The ECHL will have blue hockey goals this season as part of a new multiyear partnership with GEICO, eschewing the traditional red color.
The ECHL will buck tradition and play with blue goal posts and cross bars this season as part of a multi-year partnership with GEICO.
In all ECHL stadiums in the U.S., the goal posts will be blue instead of the traditional red with GEICO marketing across the goals. It is the most visible part of the leaguewide partnership announced at Amway Center on Thursday.
That might bristle some longtime hockey fans, but it gives ECHL a unique look and unique branding opportunity that no other league has really tried. In minor leagues, sometimes you have to be different to stand out. Everyone will have to make the adjustment, including players. There probably are not very many blue goals to practice on yet.
The opportunity for the ECHL to partner with GEICO was born in Orlando during last year’s All-Star festivities at the Amway Center, said Troy Miller of Division One Sports who helped negotiate the deal on behalf of GEICO. The partnership grew from there as GEICO found a unique way to extend their partnership with the NHL.
“We get an opportunity to partner with a national brand, one of the most admired brands I think in the country, somebody who is very innovating in their marketing and their approach,” ECHL commissioner Brian McKenna said. “We are very happy that they chose to partner with us on something that’s never been done before in pro hockey. The goal posts for 100 years have been red and bland, and we’ve certainly added something to that.”
The partnership will also include GEICO ads along the boards and LED ribbons depending on the arena. It may also include partnership with local GEICO agents. As Miller said, it is an agreement that fits GEICO and its advertising approach.
The deal also will include digital advertisements and components with the individual teams and the ECHL as a whole.
“We’re excited to have GEICO as clearly one of the larger partners we have as a league,” Orlando Solar Bears president Jason Siegel said. “It’s twofold. It’s obviously to get their product in front of our 4.5 million fans and that’s just in arena. We all know what can happen socially and digitally and through all the viral opportunities that exist. The way we are going about this, they are going to be in every shot. Ninety percent of the action happens around the goal and that’s where they are. They are in the right spot. Looking forward, we hope to grow the business with them and maybe at the same time this is the impetus for future opportunities with other partners.”
Siegel said the Solar Bears may take the partnership a step further with the way they relay the information through their social platforms and any broadcast or TV deals. The branding effort though is a big first step in the partnership for the league.
It shows as much as anything the ECHL is in a very healthy position and willing to take risks to draw eyeballs and attention. That is always something minor league teams have to do.
There will probably be some that bristle at the idea of changing the color of the goalposts. But there seems to be no reason the goalposts were red to begin with. It is just the way things have always been done. Bucking tradition here is more about the evolution of branding opportunities and the game.
It will become as normal as different jerseys or ads on the boards, Siegel said.
“I think they will adapt very quickly,” McKenna said. “Our league has been very innovative I think in other areas a well. Things like the shootout for example many years ago. Fans came on board very quickly. I think they will with this as well. It’s a neat property and it will take very little time for them to become accustomed to it.”
