NHL projects garner 9 Sports Emmy nominations

When the Sports Emmy Awards recognize excellence in sports television coverage in 2024, nine nominations will be connected to the NHL, including two projects produced by the League itself.

That's the most by far since Steve Mayer joined the NHL in January 2016.

"Think about it," said Mayer, president of NHL content and events. "Every night, there are so many shows on, and it's all narrowed down to five nominees in each category. And we've got nine of those? That's crazy to me. That's where it really is pretty cool. I'm really proud of a lot of people."

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced the nominees this week. The 46th annual ceremony will be held at Lincoln Center in New York on May 20.

ESPN received seven nominations: Outstanding Edited Special for "No Easy Victories: The 1994 New York Rangers"; Outstanding Open/Tease and Outstanding Editing -- Short Form for "Gloves -- The Story of Phil Pritchard and the Stanley Cup"; Outstanding Digital Innovation for "NHL in ASL"; Outstanding Audio/Sound -- Live Event for "NHL on ESPN"; Outstanding Studio or Production Design/Art Direction for the 2024 NHL Draft; and the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award partly for "NHL Big City Greens Classic."

TNT received two nominations: Outstanding Studio Show -- Limited Run for "NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on TNT" and Outstanding Audio/Sound -- Live Event for "NHL Winter Classic on TNT."

"We're really proud of what our rightsholders and partners have produced," Mayer said. "They both keep putting out great products, and we're just so happy for them that they were recognized. I'm sure the competition will be tough. You know the night of the show who we're going to be cheering for."

The NHL produced the 2024 NHL Draft, the first live sporting event at Sphere in Las Vegas, and "NHL in ASL," a first-of-its-kind broadcast of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final in American Sign Language.

Sphere, the brainchild of New York Rangers owner James Dolan, is the world's largest spherical building. Inside is the world's highest-resolution LED screen, playing 16K content that wraps up, over and behind the audience. The exterior is wrapped with the world's largest LED screen.

"We knew that we had to show how big this was," Mayer said. "We had to show the grand spectacle of it all. That was the most important piece."

Mayer, NHL group vice president of creative services Paul Conway and NHL senior designer Angel DelValle took the lead in design for the 2024 NHL Draft, then brought in people with the expertise to bring it to life. They created custom content to create an immersive experience for the people in attendance and translated it for the TV audience. The visuals were stunning.

"We really treated the whole thing in a very unique way," Mayer said. "There was a lot -- a lot -- of preparation, a lot of effort. Being the first ones to do a live event in that venue was a challenge, but yet we just felt like we could do it and we could pull it off.

"There were some great moments, and I'm sure when we sent in our submission video, it was probably not very difficult to catch people's eye. It was different, and as many who watched it had said, it was like nothing they had ever seen before. That one we're unbelievably proud of."

The NHL became the first major professional sports league in North America to produce an alternate live game telecast specifically for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

Matt Celli, NHL group vice president and coordinating director/studio manager at NHL Productions, and Rachel Segal, NHL vice president of social impact and strategic integration, led the effort to stream each game of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final in ASL on ESPN+ and Sportsnet+, a first for both networks.

The broadcasters didn't interpret for other broadcasters. They did their own commentary in ASL, signing for about 21 hours over seven games. Graphics visualized sounds, and emojis depicted events like goals, penalties and hits.

"We were just blown away by how the idea took off," Mayer said. "We've always felt like this was so unique and so valuable and meaningful. To be recognized, for a lot of people who put in some spectacular amounts of work, this is just an amazing, amazing accomplishment.

"We've continued to build on what we did last year in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. We're doing them now at outdoor games, special events. We're continually serving the deaf community."

This is a big moment at NHL headquarters in New York.

"This is awesome," Mayer said. "There are a lot of people that share in the nominations. Running a department as large as ours and how it's grown over the years, it's a great feeling -- and you'd be lying if you said otherwise -- when you get nominated. The buzz and the energy go up in the building when you get this news, and there are a lot of people that can and should take credit."