Tuesday’s news that NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins will cease to be a part of League operations as of Dec. 4 came as a shock to most.
Perhaps more than many others, Collins has his fingerprints all over the success the NHL has enjoyed the last eight seasons — lockouts included — since his appointment to COO in 2008. From outdoor games to HBO’s 24/7 TV series to the Rogers and NBC television rights deals, Collins is a big-brain the league office will surely miss.
“I can’t think of anyone who’s been more influential on the league in the last few years – the way he’s driven the league to think big picture,” said Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston on Prime Time Sports Tuesday.
Here’s the 411 on John Collins
Unprecedented TV rights deals, programming
Among Collins’ many accomplishments are the rights deals he helped secure with NBC and Rogers Sportsnet. In 2011, the league negotiated a $2.2 billion deal with NBC. In 2013, the league struck a deal that was the largest of its kind in Canadian and League history – a $5.2 billion rights agreement with Rogers.
He also led initiatives that would become the NHL Network, GameCentre Live and the behind-the-scenes documentary series’ broadcasted by HBO and Epix.
Since joining the NHL, Collins has helped grow the industry from a value of $2 billion to now over $4 billion annually.
Recognition and awards
During Collins’ tenure, the NHL was named “Sports league of the year” in 2011 and 2014 by the SportsBusiness Journal. The Winter Classic and Commissioner Gary Bettman were also recognized in 2014, winning “Sports event of the year” and “Sports executive of the year” respectively. Collins himself won “Executive of the year” in 2010 in the American Business Awards.
Outdoor hockey
In 2007, Collins was behind the effort to move the NHL game outdoors and the success of the Winter Classic and Stadium Series is largely attributed to him. Sports Illustrated’s Dan Shaughnessy wrote in 2009 that “Now hockey owns New Year’s Day the way baseball owns the Fourth of July and football owns Thanksgiving.”
The Winter Classic especially has become a centrepiece event for the NHL and its broadcasters. The 2014 game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings set records for attendance at a hockey game (105,491) and television viewers for a regular season match (8.2 million).
World Cup of Hockey
Collins played a role in the revamped World Cup, last seen in 2004, and formerly known as the Canada Cup.
“We’ve grown to a $4 billion business; the question now becomes, where does the next billion come from?” Collins told NHL.com in January. “We’ve seen it with the World Cup, which is just the next step. There are so many more opportunities.”
Partnership with MLB.com
This past August, the NHL and Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) announced a cross-sport digital media rights partnership that will provide MLB with NHL content while the NHL can take advantage of MLBAM’s technology for the purpose of providing a better experience to hockey fans.
“What I try to bring is a perspective where the NHL just needs to think bigger, be more relevant, push envelopes,” Collins told AdvertisingAge in 2011. “We think the brand should be bigger. We’re not going to sit still until hockey reaches its rightful position in terms of relevance in sports and entertainment. As far as we’ve come, I still see unlimited opportunity. The Stanley Cup should be, and could be, as big as March Madness from a ratings standpoint and an advertising standpoint. We’re never satisfied.”
Seeing Collins leave the NHL now is both shocking and curious. Whever he ends up, he’s sure to improve that business’s fortunes.
