One part of this process, called “white space analysis,” uses artificial intelligence to determine how often the unoccupied part of a uniform where a logo would be placed appears during individual broadcasts and extrapolates that over the course of a season’s worth of nationally and locally televised games.
It is unclear whether the NHL, whose helmet sponsorship initiative emerged more suddenly amid the pandemic, has conducted similar research.
Many NHL teams are reportedly using the new inventory as a “make-good” to existing sponsors who haven’t received the exposure they are entitled to in their agreements due to the pandemic. The New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals and Nashville Predators, for example, are among the handful of teams that will have athletes wear the logo of their arena naming-rights sponsors -- Prudential Financial Inc., Capital One Financial Corp. and Bridgestone Corp., respectively. These companies, Sanchez said, have “lost probably the biggest chunk of value from their deal by not having fans.”
Regardless of how much revenue the helmet sponsorships generate this season, teams will likely be able to conduct a more thorough sales process following the season if the league and players’ union decide to continue the program beyond the trial period.
“They're getting some reaction from the fan base, they're able to measure impact from a quantitative and qualitative perspective,” Miller said. “That's going to better inform a future sales process when they go out and do a longer-term, more impactful deal, as opposed to what it now seems is a make-good.”
The Dec. 17-20, 2020 survey of 1,497 sports fans carried a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
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