The NHL Sees Dasher Boards As More Than Just A Protective Wall

Recreation & Sports Blog

Dasher boards are a shielding system used in nearly every hockey arena in the NHL. They are the feature that protects the fans from errant pucks and the notorious boards of hockey, in which players are slammed against in a hard check. However, new technology has marketers looking to make use of these necessary safety features. Dasher boards are fast becoming an excellent tool for virtual advertising.

  • First Objective – Protect

Obviously, a hockey shot hurdling a small disc made of vulcanized rubber, clocked at speeds in excess of 100 mph, would be dangerous if allowed to fly unabated across a hockey rink. Priority number one for dasher boards is to keep the puck and the players inside the rink, therefore protecting the spectators from potentially serious injuries.

  • Second Objective – Transparent

Dasher boards use steel framing today, with some older wooden structures still in small community rinks. The walls themselves are a transparent tempered or acrylic glass, which will not shatter or crack. Below the clear sections are thicker interlocking segments of hard plastic that are about waist high. Since the primary objective of dasher boards is to protect fans while still allowing them to see the action, using transparent, high-impact materials is required.

  • A New Marketing Venture for Dasher Boards

While the top portion of the dasher boards around NHL arenas must remain transparent, it's the lower sections that have triggered marketers to look for options. Fixed advertisements have been used previously, but with the available technology to produce virtual images that can change, advertising opportunities go far beyond just the total dimensions around an ice hockey rink. With each section able to change throughout the game, the number of different advertising contracts arena marketers can offer is essentially endless.

NHL executives experimented with changing company slogans and logos at the All-Star Game and Winter Classic. Immediately the enormous potential of this promotional opportunity was clear. Arenas, once restricted by the overall square foot of dasher board space around an arena, now could sell advertising options on essentially a timeshare basis.

Companies could opt for short exposure, a certain number of specific dasher board sections, or choose to take over the entire rink, each virtual board showing nothing but their company's pitch. Since the ability to make safe and protective transparent sections already existed, implementing a workable design for virtual dasher boards simple.

Dasher boards have been an essential part of safety in professional hockey for decades, but now they are a source of promising revenue. This new venture into virtual advertising offers infinite diversity for marketers. Using the world of virtual technology, dasher boards give the NHL a new source of revenue. To learn more about dasher boards, contact a company like All American Arena Products.

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31 March 2017

A Pleasure Boat

When I was a child, I remember the time I shared with a special uncle fondly. During the summer, he would take me fishing at my family’s pond. Sometimes, we would fish quietly at the dock. He would occasionally steer me around the pond in a little boat. A few days ago, I found out that I will inherit the family pond. I’m extremely excited about the possibility of purchasing a boat to ride around in with my future kids. On this blog, you will learn how to shop for the perfect pleasure boat for a small body of water. Enjoy!