The National Hockey League reported that NHL soft-goods apparel in the season-to-date period (Oct. 2009 – Jan. 2010) are pacing at 6-7% above year-over-year sales. NHL hard-lines realized a 7%gain in North America compared to plan
for fiscal 2009-10.

Hard lines includes all non-apparel including
accessories, collectibles, electronic games, gifts and novelties, house
and home publishing and printed products, toys and game and trading
cards.

From Oct. 2009 – Jan. 2010, sales at the NHL Powered By Reebok
store in NYC are up 26.5% compared to the same time frame last
season. Jan. 2010 sales at the NHL Powered by Reebok store were up 45% compared to Jan. 2009. Overall NHL store sales for 2009 increased 16% from 2008.

As of Jan. 30, Shop.NHL.com sales are up 10% compared to the same time period last year.

The Top 20 Selling Jerseys on Shop.NHL.com season-to-date are:
1.        Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
2.        Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
3.        Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
4.        Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins
5.        Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers
6.        Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
7.        Milan Lucic, Boston Bruins
8.        Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
9.        Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
10.         Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
11.         Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils
12.         Marian Gaborik, New York Rangers
13.         Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
14.         Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres
15.         Chris Pronger, Philadelphia Flyers
16.         Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
17.         Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
18.         Jeff Carter, Philadelphia Flyers
19.         Marc Savard, Boston Bruins
20.         Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers

Among other key figures for the league:

Attendance
·        Through February 11, NHL Clubs are playing to 91.9% of capacity.
·        More than half of the 30 Clubs have seen increased or even attendance.

TV Ratings
·        All four of NBC’s 2010 “NHL Game of the Week” broadcasts have featured a one-goal decision.  Three of the games went into overtime and two went to shootouts. The close finishes have resulted in a 14-percent increase in viewership compared to a year ago.
·        Feb. 7 Pittsburgh/Washington game on NBC delivered a national household rating that was 22% higher than last year’s comparable game (2/22/09 – Pittsburgh/Washington).
·        VERSUS continues to build on successes of 2009; the best year in network history.  Through Feb. 2, national household ratings for VERSUS exclusive game telecasts are up 19% and national household ratings for the 2009-10 season-to-date are up three percent from the same time period last year.
·        Through Feb. 2, CBC’s Hockey Night In Canada is averaging 43% more viewers this season compared to last season.  Non-Hockey Night in Canada CBC broadcasts of NHL games are averaging 121% more viewers this season compared to last season.*
·        Through Feb. 8, NHL on TSN’s average audience is 48%  higher compared to last season.*
·        Through Feb. 2, RDS’s average viewership for all NHL games is up 3 percent from the same time period last year.
·        Through Jan. 31, 17 of 24 (71%) Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) in the US have ratings that are even or increased from last season, with 16 (67 percent) showing year-over-year increases.  The Chicago Blackhawks (+109% ), New York Islanders (+100%) and Anaheim Ducks (+100%) have had the largest year-over-year increases.

Digital Media Consumption
·        Unique Visitors (UVs) to NHL.com for the 2009-10 NHL regular-season through January are up 34% compared to the same time frame for the 2008-09 regular season.  
·        January 2010 was also highest trafficked month in NHL.com history.  Unique Visitors were up 41% for the month of January 2010 compared to January 2009.
·        With the continued trade coverage, analysis, and first games for traded players, January 31, February 1 and 2 were the three highest trafficked regular-season days in NHL.com history, excluding Playoffs and Trade Deadline Days.
·        Video starts for NHL.com rose 130% in January 2010 compared to January 2009.
·        Signaling strong global demand for the NHL, almost 45% of all video starts in January came from outside North America.  
·        Subscriptions to NHL GameCenter LIVE™ are up 33% this season compared to the same point last season.
·        NHL Mobile visits are up 282% season to date over last year’s average.
·        The NHL’s audience on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms has grown 161% since the beginning of the season.

Integrated Sales and Marketing
·        Year-to-date, advertising revenue for NHL.com is up 50%.
·        Kraft Hockeyville is up 45% in entries – the highest in the event’s five-year history.
·        Advertising revenue for NHL Network has already doubled that of the entire 2008-09 season.
·        All Canadian NHL partners have gone to market with NHL-themed activation in the first half of the 2009-10 season.