32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Alligators, Fenway Park & Around The Clock Hockey

Episode Date: October 26, 2022

Steve Mayer is the Chief Content Officer and Senior Executive Vice President at the NHL. He has joined Jeff and Elliotte on the podcast on several occasions to talk about league events and future plans. But this time around he sat down with the guys in Las Vegas to discuss the Winter Classic at Fenway Park, the All-Star game in Florida as well as the Stadium Series in Carolina, potential locations for the World Cup of Hockey, NHL games for 24 hours straight, P.K. Subban’s project with the league (which will be completed in Spring 2023), players expressing themselves more off the ice, and why the league wants to collaborate with other sports leagues.This podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

You know what we did last year? We did the strip and the Bellagio? Yeah. We're doing it again. In Florida. But we don't have a strip or a Bellagio. We have a beach. We have a beach, but we might have something else. A boat.

Welcome once again to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by GMC and the new Sierra AT4X. GMC, and the new Sierra AT4X. So by now you probably know who Steve Mayer is, or at least you've heard his name. Maybe you've heard him here on the podcast. He's been on a bunch. If you haven't, he's a chief content officer and senior VP of the NHL. Essentially, he heads the NHL creative department, okay?

New shows, twists and spins on established events. None of it gets unleashed until it ends up on his desk where it usually gets the steve mayer treatment elliot and i caught up with mayor this summer in paris at the european players tour and then sat down with him last month in vegas for the north american players tour now this is a podcast about ideas, crossover sports, Disney, 24-hour games, and a lot about All-Star weekend. And one thing, we'll just get it out of the way. One thing you'll notice in the interview is I ask all the good questions while Elliot really struggles as usual. Here's Steve Mayer, 32 Thoughts, the podcast.

So Steve, the last time you and I had a conversation, we were in the hallway in a lovely hotel in Paris, enjoying ourselves. It was late summer. I see a smile coming over your face. Nice croissants. Some warm butter. It was beautiful.

You have a good cup of coffee. Yes. Wonderful. That worked out great for us here at this podcast. And now I want to get to some of the players and some of the things that we noticed about them being in Europe as opposed to being in North America interviewing them. But what was your debrief like after that? So you come back after that event, Paris for a couple of days, NHL Euro media tour. What's the debrief like after that? So you come back after that event, Paris for a couple of days, NHL Euro Media Tour.

What's the debrief like? What works? What doesn't work? What do you like? What do you eh? How was it? You know, it's one of so many events that it's just nice to be back and to see these players in person, to be in the same room, to have them go from room to room, and for us to be able to

talk to them across a table, across a microphone. And these player tours, whether they're in Europe or North America, you know, the players are there for a purpose. They know they're going to be interviewed. They know they're going to be talked about. They know that they're going to have to answer the same question maybe over and over, but they're willing to do talked about. They know that they're going to have to answer the same question maybe over and over. But they're willing to do it. And sometimes when they go to a cool location like a Paris or a Las Vegas, it's just more appealing. We don't work them day and night, so they get their nights off. So I think from a player's standpoint, they're a little more relaxed, much more into it.

They give more. They give more. They give more. That's the one thing that Elliot and I know. I think I'm speaking for you here, Frege. They gave a lot more. They were comfortable. They felt like they were at home. Yes.

There. And I think we're also seeing who comes to these North American or European player media tours or are players with personality who don't mind the microphones in front of them, who don't mind talking about their teams, themselves. And I think that's purposeful in terms of their invite. Can we do things a little differently? Can we have even more fun with them? I think that's the difference between our player tour in North America as opposed to Europe. Europe, as you know, and for your audience, we set up in rooms and it's much more interview style.

And there are a couple of things that they do that are fun. But here in North America player tour, which is in Las Vegas, there's sheets of ice, they skate around, they do a lot more active things. We also kind of come up with some fun and crazy ideas to put them in fun, precarious situations where they're reacting, not necessarily answering questions. And we get a smile out of them. And sometimes, you know, the smile is a lot more meaningful than anything that they say. It just shows off their personality and people haven't

seen them in quite that light. First of all, the first thing you should say to them is you're going to Paris. You can answer the same question 36 times. By the way, I, you know, I think that they know that they're going to, and, and you're right. You know, it's not exactly, it's not a hardship. Yeah. It's not a hardship. And by the way, it's not a hardship. You know, we had croissants together. No, meaning it's not a hardship for anybody, like behind the scenes and behind the microphone. And I think everybody missed FaceTime. The last few years, everybody missed FaceTime,

even with some of the reporters. Not all of us, but even with some of us. Your job is to promote the sport and increase the interest in the sport. And I think we're all at a point here where we realize that there's a lot bubbling under the surface with player personality. But the team nature of hockey, and there's a lot of good about that, suppresses it. And I think we're all wondering, when are we going to get to the point where the lid gets blown off that? And I think we've been close,

and we've been close, and we've been close, but it always goes back. Would you like to see the NHL become more like other leagues? I fully expect, though, our players to just take the lead of someone that is really comfortable and

follow along and I think we're seeing a shift I really do I mean when I came to the league seven years ago you know that was this real struggle like there were no players on social media there were no players saying anything other than a very pat answer you know we gave 110 today and it was a great victory and tomorrow's another day i mean you i've heard them all and it's all cliche and but if i've heard them all you really heard them all we're starting to hear players speak honestly and And I think that's one step. But I also think, and we see it all the time, the players are letting us into their world. Like, you know, we see their girlfriends. We see their wives.

We see their dogs. We see their homes, their cars. We know the music that they like. We know the players and the people they want to hang out with. They hang out with people. We see that. That's cool. And that's what our fans, that's what people want.

Like, they want to get more and more of it. Sometimes they want to say, I'm just like that guy. And then other times they want to say, I am not like that guy, but that's cool because he lives the coolest life and I want to be like that. And there's nothing wrong with that. And it's worked throughout sports, all sports,

from now to the end of time. I don't understand why it doesn't follow in hockey, but it's going more towards that, which I think is cool. Okay. I have two follow-ups. Number one, who do you look at among current NHLers and say, that's someone who's going to take us to that next level. So I think there's a lot of young players that have great personality, that have that ability.

I mean, I think you've got Trevor, as you know. Yeah, so Trevor Zegres has a really strong personality. Everybody loves him. He's flashy. He's fun. He wants to do things. You know, he's flashy he's fun he wants to do things you know active on social media you know cal mccarr's got a super personality and he can play like nobody's business i think he needs to get a little more comfortable but the more he's in front of the camera i see somebody who

has potential really yeah i really i wouldn't guessed him, not because he doesn't deserve it, because as you said, he's really quiet. He's quiet, but he actually is really well-spoken. And there's been a couple of times, at least in our experience, where he's had some fun. And I think if we allow him and he sees that he can be comfortable, he can be one of those guys. I also think, again, and I go back, it's the people around them too. Like a lot of the players have the girlfriends who are active or the wives who are active and they might not

right now actively say, I want to do more of that, but I think they know what's going on. And I think that they don't mind. So the second follow-up I had was last year, one of the things I liked was Connor McDavid put his house out there and there was a lot of criticism and my reaction was look if people want this because there's gonna be people get scared away by that and I loved it I thought it was great do you ever reach out to someone and say hey that was great and because you did it, others are going to do it. Well, I think, listen, we attempt to try to do more and more of Conor's house or let's go home with Gabe and meet the family and let's do, I mean, we did a whole thing with Huberto before he got traded

during the playoffs. It was awesome in his house and hanging out with him for the day. And the reaction is a reaction. I don't like to go back and just say, did you see that? I think they know. I think they also know that we're living in a world where everybody complains. Yeah, you're going to have haters. And there are going to be old school.

That's okay. And there's nothing that everybody's going to really in the end of the day love but there is a segment of the population our fandom that just loves this stuff can't get enough of it you know and i do think our players are way more willing and then it's word of mouth too. You know, it's, I did it. You should do this. It's really cool.

You know, it's a little of that as well. And that's player to player. Like they took us and I spent the day with them and they were awesome. And I'm telling you that helps get the next one and then the next one. But we did it before the pandemic and we're going to bring it back. We did a series called Skates Off where we went and featured players at home and in their environment and doing what they like to do, finding out if they had a hobby or, and it was

really successful. And in order to get it sold back to teams and players again, we've put together a reel of what we did three years ago. Like something we felt was necessary in order to show them you have a good day. It's going to be fun. We're going to do what you want to do. We're not forcing you to go horseback riding when you've never been on a horse before. You know anything about that? Yeah. No. So we're playing into what they love to do and and we're going to bring that back you know and again the last few years yeah killed us like we lost a few years where we couldn't go to somebody's house we couldn't ride with them to the rink we couldn't

hang out with them we couldn't sit across from them so to get that back and and that's why Paris was cool and Vegas is cool it's because we're back in the same room as the best players in the world what you're talking about about personalizing these elite athletes that fans admire the way I've always coached it is it's like waking up one day and finding out that your neighbor is spider-man it's like you want to have that personal hey that's my neighbor and then this person's incredible at the same time. I am curious about where the NHL is still uncomfortable going. I thought the Columbus Blue Jackets did a really nice video right around the Johnny Goudreau signing, and there was a lot of them. Josh is there, and JD. And it came out great because it's that peek behind the curtain. This is how it gets made. And we've seen this on Draft signing and there was a lot of them josh is there and jd i get there and it came out great because

it's that peek behind the curtain this is how it gets made and we've seen this on draft floor videos before that have come out and people gobble that up like i've always maintained a board elliot with this pontification about how every general manager owes it to hockey that once they're retired to write the book on all the decisions they made and the decisions they didn't make so everybody can understand how their teams were formed right gms don't do that brookie did a book i wish more gms would but are there places where it's still we're not going like i don't expect you guys to put cameras in arbitration hearings as much as people may go oh yeah that's that's riveting that's i don't expect that to happen but are there areas where the NHL is like, we're not there yet? Given the experience that we've had and the fact that we've done

probably more than any other league all-access, you know, yeah, the NFL has done a good job with hard knocks, and they did one season where they followed the Arizona Cardinals. But there aren't a lot of these all-access shows during the year. So, you know, speaking to that, there are things that are off limits. Like we, and I think some of it's because our players are just so tough. Once they kind of close the locker room door, off limits. Like those are things that we just don't tend to show. From a standpoint of

trades and arbitration and some of the talk, I could speak to, for instance, when we did the Toronto Maple Leaf All Access Show for the whole year, player discussions that are personal, that are very open and honest, it's really up to the team. The NHL will go there if the team agrees to go there. So if something doesn't ever materialize, you don't want to say, you know, Elliott was going to get traded, you know, or even have a discussion that should we trade him? Should we get rid of him?

When in the end of the day, fans would love to see the love that he traded. I agree. Well, there is that. There is that too. That's juicy, Steve. And I agree. Like there's certain things, and I'm a huge sports fan. There are certain things I would love.

And I've had the privilege of seeing because we get some raw tape but there's also things that you need to protect i mean there is a business there's a team there's an operation to run and you have to be respectful of that there there has to be a wall that comes up at some point but i think we as a league go well beyond language i mean things that things that there were a lot of things in that toronto like i remember we as a league go well beyond language i mean things that things that there were a lot of things in that toronto like i remember we had a conversation last year because we had a podcast where we talked about how i thought there was an amazon hangover with the maple leafs and i'd heard it like some of the things that got but i think in the long run that was i think that was a great

program and i heard there's other teams that want to do it. And I think the Toronto Maple Leafs were amazing. I think that they went further than we ever expected on certain things that made the show. There were moments where we would put in, and we'll do this a lot. We'll put something in a cut and send it off and expect a reaction good or bad like you know and nine times out of ten it was it was good like wow you know and i think that says a lot about across our league strategy is another thing that we we have issue with i actually want more and more and we've talked a lot about this for this year, like go to places that no one ever goes. Like, I want to know what's on the, you know, the wall in the coach's office and why, you know, I want to, I want to see things behind the scenes. I

want to know how the whole business of the team operates too. Will that be coming back? Like I heard there were teams, I heard there were some teams that said this is not for us, but I heard you had several teams that said we would like to do this. We did. So there are quite a few teams that are interested. Our issue, and I think I've said this to you, Amazon, the timing last year, they weren't ready because remember the season went long and we would have had to like a week later, turn around and start doing it again. And then this year they actually had other series that they had committed to Arsenal.

I think they did in another sport. And so we're constantly going to them. There are teams that have raised their hand saying we would welcome. And believe me, that's quite a commitment. It's an entire season. But teams are willing. So I'm not going to sit here and tell you they're not. And we are constantly going back to Amazon saying, let's do it.

It's not going to happen this year. But we'll shoot again to see if it could happen for 23-24. The draft. Are we going to happen this year but we'll we'll shoot again to see if it could happen for for 23 24 the draft are we going to disney world uh you want to go to disney world what do you what you like space mountain or something hey man who doesn't like disney world yeah and i think potentially that could be one of the greatest ideas ever all, you know, I will just say this in our travels and our event team, the best in the world by far, we've literally been everywhere. I mean, I'm not going to sit here and tell you we haven't, but Disney world is one of those places. We have a new partner in the United States and in the SPN, a Disney company. So it would make a lot of sense if at some point we do an event on that property.

And remember, they have a property in Florida. They have a property in California. It's definitely one of the places among many that we're looking at and we'll explore, whether it's a draft or something else. I mean, they have a lot of property there. If anybody could see, Elliot, your face right now. It's turning. It's turning. I just will say this. No, we're not going to play an outdoor game there. But I'll also say Florida is a place that would be super cool if we ever could play.

And one of the things that we're always looking at, you know, is where are those next set of games and how, how can we make these games and the things that we do at the league as cool as they can be as unique as they could be as different as they could be. And so this winter we've commissioned a study to go to Florida to see whether or not it is feasible. We had a study done. It was done years ago that actually gave us negative results. Yes, I remember the commissioner talked about that. It was not favorable, but we think that there's a lot of advancements

in the way we do things and the way we can do things. And so we're going to go this winter and take a look at it because doing an outdoor game in Florida, pretty cool, you know, if we could pull it off. So I gave you two answers to your Disney question. You want to draft a Disney, huh? I think it's a fantastic. Well, I just heard that it had been discussed. So I think it's a – and that's kind of where, you know, you – as you talked about, we've been gone for two years, which in a lot of ways gives you an opportunity to think.

And we know you have a really creative brain. You'd like to push the envelope. What is the thing on your desk right now or in your head right now where you're saying, this is new and I want to do it? It's hard to say because- I love the Tahoe game. I thought that was great. Yeah, so thank you. We loved it.

I mean, there were some sun issues that, you know, are talked about. And I really get so upset about that. We rolled the dice a bit. We wanted to do the game during the day. It was really important just because of how incredible that setting was. And, you know, the irony of it all. We were there for three weeks and clouds, clouds, more clouds, clouds. And the one moment that the sun decided to come out happened to be the worst

moment possible. That being said, we got to do the game during the day when the sun was setting and at night, it was great. Our commissioner, Gary Bateman, truly believes that if we're going to do an outdoor game, we should be doing it in front of our fans. Our fans love these games. You know, one of the great exercises that we ended up doing during that Lake Tahoe experience was to go to other places and explore and see where we could pull off, outdoor game with no fans in a spectacular setting. But I do think it's not on the top of the list, and it's certainly not on our commissioner's list. And then themes, whether it's themed weekends, themed games. Like what kinds of themes are we talking about?

There's been a lot written about original six tournaments. There's a lot of different ideas, but a neutral site games, bringing teams together from, you know, California together and playing a weekend tournament, like doing things that are just feel a little more thematic Canadian weekend where, you know, with the Canadian division, it opened up our mind. Like, should we be doing things that are, you know, weekend where, you know, with the Canadian division, it opened up our mind. Like, should we be doing things that are, you know, weekend oriented, day oriented? 24 hours of hockey has been discussed. Like, could you pull that off, start in Europe and in the West Coast, play games for 24 hours consecutively and have it all on television.

You know, looking at all these different cool ideas that our fans could lean into, just a little different. Give us one we actually could see. What could we see? I like 24 hours. I like that too. I think that's great. You know, and I think that's very doable.

I really do. Because I think on the West Coast, there are certain markets that would welcome a one-in-the-morning game. I mean, we happen to be in Las Vegas. How cool would it be to play a game in Las Vegas on a Friday night that started at one in the morning? Like, that would be, I think, a huge hit. So, depending on where we are and… People in the city don't need another reason not to sleep, but that's a very interesting idea. It's a huge hit. So depending on where we are and... People in the city don't need another reason not to sleep, but that's a very interesting idea.

It's a great idea. But imagine a fan who gets up, first game's three in the morning because it's coming from... I just think there's something there and we'll explore it. People are always questioning, are we doing too many outdoor games?

Is it done? What's your classic, you know? No, no. We still think that, and we see it locally. When we come to town, when the circus comes to town, it's huge. It's awesome. You know, we're doing two games this year, Boston and Carolina, and just early ticket sales like that still.

Boston's had numerous outdoor games. Fans eat it up, and we love it, and it's still great for the sport. And it just gives you a couple of moments through the year that feel different and feel special. And if anything, we emphasize to our broadcast partners, like, you've got to make it different., you got to make it different. You got to make it big. And that gives us reason to do that.

And we'll just continue to look for those opportunities. Okay, I'm going to throw a dart here. So I love sports crossovers. Yep. Okay, so Winter Classic, Fenway. Awesome. Hockey game. I love stuff like that how important is it to you

to look to do partnerships with other sports leagues and and here's a dart i'm going to throw here because the lion's share of times i've come to vegas is to watch ufc yep has there ever been a conversation with the ufc to just to see if there's any common ground? Our athletes love hockey. Hockey loves your sport. So there's been, with UFC and MMA, a few athletes that we found love hockey. And our guys love MMA. Austin went with Bieber and big events too. And we welcome that. Like if we

can get our guys to go to those big events, it's great. I mean, the world saw that Austin walked in that day. That's great stuff. We constantly talk to the other leagues. There's a lot of sharing ideas, sharing materials. And how do we work together? Just by fact, like Fenway Park, when we do a deal, we're doing a deal with Fenway Sports Group, the Boston Red Sox, Major League Baseball for the use of Fenway Park. So there's always this dynamic, and maybe more so than other leagues talking to us there is this dynamic because we use their stadiums we use nfl stadiums you know we really are leaning into those athletes in their sports that are fans of ours you know especially if they're hockey we did we did the

most i would say it lasted 12 seconds. It was supposed to be bigger. LeBron James was shooting his barbershop show for HBO. And we said, what if we bring the cup to the show? And they're like, oh, my God, amazing. That would be fantastic. And we thought it was going to be this incredible thing. We sent the cup keepers over. We bought the whole thing. We sent the cup keepers over. We brought the whole thing.

We put the cup there. LeBron walked in and literally looked at the cup and then walked away. And we thought he was going to do this whole thing. And it ended up being that. That 12-second piece of video, I think, got like 4 million hits. And he just looked at it. He really didn't do much with it. So we're always looking for those connections and, and, you know, and trying to figure out how we can

take advantage of their audience because, you know, I'm a big fan of whether it's celebrity, whether it's music, whether it's other sports, you know, that audience of theirs comes over to us for a half a second and stays. We win. And what gets them to come to us? And sometimes it's just their people sharing our experience, and it gives their fans maybe a moment to check out hockey. And, you know, we always are striving for those opportunities. Two-on-two games in a giant octagon.

So there was a point. One NHL player and one UFC fighter. Another NHL player and a UFC fighter. You guys go back and forth. Listen, what I like about talking to you guys is your ideas. So come on, what do you got? Well, I remember you were supposed to do a crossover last year at All-Star Game with the Pro Bowl, right?

And then COVID nixed all that. And we thought we had a couple of things that we could have done together. Yeah, the protocols didn't allow us to share the same playing field. You know, one day. Tell us a little bit about what you're thinking about with fenway i think one of the challenges that we had or have is we're going back to a place that we've

been before and so a reaction initially was like from our fans oh fenway again so we were like how do we make this really different really cool and unique and so one of the things we immediately investigated was the orientation of the rink so typically in a baseball stadium most of our fans know that the rink goes from third base to first base but fenway has a thing called the green monster and that thing hovers out there in left field and it's pretty awesome. So we are going to change the orientation of the rink. First time we've ever done that.

And I think it's going to be really cool looking where we go from third base to second base and the green monster is directly behind the rink. So we're going to come off on every shot of the green monster back onto our playing field, essentially. And then we're going to take advantage of what is normally in Fenway and put a very unique spin on baseball mitake by taking taking essentially, and all I'm going to say is taking the baseball diamond that exists where it

typically does in Fenway, and we're going to move it. And we're going to move it. And we might make it ice instead of dirt. And so we'll have some fun with baseball mitake and the way we orient to the rink. And I think when people tune in, they'll be a little like, did they move the baseball? What? Like it'll be a moment of, wow, that's different. So we're excited about that.

Baseball on skates? Yeah, well. Is that what you're proposing here, sir? I think there will be a level of if you wanted to put a bat in somebody's hands, they could, put it this way, they could skate the bases. What do you want to do with the Green Monster? So you can hit the highest on the Green Monster. Let's do it. There's your competition. I've never been to Fenway. I've always dreamed of going to Fenway, obviously to see a baseball game, but if my first Fenway experience is hockey, that's fine with me too. Yeah, you know, I'm a lifelong Yankees fan, and they in Boston now know that. They're going to pelt you with food. No, you know, we actually joke about it. They are so cool about it, but I

will say it's awesome. It's fantastic. It's a really cool spot. The CBC still had the rights when one of the last games was there, and we did an Inside the Green Monster tour, and it was really one of the highlights of my career. Quick story. So my wife's an artist, And one day she's finishing up a piece. And I said to her, and I'm always curious about this, specifically with musicians, but for artists as well, how do you know when it's done?

How do you know when it's finished? And she turned around and she said, Jeffrey, art is never finished. It is only abandoned. Which was great. And she had a good laugh about it. Yeah, it's great. So I'm curious,

from ideas in the past, things that have been abandoned that you would like to bring back. I was going down to YouTube the whole of the other day watching old Hocken in Canada intermission features and showdown and all that.

Showdown is awesome. What has been abandoned that you'd like to... I'm with you. Now, I can tell you this. We tried in Chicago, so it was probably 2018. We tried to keep players

for another day and do it. Did you showdown? Yeah. Showdown would be fantastic. Showdown was awesome. I mean, I watched all the old ones. I thought, wow, this would be so cool. We could get this done within a morning.

We could shoot it all. You know, the difference, as somebody pointed out back then, back then you could shoot that and no one would ever, there wouldn't be a peep. Tweet it. There wouldn't be a peep. And it would be a lot harder these days to do something that significant and keep on putting it out there. Listen,

to your wife's point, nothing is ever dead, ever. You know, I find myself, as you guys do, so many times during the course of a day, being reminded of something that just kind of hits something, hits a nerve that makes you think of an idea you've had in the past. And all of a sudden, you start talking about it again. And you never know with a new twist, with something just a little different, something that didn't work or was abandoned, could work. When you retire from this job, what do you hope to say that you got the NHL to do? The goal has always been the same. It's just to keep this thing growing.

I'm not giving up here. You've got something in there that you really want to do. The old expression, you're only as good as your last show i agree with that so you want to make your last show the best you definitely want to end on a high note you know we've talked about this before my last job 20 years of the job and i walk away in probably one of my weirdest moments i'm not gonna say my lowest moments i did the miss universe steve harvey moment yeah you know that was like really so there's the exact opposite of like walking away on the high note i walked away on a on a weird note so here uh you know you want to walk away

with something that you're just super proud of and i'm not sure what that's gonna be you you're trying to get me to say something i're trying to get me to say something. I'm trying to get you to say something. You're right. I don't know. I don't know what's going to be. I don't, but it's going to be cool.

Will the world cup of hockey be played in Vegas? So the world cup of hockey will not be played in Vegas. So I'm going to make a big statement. You got some news here. Okay. The reason being is because we're so European-oriented and based, there's going to be a need to play on the East Coast. So eventually, one day, sure. But we're looking exclusively right now on the East Coast.

We're looking at venues. There's still quite a lot to be done. Back in Toronto or somewhere else this time toronto is one of the cities that's under consideration okay but we haven't made decisions yet we have gone and actively talked to i want to say six or seven cities right now there are going to be potentially two segments of world cup of hockey one will be i want to call a preliminary round but there'll be there'll be an earlier round that will get to the semi-finals and the files so there'll be two locations essentially a semi-final and a final location and then an earlier location okay we

have not decided we haven't i'm telling you we haven't made any decisions except that where we go it will be a east coast city so that narrows it down a bit okay and we've told all the particular venues that we've gone out to that we want to put you on hold but we're not going to engage yet there's still some work to be done okay and pk subban we're talking about engaged players before p PK is a hugely popular figure. What's his future with the NHL? Because pretty soon he's going to take some broadcaster's job, and I'm just hoping it's not going to be me. Listen, PK, we started talking about players and personalities, and he's always been one that's thought about himself

and been comfortable getting out there you know so we're we're actually quite excited because we we've been awarded the production at nhl original productions to produce pk's places which is the peyton manning hockey version of peyton's places so we're going to begin production this fall. And when we started and got the job, PK, whether he was playing or not playing, still going to host the show and we're going to work around his schedule. And actually the show doesn't air until may have 2024, believe it or not. So we have that much pre-production.

Yeah. Wow. Yeah. It's incredible. Carolina, what are you doing and also you got something cooking with all-star in florida yeah so the other stadium series game again doing something we've never done before and we've had people on the field we had the cadets but we're we're gonna make the field a party zone, and we're going to bring fans on the field.

We've never done it before, and we're going to have a party going throughout the entire game. Music and just activities that just make the whole thing really come to life. We're seizing on the fact we're playing at NC State. You've got NC State, North Carolina, Duke. You've got a lot of college kids all in school at the time of our game. So we're really going to play into a big college weekend. We're going to do a concert on Friday night in the arena. We're doing a college basketball game,

which will be actually broadcast on ESPN on Sunday. So it's a huge sports weekend. And I think that's a unique aspect of how we're treating the stadium series game in Carolina. Could be a lot of fun. And then in Florida, we're taking over the beach. I mean, the uniqueness of that particular All-Star game will be the sun and the heat meets the ice and the cold.

But we're literally taking over all Fort Lauderdale Beach. We're going to do concerts. We're going to do our fanfare, which is typically in a convention center. Going to do it all on the sand. And we're also going to do and bring back the events that we had in Vegas that were outside the arena. We're going to do those in Florida as well. So with the fountain, with the Bellagio fountain.

Yeah, we've got a couple of extremely unique ideas. One is a work in progress that if we pull it off, I think our fans will talk about it for a long time. It involves something that's very Florida, something that is that area but not beach necessarily has that for a clue and and it involves an animal a dolphin no no no don't go don't go in the water don't you go in the water but don't go in the ocean. Come on. Put it this way.

I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate alligators into our outside event and we're getting there. You're kidding. So there's a moat around the rink.

I don't want to get into the details. Someone's got to shoot a puck into an alligator's mouth? Put it this way. Elliot is much closer than Jeff. Wow.

These are the kind of things that I think would be fun. There's a lot of work to do. A lot of work to do. This reminds me of when I was a Cub Scout scout they trained you how to defend yourself against certain animals and i was like if an alligator attacks remember like eight years old i'm like if an alligator attacks me i'm gonna lose but okay humor me they said you're supposed to run in a zigzag and also the alligator can close its mouth with incredible force but can't open it so you have to

jump on it when the mouth is closed like i'll get right on that so it's very interesting that you remember that from when you were eight years old oh i remember lots of stupid stuff i can't remember the name of my family but i i can remember stuff like what to do when we're being attacked by an alligator yeah we want to have some fun with this. And other things. We're going to definitely also do something on the beach like we did on the strip. It's so iconic. The creative minds at the NHL are getting together. We're in that process now,

but that's the direction we're heading. I have to say, if you do get a skill event where you have to shoot the puck into an alligator's mouth, people will be talking about that for a long time. How about if it was a meat puck? Wow. Frozen meat pucks, Elliot. Frozen meat pucks.

Just laughing, thinking about it. On that note, I can say nothing more. Well done, Steve. I don't know how anybody follows it up with the next question, but let's go ahead i'll ask my last question sort of themed the same way i asked my first one that's about hockey in europe and i asked bill daily this question when we were in paris i'll ask you the same thing in vegas one of the great things about hockey internationally is every country has its own hockey culture,

has its own way to cheer, its own way to celebrate, its own way to commiserate, its own way to do hockey. From your experience and what you've seen, is there something that the NHL can borrow from any of the European countries? How they consume it, how they promote it, game operations, fan engagement, all of it. Is there something that you look at and say, why not here? We talk about game presentation in various ways, and it's one of the departments that I oversee at the league,

and we're really proud of what we've done in our arenas. Overseas, it's actually quite unique. In some ways, the game presentation is driven by the fans. The fans come to a game and they're ready to sing together, to chant together. They're very organized. And I admire that. I think it's incredible. It's in hockey, it's in soccer or their football. And I think it's something that we're starting to see a little more in our buildings. You saw it in Colorado with them all singing to the Blink-182 song. You're seeing it in other arenas. In Vancouver. In Vancouver. Yeah, so I think there are things that we should seize on based on how Europeans appreciate sport. I also think what you're going to see in future years

in the States and in Canada, the gambling aspect of fan participation. It's quite high in Europe. It's a part of their culture. It's a part of every single sporting event, not necessarily in hockey, but you see it in, in their other sports,

especially when we've gone to Europe, gone to China, our level of game presentation. And it's a little bit of acquired taste, the sort of the constant music the videos the the gameplay like they're not that used to to that where we're used to you know these sort of nuances in game pres that are unique and everybody in the nhl expects but over there it's like what do you mean gotta follow the moving puck and is it under one two or three like those are things that they're not used to you know what I love about

going to Europe is the attention that our star player who's from that country gets it's like unbelievable it's beyond rock star status You do not see that here. You know, our guys can come to the rink. They can walk down the street. In Europe, if you're from Finland and you're playing in the game in Finland, you're mobbed. It's crazy. It's fantastic. I don't know. It's a little different.

But we want to continue, like like growing the game in Europe, go into different countries, mixing it up, whether it's a player media tour or it's a game in Paris. You know, we're looking at London. We're looking at all over Europe. Okay. So here's my last one.

With all the reams of data you see about fans, what's the biggest challenge that not only hockey, see about fans what's the biggest challenge that not only hockey but all these sports face in north america as we go into our next generation of fans yeah i just think it's attention spans and pace of play and and where they consume like the younger fan is going to watch a game on a telephone and be fine with that. Like it's giving people more and more and more information and hitting them everywhere. Like again, in my mind, gambling, I mean, I brought that up, but I do think it's a pathway to fandom. And I think more and more people are into it. Like I just, just naturally hear people talking about fantasy and bets they have

and prop bets and more than I've ever heard before, because it's so prevalent. And I just think if you, my philosophy is if you have a bet, you're probably going to watch the bet. You're not going to find out the next day whether you won. And so we got to seize on that and take advantage of it rather than kind of run from it. Because it is a way to attract more and more audience. And that's an area that we can all see as growth. But you got to get the younger audience. And that's one of the things that we see that our numbers in with younger demos are pretty good in our numbers with women pretty good and other sports are struggling with that you're seeing other sports changing their rules and really doing things that are

draft in my mind drastic because they've got to. Otherwise, they're going to lose that audience. And I think we're at a really good place because our sport is fast. Players, where we get started, if we can build some stars and get people to come along for those, we can really have some growth spurts here. So we're really bullish on the next few years and what we can do. Steve, it's been great, as always. Thank you. You didn't ask me anything. I thought you were going to try to drag it out of you.

That's NHL's Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer. By the way, when we put the clip of him talking about shooting quote-unquote meat pucks into the mouths of alligators in Florida, I got a note from someone at the league who said essentially he won't stop talking about this idea. Would you please stop calling them meat pucks and call them what they really are? And I said, what's that?

And he replied, they're called burgers, dummy. For the record, I like meat pucks. And the next time you order a burger, please refer to the patty as a meat puck or a veggie meat puck. Hope you enjoyed the interview. Bye.