But just as important as the raw viewership for the NHL and Versus, which is available in 66% of US homes, is the brand behavior of these viewers.

With advertising dollars tight in the current economic climate, the pressure is even greater for sports leagues to demonstrate return on investment to their official partners.  Sponsors are demanding results for their integrated marketing campaigns which include commercial spots, in-game signage, as well as online and mobile extensions.

Data from Nielsen’s people meter sample fused with the respondents of MRI’s (Mediamark Research & Intelligence) Survey of the American Consumer reveals insight into product usage behavior of NHL fans.

For example, how did regular season hockey on Versus perform among groups that used products from official partners of the NHL during the first quarter of 2009?

• Verizon Cell phone users had 44% higher viewership ratings compared to the average viewer.  Verizon was the top advertiser in terms of commercial spend for NHL regular season on broadcast and cable, and also sponsors the Versus intermission report.

• Bud Light drinkers, the official beer of the NHL, had 80% higher ratings than the average U.S. viewer.

• Consumers of Reebok footwear, which sponsors the league’s jerseys and a dasherboard above the blue line in every NHL arena, had 62% higher ratings.

It’s not just about raw viewing tonnage for advertisers looking for highly targeted marketing. They count on the NHL to deliver unique fans, and translate their passion for hockey to their product.

Armed with return-on-investment tools that can provide cross-platform insights, instead of traditional age and gender demos, advertisers can focus on the NHL fan with targeted messaging that expects to make a difference at the cash register.

The NHL is hoping old acquaintances will provide an unforgettable New Year’s Day in its second annual Winter Classic. The Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks – two of the original six hockey teams – will drop the puck outdoors at historic Wrigley Field- home to baseball’s Chicago Cubs.

Last year’s inaugural outdoor game provided a memorable tableaux, with Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby carving through the Buffalo snow to score the winning goal in an overtime shootout in front of the NHL’s largest regular season television audience since Wayne Gretzky’s retirement in 1999.

If the NHL hopes to top last year’s Winter Classic, it certainly has the conditions in its favor. The Red Wings won the Stanley Cup last year in a series that was the leagues highest-rated in five years. This season, the Red Wings average a 3.5 local household rating in Detroit (aka “Hockeytown, USA”) - third among all NHL clubs.

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, are more than doubling their average audience in Chicago over last season with an average 1.2 household rating and 43,000 household viewers.  They’re also leading the league in attendance, thanks in part to their nine-game winning streak riding into Wrigley. And with the forecast calling for a 30% chance of snow in the Windy City Thursday, the scene may well be as visually pleasing as last year’s Classic.

The programming window for the NHL’s Winter Classic is helped in part by the Bowl Championship Series’s decision within the last decade to move three bowl games off New Year’s Day. The National Championship Game, as it has since 2007, airs a full week after the first of the year, with this year’s contest between the Florida Gators and the Oklahoma Sooners kicking off January 8 on FOX.

Nevertheless, college football continues to dominate New Year’s Day television with a slate of bowl games across four networks.  Last year’s Rose Bowl on ABC was seen by over 19 million viewers, tops for any program on New Year’s Day.  The top 6 most-viewed sports programs of New Year’s Day were all bowl games, followed by the Winter Classic.