Mixed feelings for NHLers as league milks jersey ads for revenue

Max Domi is poised to begin his first season with the Chicago Blackhawks after previously playing for the Montreal Canadiens.

His dad, longtime enforcer Tie Domi, suited up for both the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers.

The family will have donned jerseys for four of the NHL's Original Six teams once the 2022-23 schedule gets underway.

The younger Domi understands the league's move to include corporate sponsor patches on its sweaters beginning this season — especially as the game continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic's crushing economic fallout.

On some level, however, it also doesn't sit right.

"It's a catch-22, especially when you have a jersey like that," the winger said of the NHL's classic, storied threads. "You don't want to mess with those too much.

"It's tough, but we've got to make some money back any way we can."

The NHL's board of governors approved the plan to include sponsor patches on the front of jerseys last year. The NBA started selling jersey sponsorships in 2017-18, adding more than $150 million US in revenue to the league's coffers on an annual basis.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said at last week's NHL/NHLPA player media tour outside Las Vegas he expects roughly half his league's 32 teams will have jersey patches this season — they will measure roughly nine centimetres by 7.5 centimetres — not because some can't sell the space, but because the clubs can't yet sell it for what it's deemed to be worth.

"They're going to be smart about it and make sure they get fair value for the real estate they're giving up," said Daly, who declined to put a dollar figure on what ads will mean to the league short-term.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman had previously said the league would have to be