• by Karl Greenberg , November 17, 2014

Honda has extended its relationship with the National Hockey League, into a multi-year deal that brings in Honda Canada Inc. as League sponsor in the automotive category in North America.

The deal includes a brand and advertising presence on NBC broadcasts of NHL events in the U.S. and Rogers in Canada. There will also be promotions across digital properties like NHL.com, NHL Social and NHL Mobile, according to the automaker, which says it also gets something else: access to NHL's trademarks and logos in advertising and promotions. 

Honda says it will promote vehicles like the 2016 Honda HR-V crossover, CR-V, and Civic across events like the NHL Face-Off; NHL Winter Classic; NHL All-Star Weekend;  NHL Heritage Classic; NHL Stadium Series; NHL Awards; NHL Draft; as well as the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final.

Activation at next year's NHL All-Star Weekend includes Honda title sponsorship of the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Skills Competition on Jan 24. Honda also gets title sponsorship of the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game a day later, where the Columbus Blue Jackets will host top players. Honda says the NHL All-Star Weekend presence makes sense because the automaker has 11 facilities in the Blue Jackets’ home state of Ohio. 

The automaker first signed a three-year agreement in 2008 making it the official sponsor of the NHL, then extended again. The overarching coverage includes NHL television, and Internet and venue presence in both Canada and the U.S. The automaker’s Canada arm has also been involved in the Grand Prix of Canada F1 race and the Indy Toronto IndyCar Series

"Honda has been a longtime supportive sponsor of the League and this expansion of the relationship into Canada is a validation of the power of the NHL brand and our fan base," said Keith Wachtel, NHL EVP of global partnerships.