Final Endorsement Deal Structure and Deadline

[Dr.Sens(e)]

<b>HFNHL Endorsements</b>

<b>Deadline</b>
This is the final Endorsement Deal structure and the deadline for submitting your teams proposed deals will be Wednesday, October 29th at midnight EST.

<b>Format of Submission</b>
The following format should be used when submitting:

Subject: HFNHL Endorsement Deals: ST.LOUIS BLUES

Broadcast Deal: TSN ($1,500,000)
Merchandise Deal: Synergy ($1,000,000)
Team Deal: Pepsi Cola ($1,000,000)
Individual Deal: AT&T ($1,000,000)

Total Commitment: $4,500,000

Send to [email protected]

The proceeds from these deals will be added to HFNHL team’s cash balances at the end of the year in order to help provide extra income for rising salaries. There are four different types of endorsement deals teams can choose from. No team is obligated to enter into an endorsement deal - it is simply a way for each team to try and earn extra revenue.

1. <b>Broadcast Deals</b>: will allow each team the opportunity to make extra money by signing a T.V. deal with a major network. Extra revenue from this source will depend upon the quality of their respective club and the fans desire to watch them play.
2. <b>Merchandise Deals</b>: are run under a very simple principle. The better the team does, the more fans it attracts. The more fans a team attracts, the more merchandise a team will be able to sell.
3. <b>Team Endorsements</b>: are available to all clubs willing to gamble on the team’s upcoming season. They can be thought of as “Corporate Sponsorships†in which a company aligns itself with a team for exposure to the hockey public. Certain companies want to be associated with certain types of teams and some have different expectations (and revenues) than others.
4. <b>Individual Endorsements</b>: are essentially players endorsing specific products. The only difference between this and real life is the team gets the money not the player.
Teams are rewarded for their player’s individual accomplishments. Individual performances only apply to players and prospects that are with your team for the entire season.

Each team has the opportunity to enter into ONE Broadcast Deal, ONE Merchandise Deal, and any combination of TWO Team Endorsements or Individual Endorsements.

<b>Commitment and Risk</b>
To enter into an agreement you must make a commitment and pay the “Cost†fee before the start of the season. This money comes out of your team’s budget immediately. You may cancel your endorsement deal anytime BEFORE your 42nd regular season game is played, however you will only receive 50% of the “Cost†fee back. If you cancel an endorsement deal at any time during the season you CAN NOT sign the SAME deal again until the following season.

So these deals are not without risks. As teams could actually lose money on these deals if they don’t plan properly in anticipation of their team’s and players performances. The system is also designed so that the higher the risk, the higher the revenue.

<b>Submissions & Payout</b>
Each General Manager will be required to submit their Endorsement commitments before the season begins. At the end of the season, each General Manager who qualifies for any of their Endorsement Deals must submit a detailed account of which obligations were met, and the statistical proof of the achievement.


<b>Broadcast Deals </b>
Teams are allowed to apply for ONE of the following:

1. CBC “Hockey Night In Canada†Deal
Canadian Teams Only
Criteria: Team must finish the regular season with an average attendance of 90% capacity.
Cost Fee: $2,000,000
Revenue: $5,000,000
Bonus: $500 000 (If team averages 95% capacity)

2. ESPN/ESPN 2 “National Hockey Night†Deal
American Teams Only
Criteria: Team must finish the regular season with an average attendance of 90% capacity.
Cost Fee: $2,000,000
Revenue: $5,000,000
Bonus: $500 000 (If team averages 95% capacity)

3. TSN “Total Sports Network†Deal
Criteria: Team must finish the regular season with an average attendance of 85% capacity.
Cost Fee: $1,500,000
Revenue: $3,500,000

4. ABC Sports Deal
Criteria: Team must finish the regular season with an average attendance of 80% capacity.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $2,500,000

5. Local Radio Network Deal
Criteria: Team must finish the regular season with an average attendance of 75% capacity.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $2,000,000


<b>Merchandise Deals </b>
Teams are allowed to apply for ONE of the following:

1. CCM
Criteria: Team must either finish first in their division or have 55 wins.
Cost Fee: $2,000,000
Revenue: $4,000,000

2. KOHO
Criteria: Team must make the playoffs and have home ice advantage in 1st round.
Cost Fee: $2,000,000
Revenue: $4,000,000

3. NIKE
American Teams Only
Criteria: Team must make the playoffs and win 1st round series.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $2,500,000

4. Bauer
Canadian Teams Only
Criteria: Team must make the playoffs and win 1st round series.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $2,500,000

5. Synergy
Criteria: Team must improve by 20 points or more from the previous regular season
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $2,500,000
Bonus: $1,000,000 (30 points or more improvement)


<b>Team Endorsements</b>
Teams are allowed to apply for any combination of TWO Team Endorsements or Individual Endorsements

1. Ford Motor Company
Criteria: Team must finish the regular season with a .500 or better home record.
Cost Fee: $1,500,000
Revenue: $3,000,000

2. GM Motor Company
Criteria: Team must finish the regular season with a .500 or better road record.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $3,000,000

3. Master Lock
Criteria: Team must finish the regular season with a penalty kill percentage of 87% or top 5 penalty killing unit.
Cost Fee: $1,500,000
Revenue: $3,500,000

4. Energizer Battery
Criteria: Team must finish the regular season with a power play percentage of 16% or one of top 5 power play units.
Cost Fee: $1,500,000
Revenue: $3,500,000

5. Pepsi Cola
American Teams Only
Criteria: Team must have a winning record against their conference.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $2,000,000

6. Coca-Cola
Canadian Teams Only
Criteria: Team must have a winning record against their conference.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $2,000,000

7. Prudential Financial
Criteria: Team must finish in the top 5 in the league in points/payroll. Rewards lower tier teams for the most efficient use of their budget. Payroll will include all game expenses for the year on a per game average (as calculated within the financial report)
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $3,000,000


<b>Individual Endorsements</b>
Teams are allowed to apply for any combination of TWO Team Endorsements or Individual Endorsements

Budweiser Beer
American Teams Only
Criteria: Team must have a FORWARD who scores 40 or more goals in the regular season.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $3,000,000

Molson Beer
Canadian Teams Only
Criteria: Team must have a FORWARD who scores 40 or more goals in the regular season.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $3,000,000

AT&T
Criteria: Team must have a DEFENSEMAN who has 55 or more assists in the regular season.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $2,500,000

Nextel Wireless Phones
Criteria: Team must have a DEFENSEMAN who scores 18 or more goals in the regular season
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $2,500,000

PowerAde
Player’s team CANNOT endorse Pepsi Cola Company
Criteria: Team must have a player 25 or younger who scores 20 or more goals in the regular season.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $2,500,000

Gatorade
Player’s team CANNOT endorse Coca-Cola Company
Criteria: Team must have a player 25 or younger who has 35 or more assists in the regular season.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $2,500,000

The Home Depot
Criteria: Team must have a GOALIE who has a goals against average of 2.20 or lower minimum 40 games played
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $3,000,000

Tim Horton’s
Criteria: Team must have a GOALIE who has a save percentage of 91% or higher minimum 40 games played.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $3,000,000

Southwest Airlines
Criteria: Team must have a player who scores 10 or more power play goals in the regular season.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $2,000,000

Air Canada Airlines
Criteria: Team must have a player who scores 3 or more shorthanded goals in the regular season.
Cost Fee: $1,000,000
Revenue: $2,000,000

Mountain Due
Criteria: Must have a junior aged (20 years or younger as of Sept 30th of year):
- Forward with more than 100 points in the CHL
- Forward with more than 60 points in the NCAA
- Forward with more than 40 points in the AHL
- Forward with more than 30 points in a top European league
- Defenceman with more than 65 points in the CHL
- Defenceman with more than 40 points in the NCAA
- Defenceman with more than 30 points in the AHL
- Defenceman with more than 20 points in a top EL
- Goalie who finishes in the top 3 in either GAA or SVG in a CHL league
- Goalie who finishes in the top 5 in either GAA or SVG in the NCAA
- Goalie who finishes in the top 5 in either GAA or SVG in the AHL
- Goalie who finishes in the top 5 in either GAA or SVG in a Top EL.
- Any player who wins an MVP Award in a CHL league
- Any player nominated for the Hobey Baker Award in the NCAA
- Any player winning rookie of the year or all-star team in the AHL or a top EL
Fee: $1 million
Revenue: $1 million per player qualified (limit of one award per individual player and to a maximum of $4 million)

* Top European League would only be the SEL, Finnish Elite League, Russian Super League, Czech Elite League or Slovakian Elite League

Click to read more...

 

[Brock]

I have some questions regarding the Mountain Dew endorsement.

1. How is it going to work exactly? Do we just pay the 1 million dollar entry fee and then ANY of our age eligible prospects are eligible for ANY of those accolades? It's a bit confusing. Or do we have to pay a million per each category and then get 4 million back if we should reach each category we enter in. Do we have to submit a player entery for each specific category, or are all of our prospects eligible? I think some clearing up is necessary for this one. Both me and Sean (Hossa) were confused over this endorsement.

2. A concern over the age of the eligible players for the AHL accolades. You say the player must be junior aged to recieve these awards. Yet CHL players can't play in the AHL, thus there are no junior aged players playing in the AHL, except for the VERY odd European player. So that doesn't really make sense. Maybe changing the age of the AHL ones to like 22 and under or something.

Thats it for now...

 

[Ohio Jones]

I have some questions regarding the Mountain Dew endorsement.

1. How is it going to work exactly? Do we just pay the 1 million dollar entry fee and then ANY of our age eligible prospects are eligible for ANY of those accolades? It's a bit confusing. Or do we have to pay a million per each category and then get 4 million back if we should reach each category we enter in. Do we have to submit a player entery for each specific category, or are all of our prospects eligible? I think some clearing up is necessary for this one. Both me and Sean (Hossa) were confused over this endorsement.

2. A concern over the age of the eligible players for the AHL accolades. You say the player must be junior aged to recieve these awards. Yet CHL players can't play in the AHL, thus there are no junior aged players playing in the AHL, except for the VERY odd European player. So that doesn't really make sense. Maybe changing the age of the AHL ones to like 22 and under or something.

Thats it for now...

Re comment #1: You pay $1 million. Any of your players/prospects then qualify (you don't have to say which prospect for which category, it's open), and for each one that achieves one of those objectives over the course of the season, you get $1 million back, up to a maximum of $4 million. Note that only one award per player can be earned, so for me, if Steve Bernier gets 100+ points in the Q and is named league MVP, I don't get $2 million for him. The Mountain Due should prove to be a lucrative sponsorship for teams heavy in quality prospects, but not all teams are, which I guess is the point.

Re comment #2: My understanding was that the cutoff for players in the AHL or Euro leagues was 25, the point at which they could still qualify for rookie status in the NHL, but then I could have dreamt that, so that's not meant to be an official statement...

My question/suggestion is this: any of these individual awards (Mountain Due and otherwise) should apply only to those player who start and end the season with the same team. If I trade for Ari Ahonen in March, I shouldn't be able to benefit from him being among the top 5 AHL goaltenders for my Mountain Due awards.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Question about Mountain Dew awards for guys under 20:

Is there a way to reward guys like Patrice Bergeron who are 18 and in the NHL? He is still a prospect, and I figure that if you have a young kid play so well in the NHL, you should get something out of it.

 

[Brock]

Question about Mountain Dew awards for guys under 20:

Is there a way to reward guys like Patrice Bergeron who are 18 and in the NHL? He is still a prospect, and I figure that if you have a young kid play so well in the NHL, you should get something out of it.

Good point for sure.

There are a few of us in that boat. I've got Brent Burns in a similar situation.

 

[Hossa]

Good point for sure.

There are a few of us in that boat. I've got Brent Burns in a similar situation.

Yep, same thing with respect to Eric Staal. He could be the OHL MVP if he wasn't playing with Carolina.

 

[Donga]

The only junior player that I'm aware of that is under 20 playing in the AHL is Ryan Kelser for the Moose.

This is because he signed early from the NCAA. He could have gone to battalion who hold his rights i think. I'm not really sure about the ruling really.

This is basically to make you guys aware that there is a under 20 player playing in the AHL.

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

A few points I clearly forgot to cover...

1/ Douglas is bang-on in his point regarding how cash is dished out for the MD award.

2/ If a teenager is playing in the NHL, he is not part of the MD award. The GM gets the benefit of getting to use him next year in the HFNHL with a quality rating. This is meant to reward teams with prospects, not good young NHLers (of which there are the real awards in having a waiver exempt quality rated player next year as mentioned). There are also other awards for younger players scoring marks under the age of 25. Perhaps in future we may consider a under 21 award for NHL production that is slightly lower than the current levels for under 25.

3/ Spezza was 19 in the AHL last year, but admittedly, that was an exception and the age should be higher. Let's set the date at 21 years old as of October 1st for AHL, NCAA and EL. This isn't an award meant to reward a team for holding on to a marginal NHL prospect who is 25, a prolific AHL scorer but older than Joe Thornton. It's for true young prospects making noise on their way to the NHL. It's for players drafted in the last 4 years basically.

4/ Douglas is also correct regarding how a player qualifies for the MD. You would need to own the rights to the player for the entire season. In terms of the NHL individual award, a player's individual performance (i.e 40 goals) only counts for the production with your team and if you still have his rights at the end of the year. So in theory, you could trade for a player at game #10, and use his production over the last 70 games with your club to qualify (but not thegoals he scored with his previous club).

Hope this clarifies things. Feel free to post other questions, as I'm sure there a few other missing pieces of info for a few of these deals.

 

[Ohio Jones]

Ah, well, I'm going to have a harder time qualifying for the Mountain "Due" (as in "getting your due"?) awards, since some of my prospects - Anton But, for example - won't qualify, but then it's not supposed to be easy, is it?

Thanks for putting this together, Nick - it adds another interesting element to what is already the best league going. Muchos appreciados!

 

[Donga]

4/ Douglas is also correct regarding how a player qualifies for the MD. You would need to own the rights to the player for the entire season. In terms of the NHL individual award, a player's individual performance (i.e 40 goals) only counts for the production with your team and if you still have his rights at the end of the year. So in theory, you could trade for a player at game #10, and use his production over the last 70 games with your club to qualify (but not thegoals he scored with his previous club).

Hey admin team,

I hope the sim can do this otherwise its going to be a long season for you guys if have to do this for every freaking player that has been traded.

Oh well, such is life

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

Hey admin team,

I hope the sim can do this otherwise its going to be a long season for you guys if have to do this for every freaking player that has been traded.

Oh well, such is life

Keep in mind that it will up to the GM to demonstrate they have met the milestone under all of the above conditions and verifying you had this player all year. We may have the GM post their claim on the Board, and other GMs will be able to see (and verify) how each GM did (and notice a mistake). The higher end prospects who were traded that year will be pretty obvious. Also, I think GMs should realize that not that many prospects will reach those milestones. It will be an elite group.

As an example, if a GM were to falsely claim a prospect of theirs for the MD award - and it turns out they didn't have them the whole season - it would most likely mean the automatic disqualification from that endorsement. You're basically lying to your sponsor, so it would cost you a minimum of the $1 million, with the potential for a penalty to be added on top of that (in the event the only player you were claiming to have qualified wasn't eligible so you had nothing to lose).

Bottom line, the MD deal will be one of the more interesting to monitor for all GMs, so it won't be easy to slip in a false claim.

 

[Brock]

3/ Spezza was 19 in the AHL last year, but admittedly, that was an exception and the age should be higher. Let's set the date at 21 years old as of October 1st for AHL, NCAA and EL. This isn't an award meant to reward a team for holding on to a marginal NHL prospect who is 25, a prolific AHL scorer but older than Joe Thornton. It's for true young prospects making noise on their way to the NHL. It's for players drafted in the last 4 years basically.
.

Ok that sounds better.

 

[Chuzwazza]

What about the age for goalies? we all know they take a little longer to develop.

 

[Tampa GM]

I still think something needs to be done regarding the age requirement for players based in TOP EHL leagues. My suggestion is NO age limit on players based in Europe or AHL.

I cant remember the last Swedish junior defenceman who scored 20 points(I dont think it ever has happend). This season I dont expect guys like Alexander Steen or Robert Nilsson to score more then those 30 points that is required and then I just wonder how many players in the CHL who willl score more then 100....

 

[Brock]

I still think something needs to be done regarding the age requirement for players based in TOP EHL leagues. My suggestion is NO age limit on players based in Europe or AHL.

I cant remember the last Swedish junior defenceman who scored 20 points(I dont think it ever has happend). This season I dont expect guys like Alexander Steen or Robert Nilsson to score more then those 30 points that is required and then I just wonder how many players in the CHL who willl score more then 100....

Well Steen is 6th in league scoring so far

 

[Donga]

I still think something needs to be done regarding the age requirement for players based in TOP EHL leagues. My suggestion is NO age limit on players based in Europe or AHL.

I agree.

... and then I just wonder how many players in the CHL who willl score more then 100....

Martin check the Q sometime. That is an offensive league. There is like almost guaranteed 10 players each year that reaches the 100pt mark.

The W and O has on avg about 5 players.

That is merely from a quick glance of stats of the last 2-3 seasons....

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

We'll leave it at 21 for now.

There are advantages of having European prospects - specifically, they are more likely to be playing in a EL when they are 21 than a North American prospect, as the North American prospects have to be signed within two years and as such, are often in the NHL by that time (and not eligible for the MD award).

There are prospects who reach those milestones in Europe. Are there as many as in the CHL? No, but there are also a lot more players drafted out of the North America as well.

Govern your participation in the MD Award accordingly.