hockey's business and legal

Hockey’s Business and Legal Headlines April 15-21 with a New NHL Team In Utah

Alec Roberson

It’s that time again when we take a look at what’s been happening in hockey’s business and legal world. Once a week we cover the big and not so big stories in this arena. We also include a featured story of the period. Let’s take a look at what has been happening this period.

Hockey’s Business and Legal News

CCM Hockey Up for Sale

One of the biggest producers of hockey equipment, CCM, is reportedly up for sale. Birch Hill Equity Partners, a private equity firm, purchased CCM from Adidas seven years ago for close to $110 million. CCM has since grown and increased annual revenue and profits. Birch Hill may stand to do fairly well but stay tuned.

Alleged Sexual Assault in High School Hockey in Manitoba

Three 17 year old high school hockey players in Manitoba playing for the Prairie Mountain Mustangs have been charged with sexual assault following hazing incidents against a 15 and 16 year old rookie on the team. The alleged incidents happened at the end of last year and beginning of this year. Both occurred in a hotel in Winnipeg. The names are kept private due to the individuals being minors but this incident shows how hazing and abuse in hockey permeates every level of the game unfortunately.

Great Clips Renews Partnership with NHL and NHLPA

Great Clips has renewed its multiyear partnership with the NHL and NHLPA as their official hair salon. The initial partnership began in April 2019 and provides Great Clips with multiple marketing and sponsorship opportunities throughout the NHL and its events. They also launched a share your hockey hair campaign aligning with this partnership renewal.

Kendall Coyne Schofield to Lend a Voice in Disney’s Inside Out 2

In a new showing of hockey in entertainment, Kendall Coyne Schofield will voice a character in Disney’s upcoming film Inside Out 2. Schofield is one of the most noted women’s professional hockey players with multiple Olympic medals playing for and Captaining Team USA and is currently playing in the PWHL. With women’s hockey growing, this is another step forward for the sport.

NHL Alumni Association Suing PointsBet Canada

In an interesting move affecting both hockey’s legal and business sides, the NHL Alumni Association is suing PointsBet Canada for breach of contract. The suit seeks around $1.1 million from PointsBet. The alleged facts of this lawsuit state that after Ontario placed restrictions on gambling advertising by current and former athletes, PointsBet notified the Alumni Association they were ending their contract claiming this was a force majeure event. The contract provided marketing opportunities for PointsBet through the utilization of former and current NHLers. However, Ontario’s newly enacted restrictions require any marketing for gambling by athletes to solely promote responsible gambling. The Alumni Association argues that PointsBet is still obligated to fulfill the contract since they maintain licensure in the region to operate and market, even though it is restricted. This will be an interesting one to watch moving forward.

Dara Festinger Named Director of Hockey Operations for WHL’s Victoria Royals

The WHL’s Victoria Royals announced that Dara Festinger will be its new Director of Hockey Operations. This will be a promotion for Festinger as she moves up from her previous role of Manage of Hockey Operations and Analysis. Festinger comes from an analytics background and should be ready to take on the task. She is only the second woman to hold this title in the WHL.

Hockey’s Business and Legal Updates Featured Story: See You Later Arizona, Hello Utah

Following up from last period’s hockey’s business and legal updates, the final approvals needed for the sale of the Arizona Coyotes to Ryan Smith have completed and the team will in fact be in Salt Lake City, Utah next year. As previously discussed in an article describing buying and selling NHL teams, with information on relocation requirements, the NHL Board of Governors have to approve the admission of the new owner after the Executive Committee. That vote happened this week and Salt Lake City will see its first NHL team for the 2024-25 season. The Board also approved the arrangement where the Coyotes will be deemed inactive but may reactivate if Alex Mereulo can build an NHL quality arena within the next five years.

It’s an unfortunate reality that has seem in the making for some time for Coyotes fans. But it is also a big opportunity for people in Utah. Smith seems to have the energy and ability to hit the ground running. It will be interesting to see both how the new team does, and what happens in Arizona.

Post image attribution: Garrett from Salt Lake City, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Alec Roberson

Alec Roberson grew up in coastal North Carolina, taking a somewhat unconventional path to hockey. With hockey being almost nonexistent in that area, Alec found his passion for the game following the success of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2001 and 2006 and later played club hockey in college. After going through law school and practicing for some time, he now continues his love for the game through writing. Find him on twitter @roberson_alec

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