Fans Revolting over new Board Ads

Fans are absolutely done with this. The biggest off-ice controversy of the year, albeit only off-ice by a couple of inches, has to be the NHL's use of digital advertising on their boards. And if you pay attention, you've probably seen not only the ads change mid-game, but some of the ads are even animated. The NHL's introduced a new digitally-enhanced dashboard system, that's what it's called. Greg Wyshynski put out an article explaining how this works. So if you go to a game in person, you won't notice any difference. The rink still has the normal on-board advertising. However, when the game is broadcasted, the ads are actually swapped out. They can even be animated, as I discussed. And I mean, the benefit for this is obvious. Often, rinks will have local advertisers, or even national advertisers, which may not be relevant depending on the viewing market. For example, rink ads in, say, Dallas, for maybe medical coverage, may not be relevant if the game is being broadcast in Toronto, or Halifax, or wherever. So this lets advertisers really focus their ads and probably make more money. Greg also explains that the ads are sold somewhat like commercials. So you can buy specific spots, for example, behind the net, on certain replays. And in the future, it's possible that the broadcasters will use this space for other things. But I mean, that will mean giving up ad revenue. Some fans don't like this because they see the ads as distracting, especially the moving ones. Personally, I don't really mind it too much. But certain animated ones can be annoying. The car one can distract, especially if the puck is in the area. Hockey requires a lot of concentration to watch. Online, we've seen fans try to organize and even push back against this new ad format. I've seen people attempt to, for example, boycott any company that buys these ads. And I mean, it's just one of many things. We have jersey and helmet ads now. So I understand where fans are frustrated, especially because some may actually get sick because of the ads. One reasonable situation just seems no animated ads during play, no changing ads during play. For me, there's also another controversy, though, and that is gambling ads. Personally, I'm OK with sports gambling. I'm OK with it being promoted. But the degree to which it's being shoved down people's throats is a little concerning. It seems like these measures are going to pay off seriously for the NHL, though. They'll be pulling in a lot of money off gambling and these new ads. And that's partially why the salary cap will be growing faster than expected. But that's just my basic overview and thoughts. Let me know yours down below.