2023-2024 NHL Season Preview: Social Value & Stanley Cup Predictions
With the NHL season starting on Tuesday, October 10th, now seemed like an appropriate time to run through some predictions and a social value recap from the preseason. There will surely be a lot of great storylines this season with a couple of rookies who have already shown off some incredible skill – including Connor Bedard of the Blackhawks and Logan Cooley of the Arizona Coyotes. The defending champions, the Vegas Golden Knights, will be looking to remain one of the top teams in the league with a roster largely the same as its Stanley Cup-winning roster with the exception of Reilly Smith being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Along with the Golden Knights, some other likely contenders for this season’s Stanley Cup include the Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Edmonton Oilers.
Which NHL teams have brought in the most value from social in the preseason?
The NHL as a whole has brought in $11.9M so far this preseason from Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook combined. From the start of the NHL preseason until now, the Pittsburgh Penguins brought in the most social value with $948.4K and 1.8 million engagements. The Bruins brought in an impressive $868.9K with 1.3 million engagements, and the remainder of the teams came in under $650K in value. When it comes to bringing in social value, it isn’t always correlated with performance on the ice. There are plenty of teams in the league that have die-hard fans who will engage with social posts no matter how poorly the team is doing.
In the chart below, five of the eight teams are original six teams who have had the most time to build up a loyal fan base across multiple generations. Based on this chart, it looks like there will be a few teams that may not be Stanley Cup contenders, but will likely bring in just as much value as some of the top teams in the league. The Chicago Blackhawks are not expected to be a contender but are known for their loyal fan base, and with the addition of Connor Bedard, are likely to be a team that a lot of fans will want to watch. Bedard has already shown flashes of his skill throughout the preseason and Blackhawks fans (and non-Hawks fans) will likely be tuning in to watch him during the regular season, which could lead to increased value for the team and its partners.
The data pictured on the left is from the Trajektory agency platform from September 22, 2023 - October 5, 2023.
The Pittsburgh Penguins had an impressive amount of engagements and value throughout the preseason. Only the Boston Bruins came somewhat close to matching their engagement. The remainder of the teams all fell below the 1 million engagements mark. The Bruins also rivaled the Penguins’ value coming in at $868.9K compared to the Penguins’ $948.4K.
Which teams brought in the most social value for the 2022-2023 NHL regular season?
For the 2022-2023 NHL regular season, all 32 teams combined brought in a total of $214M in value across Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. The top three teams for social value were the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs coming in at $20.9M, $16.7M, and $14.6M respectively. The top three performing teams during the regular season were the Boston Bruins with 135 points, the Toronto Maple Leafs with 111 points, and the Colorado Avalanche with 109 points. In this case, it appears that performance and social value are correlated, however, the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs are both original six teams which may provide them with an advantage when it comes to bringing in value even when they do not necessarily perform well on the ice.
As we head into the 2023-2024 regular season, we will likely see a lot of the same teams making a run for the Cup as last year, but if you’re familiar with the NHL, you know it’s really anyone’s game. Last year, the Florida Panthers made a surprisingly impressive run during the playoffs. Few fans could have guessed that they would make it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final as a wild card team. That’s part of what keeps the NHL exciting to watch and why it’s gaining more popularity around the globe. We’ll be looking forward to watching the playoffs this year and seeing which teams around the league end up bringing in the most social value throughout the season.
Where does Trajektory come in?
Trajektory is the premiere sponsorship analytics vendor on the market. We make it easy to keep track of all of your brands, properties, and assets in one simple, user-friendly platform. We help brands and agencies keep track of valuations for dasherboards, DEDs, social, TV broadcast, LEDs, static signage, helmets, jerseys, and more. Our platform allows you to pinpoint top (and bottom) performing assets and properties so you can be confident in deciding where to increase or decrease sponsorship spend.
Not only can the Trajektory platform let you view your brands’ assets and performance, but you can also compare and track the performance of competitor brands as well as any professional sports team. This allows you to benchmark performance across all assets to see where your brand’s valuations stand in comparison to others across the same or different leagues. With Trajektory, brands and agencies can optimize their sponsorship spend and ensure that their investments are performing well, and make adjustments over time if needed – something they’ve never been able to do before.
Interested in learning more? Get a demo at Trajektory.com/demo
