EDMONTON – After 113 days and a final 16 hour overnight bargaining session, the 2012-2013 National Hockey League lockout appears to be over. Still, the league and the players have a lot of work ahead of them in order to win back their fans.
“There are mixed emotions,” admits Joshua Brindza, the young man who created the National Hockey League Fans Army (NHLFA). “Some people are obviously really happy hockey is back – it’s the best sport in the world – but also we feel very taken for granted that NHL thinks they can just push us around.”
“A lot of people are just going to come back like that, but a lot of people – definitely more than in other years – are going to fight back.”
Over the course of the lockout, a number of campaigns were launched to help give fans a voice during the proceedings.
With the help of social media, hockey fans were able to participate in a NHL labour dispute like never before.
“Social media is a factor that hasn’t been there in other years,” says Brindza. “It’s a tool that we can use now. It’s like a war, and this is our ammunition.”
Brindza launched NHLFA on September 4, 2012. In the first weekend, the @_NHLFA Twitter account earned about 2,000 followers. It now has about 9,200.
“There are so many people that are tweeting hockey players … a lot of NHL players and owners can see our displeasure… I think, if it wasn’t for social media this year, the lockout probably wouldn’t have ended,” he adds. “If the NHL, NHLPA didn’t see some of the stuff we were planning on doing – like boycotting – they wouldn’t be in such a rush.”
The hockey clubs seem to be acknowledging they have a long road ahead. Patrick Laforge, the President and CEO of the Edmonton Oilers, is issuing an apology to fans.
“It’s the kind of thing sport fans don’t need to go through,” he says. “I apologize for that. Good news is we have a ten year agreement it looks like, and labour stability for a long period of time, and so a chance for us to rebuild those relationships.”
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So, what can teams do to win back fan loyalty?
“I think we win,” says Laforge.
“We do know the number one most important thing to Oilers fans is to have a team that’s competitive,” he explains.
“As for opening night, that’s really a tough question. There isn’t as many things as you might be able to do – some of them would be considered insulting for fans, and we don’t want to do that. So, we’re looking at a list of things that are respectful for them, honour the game of hockey and them as our customers.”
In the past, teams have welcomed back fans from a lockout with elaborate pre-game shows, and by painting ‘Thank You Fans’ on centre ice.
“It’s going to be a tough time right now to heal those things. I think that turning the music up louder and doing a magic act isn’t going to really be respectful of that relationship, it’s much deeper than that,” adds Laforge.
Public Relations experts agree that mending the relationship is a complex challenge.
Colin Babiuk, Chair of the PR diploma program at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton says the teams’ priority should be “getting to understand what are the concerns that are on the fans’ minds, that are on the service industry’s mind, so they can really begin to understand what they need to do to actually rebuild those relationships.”
“It starts with talking, getting engaged, talking to the people, talking to the fans, talking to the local service industries who rely on the games being there. It starts with conversation,” stresses Babiuk.
He adds that the previous NHL labour disputes have added to fan mistrust.
“If you look at the commentary on social media, people remember what happened in 2004-2005. Now they’re seeing it happen again, and so in their mind is ‘so when is the next time?’ A lot of people didn’t really fully engage back with the team after 2004-2005 and are less willing to do so now.”
Babiuk also says the motives behind the lockout and issues being negotiated play a role in how fans react to the return of games.
“You have people who are vying for higher incomes. You have owners who are looking for higher profit. You look at a market like Edmonton which is quite small, ticket prices are quite high. So, they’re looking at that transfer of money; who gets what, on whose back?”
So, what will fans do?
Social media campaigns like Just Drop It had hockey fans pledging to boycott NHL games, merchandise and broadcasts of the games.
“I pledge that for every game you take from me after December 21st, 2012, I will boycott you for the equivalent number of games after the lockout ends,” states the group’s Facebook page.
Perhaps surprisingly, the group’s organizer says in the 24 hours since the end of the lockout was announced, more than 1,000 new pledges have been made.
Other fan groups are urging people to keep sending messages to the NHL and the NHLPA.
“This page is not going to be over. The fans still have a voice,” stresses Brendan Wadlow with NHLFA.
“You can not buy NHL merchandise, you could not go to games. We had an idea that, for the first game, if you’re planning on going… come late to the game, miss the first ten minutes. How embarrassing will it be for the players if they’re playing in front of 5,000 fans to open the season.”
However, for some fans, missing even ten minutes of a game is not an option.
“There are die-hard Oilers fans who will always come back,” says Babiuk, who adds, “there are fans who came and enjoyed the games who may not come back.”
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