GoPro Inc (GPRO) Deal May Signify NHL’s Desperation: Brendan Greeley

GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO)’s recent deal with the National Hockey League (NHL) may be a sign of desperation on the professional sports league, Brendan Greeley remarks in a discussion on Bloomberg Surveillance.

GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) recently announced a deal with the NHL for the league to use the company’s action cameras to air alternative point of view footage during the organization’s All-Star Weekend last weekend.

The Bloomberg team was discussing a chart titled “Does GoPro-NHL Partnership Make Sense?” The chart showed the 2014 average audience for different sports league events in 2014.

According to Greeley, “the problem” can clearly be seen when one looks at the number of viewers of the NHL’s Stanley Cup. The chart indicates that the Stanley Cup had only 6 million viewers. Compare that to the Super Bowl’s 111.5 million, USA vs Portugal’s 24.7 million, World Series Game 7’s 23.5 million, NCAA Men’s Basketball Final’s 21.2 million, NBA Final Game 5’s 15.5 million, Daytona 500’s 9.3 million and the Masters’ 8.6 and the problem is apparent.

GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO)’s deal with the NHL was only for the All-Star Weekend in Columbus, Ohio this weekend and it was made clear by NHL Senior Vice President of Programming and Production Bob Chesterman that action cams will not be used by the league’s players during regular games anytime soon.

The deal was nonetheless a landmark for GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) as it was the first time it reached an agreement with a major professional sports league and also the first time the company’s Professional Broadcast Solution was used to capture and air footage for a sports event.

The GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) deal does not have a positive message for the NHL, however, because it may be a sign that the league is just trying out these new partnerships to drum up interest and increase viewers.