modern-day families wanting their kids to do a number of different things.”

NHL STREET has set out to address those concerns.

The program will turn down the intensity that permeates youth sports and focus on fun over development.

The NHL looked to the video game industry for inspiration when putting STREET's mission statement together.

“They set-up games to be incredibly creative and engaging. Kids are encouraged to try different moves with low consequences,” Ference said. “You don’t have a coach over your shoulder telling you what to do [when playing video games]. You’re allowed to talk to your friends the whole time. It’s very social. And there’s a lot of music incorporated.”

NHL STREET is leaning into each of those tenets.

“We want to build it out where the music is playing the whole time,” Ference said. Where “there’s a real shortage of tactical rules. We don’t have coaches calling Xs and Os. We’re purposely not having practices and skill development. We’re just playing. And we have cool jerseys and equipment that looks fun.”

Franklin Sports created an exclusive line of sticks, balls, and goalie equipment for STREET. The NHL’s official street hockey partner also developed an inexpensive temporary board system for league operators.

The cost of the eight-to-twelve-week program will vary by market. However, Ference said registration fees would be affordable and in line with NFL FLAG (programs range from $40-$250/season).

That is an all-in number. Operators will have all the equipment needed, on hand, for players to use.

Registrants will receive an NHL team branded uniform.

Ference sees the integration of club IP as an “incredibly important” part of the experience.

“It makes [the kids] feel like they are part of a professional league,” he said.

Once the NHL decided to build a street hockey program, it began looking to youth sports operators that could help deliver the experience envisioned at scale.

“That’s when we saw flag football and RCX and what they had done to bring it under one umbrella,” Ference said.

RCX operates NFL FLAG, the NFL’s official flag football league. It also runs Jr. NBA Leagues, MLB Pitch Hit & Run and MLB Jr. Home Run Derby.  

RCX has been successful in building NFL FLAG. The company's CEO, Izell Reese, estimates 750,000 kids around the globe will play this year.

The RCX founder believes STREET can have a similar impact amongst Gen-Zs. Like NFL FLAG, a major professional league "is tied to the program, it’s a variation of the sport [of hockey] and you can take it anywhere,” Reese said.

RCX and the NHL will lean on experienced youth sports operators, that have pre-existing relationships with parents in local markets, to gain critical mass quickly.

“The ability for us to add street hockey into the menu of [youth sports] options that they’re [already] offering up to those families is incredibly important,” Ference said.

But for the NHL, it’s not just about getting sticks in kids’ hands.

“It’s about giving families a solid program and giving these [children] an incredible time,” Ference said; leaving them with lasting memories “is the real pathway” to success.

Remember, the goal is to develop life-long fans.

There will inevitably be some players who maturate from the program to the pros. Reese, who spent seven seasons on an NFL roster, noted that he played flag football before ever strapping on a helmet.

“But that’s not the goal,” Ference said.

Generating short-term revenues is not amongst the league’s priorities either. It will cost the NHL money to keep registration fees affordable.

The league does have sponsorship partners to help accelerate its efforts (see: Tim Hortons and Hyundai in Canada).

STREET will allow the NHL to expand its presence, brands, and programming into markets without clubs.

Some will be hockey towns, like Saskatchewan (Canada) or Portland, Oregon, that are craving more from the league.

Others will be potential NHL expansion cities.

“Austin, Texas is a pilot market for us this summer,” Ference said.

And some may not have a rink at all.

“We’ll be the first touchpoint for hockey for a lot of families,” Ference said.

“Being able to attract this new audience is what excites us and the NHL,” Reese added.

The NHL will judge STREET’s success on program participation.

According to

USA Hockey membership data

, there were over 350,000 children ages 16 and under playing registered ice hockey in ’21-’22. The league would like to have at least as many playing STREET within a decade.

FWIW, Reese said his organization wouldn’t even consider partnering on a sport that it thought would draw less than 500,000 kids across the U.S. and Canada.

“Anything RCX Sports is tied to, if we’re not talking a half million kids or better, it doesn’t fit our business and what we stand for,” he said (think: affordability, accessibility, inclusion).

The number of new youth sports operators it can bring into the fold and the number of non-traditional hockey markets entered will be among the other metrics the league looks at to measure program efficacy.