ESPN: NHL to begin displaying virtual advertisements on rink boards in arenas

Digitally enhanced advertisements on dasherboards will soon be coming to a hockey broadcast near you.

According to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, the NHL will be debuting what they call ‘Digitally Enhanced Dasherboards’ that will allow digital ads to be displayed on game broadcasts.

As described by Wyshynski, local, national, and international broadcast networks will be able to show advertisements on in-arena boards that may differ from what is placed in the arena.

“Every game, every night. This is the new norm,” Keith Wachtel, the NHL’s chief business officer and executive vice president of global partnerships told Wyshynski. “We don’t like to call it ‘erase and replace,’ but that was the original terminology. It’s taking something that’s existing, keeping that value, but replacing it with something that’s much better and isn’t static.”

The new technology will allow for the digital advertisements to be seen when broadcasts are airing from the center-ice camera. The in-arena ads will still be seen when alternate camera angles are used, for example, when showing a replay.

Wyshynski goes on to point out that while advertisements will be the main goal of the new technology, broadcasters could eventually use the new digital spaces for things like displaying statistics or making custom celebration graphics.

For more information and a deep dive on the technology, click here.