Dark Mode Hockey?

What if the NHL went Dark Mode like your cell phone?

It may sound like sacrilege to die-hard hockey fans, but wouldn’t it be easier for viewers to follow a white puck against black ice than the current standard of a tiny black puck on an ice surface?

A recent survey found a surprising number of Canadians would be willing to watch our national game in a radical new light.

Given the recent run of Dark Mode software releases, which are designed to improve customer experience, the team at Caddle decided to investigate what other Dark Mode experiences might be of interest to Canadians. We decided to start with Canada’s favourite game – hockey.

Our survey received more than 8,000 responses from Canadians of all ages to gauge their receptiveness to watching NHL games in Dark Mode.

Here’s what we learned:

• 28% of overall respondents are interested in NHL Dark Mode, compared to 40% opposed
• 31% of respondents who identified as serious hockey fans – those who watch at least one game per week – would be interested in NHL Dark Mode. This segment of respondents is over-indexed
• Younger Canadians are more open to Dark Mode hockey than older Canadians.
  • 36% of Gen Z interested in NHL Dark Mode
  • 30% of Millennials interested in NHL Dark Mode
  • 26% of Gen X interested in NHL Dark Mode
  • 22% of Baby Boomers interested in NHL Dark Mode
  • 27% of Silent Generation interested in NHL Dark Mode

“This research may not pave the way to black ice hockey rinks across the country, but what shows very strongly is that Canadians have a huge appetite for new experiences – even when it comes to a game like hockey with very strong traditions,” says Caddle CEO Ransom Hawley.

So what do you think – would you be interested in making the switch to black and white? Let us know your thoughts in this form.