The NHL is on a mission to reach an audience it has yet to attract at the upcoming Stadium Series — set for Feb. 17 and 18 at MetLife Stadium, and featuring two outdoor games on back-to-back days for the first time.
No, they didn’t call Taylor Swift.
But they got through to the Jonas Brothers and indie pop band AJR.
“We clearly recognize there’s plenty of audience that we haven’t reached yet,” Steve Mayer, the NHL’s chief content officer and executive producer of the Stadium Series, said at a MetLife Stadium press conference Wednesday. “We think a hockey fan is gonna come to this game if we played it at 3 in the morning. But how do we get [other] people to our games? How do we get people to watch hockey that might be a fan of the Jonas Brothers, a fan of AJR, a fan of a celebrity?
“We, lately, especially have been really leaning into popular culture and going to the people rather than having them come to us. … It’s one of the chief reasons why we do sort of look outside the box.”
Swift certainly had an effect on the NFL this season, bringing in record-breaking viewership numbers for the Oct. 1 Chiefs-Jets game at MetLife, which ended up being the most-watched NFL game since the Chiefs beat the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, clocking 27 million viewers.
The NHL may be a “Sucker” for the same “Love Story.”
On Feb. 17, Nick, Kevin, and Joe Jonas will perform before and during the game for the Devils-Flyers matchup, and AJR will have an in-game performance during the Rangers-Islanders game the following afternoon.
The league sought the two bands to lean into the host area.
The Met brothers of Adam, Jack and Ryan, who make up AJR, started the band in New York City.
The Jonas Brothers were raised in Wyckoff, N.J., about 30 minutes northwest of the Meadowlands.
“We wanted them to perform, they wanted to be here,” Mayer said of the Jonas Brothers. “We’ve actually been talking to them for so long. It’s perfect that it sets up in New Jersey. Every time we announce music, we hope that it does lean into the area that we’re in. And the Jonas Brothers and AJR work perfectly for us.”
MetLife, the home of the Giants and Jets, will host the event for the first time since its start in 2014 and the weekend event will mark the 40th and 41st outdoor games in league history.
Both the Rangers and Islanders also participated in 2014, when the Stadium Series was held at Yankee Stadium.
The Rangers are undefeated in outdoor games, 4-0, including two wins in the Winter Classic.
The Flyers hold a 1-3-1 record across five outdoor games while both the Devils and Islanders sit at 0-1-0.
Mayer said he expected the competition to be fierce, especially given how tight the Metropolitan Division and the wild-card standings are between these teams.
“It’s a hockey game worth some important points and as you get later in the season, every time you win or lose, it can affect playoff position.” Mayer said. “That’s why everything, when it comes to the game itself, has to be pristine — the ice, it’s gotta be NHL ice. Everything we do is really game-first and everything else a bit secondary.”
MetLife is currently under construction for the event and according to Mayer, it takes about two weeks to build the rink and get the ice to NHL quality.
Depending upon the weather, that timeline may be affected, but he emphasized that the league has encountered everything in the past and is prepared for any eventuality.
Though the 82,500-seat MetLife is not the largest venue to host the Stadium Series (Michigan Stadium at 107,601), the Meadowlands could host upward of 165,000 hockey fans over the two days. Mayer hopes it’ll make an impact on the sport in New Jersey.
“It’s incredible,” he said of the possible number. “It shows our sport has grown, how much hockey means to this area. And that weekend, you’re just gonna feel it. We’ve come a long way in the NHL, and this will be living proof.”