Why doesn't NHL allow custom/signature skates like NBA does?

[SvechneJerk]

 

[Reagans Blues]

Ah yes only yahoos from Saskatchewan love hockey the way it is.

So sick of the crying about “old boys clubs” and “boring personalities”…biggest crybaby fanbase of the major sports it’s unreal. The league makes more money every single year in spite of all those shortcomings, how odd. Hockey is a team sport and that’s how the culture of the game is built, not overpaid divas taking “load management” games 20 times a year while doing everything they can to increase their personal brand.

Yea, I'll take the more reserved NHL players over the loudmouth divas who dress like clowns and passive aggressively post stuff on social media like children. NBA is cringe and saying stupid things to the media and on twitter doesn't necessarily equal having "personality".

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

If the NHL were smart, they would do something similar.

If there is anyone smart enough to be able to figure out how to market hockey skates as fashion accessories to the masses, I'd much rather see them working on a cure for cancer.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

because the NHL probably thinks it would diminish the integrity of the uniform.

/s

 

[hockeyfan666]

These are the Auston Maffews 2023’s
View attachment 591374

Maffews

 

[hockeyfan666]

because the NHL probably thinks it would diminish the integrity of the uniform.

/s

But luckily they already kissed that integrity goodbye when the f***ers allowed ads on the jersey....... so guess skates could be next.

 

[Sugi21]

Maffews

That’s how a kid I know pronounces his name so I do the same now

 

[GrumpyKoala]

Think about threads whining about DaveArt skates. Also, the NBA is all about branding. The sport is incidental.

National Branding Association

 

[Based Anime Fan]

Or, maybe the players don't give a shit what their skates look like?

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Cause the NHL is run by an old boys club mentality with zero personality

good.

also sneakerheads are unfortunately a big thing, don't know if theres such thing as skateheads out there buying up hundreds of pairs of skates

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Are Nike skates made with child labor like their shoes?

 

[PM88RU]

I remember once during his early years in NHL Ovi played an NHL game with a skates that had a sheep picture. Couldn’t find it in the Internet now.

That’s due to the origin of the surname, in Russian “Ovechka”= lamb.

Though as far as I remember Caps lost that game and Ovi didn’t play well, so after game in those skates he was looking kinda childish-foolish, so I guess he decided to hang those skates forever after all xD. At least I’ve never seen him to repeat that again.

 

[Riddum]

The NHL is just not hip.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

Do basketball players get endlessly chirped for their shoe choices? I'm guessing that plays into why hockey players don't really want to stick out in a crowd.

My guess is for the most part the guy with the shoe deal doesnt mind the chirping.

 

[Soundwave]

Sneaker sales are a monster industry especially for teenagers and companies like Nike and Adidas wield a lot of power as a result over the NBA.

Sales of skates are a tiny fraction of sneaker sales.

That's probably the big reason why. The NBA used to have a tighter shoe policy too ... Michael Jordan got fined for wearing the now famous Air Jordan XI white/black version in the 1995 playoffs when the rest of the team was just wearing black sneakers.

Today's kids want shoes in a wide assortment of colorways though and different colorways have become a giant industry thing, so the NBA I think at some point just said "instead of fighting this, we'll just go with it, clearly our consumers want this".

 

[snag]

Personally, if I were an owner I would be like: Hockey is business. The team is MY business. On the ice you represent OUR team. You wanna "express" yourself, do it out of uniform. If you wanna support a cause like AM, cool, lets talk and make it something the team supports too.

 

[Seanaconda]

If there is anyone smart enough to be able to figure out how to market hockey skates as fashion accessories to the masses, I'd much rather see them working on a cure for cancer.

I think they would just release the skate designs of popular players converted onto normal shoes.

 

[Seanaconda]

Do people seriously think that the NBA players wearing crazy shoes is about "expressing yourself" and not about $$$? Those guys are either trying to sell a shoe, or are being paid to wear a shoe. And everybody buys shoes. What would be the purpose of custom skates? Skates are almost entirely functional, nobody buys skates for the look or aesthetics.

Tbf if you were having a tough time choosing between a couple pairs of skates in a similar price bracket aesthetics might be what sways your decision.

Like welding helmets if you're getting a decent one its 500- 1000 dollars I def appreciate a good design. Snowboards are another example of a niche product that also cators to people's fashion .

For that amount of money skates are I don't see why they can't have more aesthetically diverse options.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

I think they would just release the skate designs of popular players converted onto normal shoes.

Sounds like a jersey that gets converted into a T-shirt...

And I still don't quite understand the profit motives here. Are skate manufacturers going to start making these shoes? Why? Are they actually trying to get into the shoe business, or are they using the shoes to highlight their cool skate designs and sell more skates? Or is some other for profit shoe company going to make and sell these shoes to highlight skate designs that they don't profit from?

For that matter, is there any demand for shoes that sort of look like customized hockey skates? Maybe it's because I'm not the target demographic, but I'm not seeing a target demographic here...

 

[Kane One]

The NBA allows custom skates? I always thought they wear sneakers.

 

[Seanaconda]

Sounds like a jersey that gets converted into a T-shirt...

And I still don't quite understand the profit motives here. Are skate manufacturers going to start making these shoes? Why? Are they actually trying to get into the shoe business, or are they using the shoes to highlight their cool skate designs and sell more skates? Or is some other for profit shoe company going to make and sell these shoes to highlight skate designs that they don't profit from?

For that matter, is there any demand for shoes that sort of look like customized hockey skates? Maybe it's because I'm not the target demographic, but I'm not seeing a target demographic here...

Nike would make baures because they own them addidas i could see picking up ccms because they owned them not too long ago so probably have a decent relationship with the new owners ,, I'm sure most skate manufactures have some sort of friendship with a shoe manufacturer , or sell a league wide rights to it like jerseys.

Hockey logos printed on to t shirts and sweaters, cups mugs and so on.


merchandise is made into everything else idk why printing out a cool skate design onto a pair of hightops wouldn't sell.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

Nike would make baures because they own them addidas i could see picking up ccms because they owned them not too long ago so probably have a decent relationship with the new owners ,, I'm sure most skate manufactures have some sort of friendship with a shoe manufacturer , or sell a league wide rights to it like jerseys.

Hockey logos printed on to t shirts and sweaters, cups mugs and so on.


merchandise is made into everything else idk why printing out a cool skate design onto a pair of hightops wouldn't sell.

It's not really a question of whether it'll sell at all, but more a question of how much money will these companies make from selling them. Would there be an increase in skate sales, with added revenue that covers the cost of designing and manufacturing the signature skate? Or would they sell fewer of their other models, with total revenue from skate sales being roughly the same? If they don't increase skate sale revenue, why make them? If the point of the skates is to sell hightops, then why not just make NHL team branded hightops from the start and skip the whole signature skate part of the process?

 

[PaulD]

Why is NHL doesn't allow players wear their own custom/signature skates in games?

NBA allows their players to wear any type of sneakers they want & show their personalities through it

Spoiler: NBA Players' signature shoes

Do you really care ?

 

[Seanaconda]

It's not really a question of whether it'll sell at all, but more a question of how much money will these companies make from selling them. Would there be an increase in skate sales, with added revenue that covers the cost of designing and manufacturing the signature skate? Or would they sell fewer of their other models, with total revenue from skate sales being roughly the same? If they don't increase skate sale revenue, why make them? If the point of the skates is to sell hightops, then why not just make NHL team branded hightops from the start and skip the whole signature skate part of the process?

I think if one brand started to do it they would gain an edge especially from youth players,

Lots of the teenagers want to stand out with pink laces sticks or helmets being pretty popular back when I was younger like 10 15 years ago , rainbow selection of tape and laces always seem popular idk why skates if they preform the same as a comparable would be different


Its like how everyone wanted white skates like the Russians back in the day

 

[Sugi21]

Personally, if I were an owner I would be like: Hockey is business. The team is MY business. On the ice you represent OUR team. You wanna "express" yourself, do it out of uniform. If you wanna support a cause like AM, cool, lets talk and make it something the team supports too.

Didn’t that happen with Yakupov? He used to wear his jersey sleeves tucked into some kind of spandex that he wrapped around his forearms or something like that? Not sure if management told him to stop doing that or he quit that on his own