Clubhouse lures NHL for Stanley Cup collaboration
Clubhouse is getting its game on ahead of hockey’s Stanley Cup Final. The invite-only audio social app announced a new partnership with the National Hockey League that will give fans the chance to chat with teams in Clubhouse rooms.
“We are thrilled to work with Clubhouse to give our fans direct access to our players at the pinnacle of the season – the Stanley Cup Final,” said NHL Chief Marketing Officer Heidi Browning in a statement. “We hope this is just the first of many opportunities to leverage Clubhouse’s platform to offer exclusive, live audio experiences to hockey fans year-round.”
The NHL and Clubhouse’s collaboration begins Sunday during the Stanley Cup Final’s Media Day, where audiences will be invited to the Official NHL Club on Clubhouse.
The partnership is rare for Clubhouse, a hot tech startup enjoying its moment in the cultural spotlight as a low-stakes way of connecting with other people. The voice-only app lets users drop into and out of moderated “rooms” and listen in or join conversations. New users must be invited by others, creating exclusivity. The app recently launched an Android version in May, and gained notice when celebrities and business executives like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg made appearances.
This is not Clubhouse’s first foray into pro sports: In April, the app partnered with the National Football League, bringing a series of rooms into the app for football fans.
Consumer brands continue to experiment with the app creating their own clubs and rooms, including Burger King parent company Restaurant Brands International. Official collaborations with Clubhouse itself are rare, however, and the new NHL tie-up could spark new interest from other brands in advertising on the social platform.
