The National Hockey League got a stinging rebuke for its escalating injury toll from an unlikely source this week – one of its corporate sponsors.
In a letter sent to the league’s Canadian teams and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in the wake of the Zdeno Chara hit on Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty, Air Canada marketing director Denis Vandal wrote that “from a corporate social responsibility standpoint, it is becoming increasingly difficult to associate our brand with sports events which could lead to serious and irresponsible accidents; action must be taken by the NHL before we are encountered with a fatality.”
The letter said Air Canada is “very concerned with the state of hockey today” and urged the NHL to start imposing “serious suspensions” to curtail the incidence of “career-threatening and life-endangering head shots,” for the good of the players and the integrity of the game. If it doesn’t, Air Canada (which has its name on the home rink of the Toronto Maple Leafs) said it will withdraw its sponsorship.
NHL president Gary Bettman’s reaction was, in effect, go ahead.
“Air Canada is a great brand, as is the National Hockey League, and if they decide they need to do other things with their sponsorship dollars, that’s their prerogative, just like it’s the prerogative of our clubs that fly on Air Canada to make other arrangements if they don’t think Air Canada is giving them the appropriate level of service,” Bettman said.
Louis Gialloreto, a marketing professor and executive director of the McGill Executive Institute, said corporations are always reassessing their sponsorships, but don’t usually go the extra step of trying to tell the associated party how to run its business.
What makes this case unusual is the tone of the letter - which suggests an emotional response - and the fact it was made public, he said.
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