Under the new deal announced today, family-owned independent Norqain will have full international licensing rights in the United States, Canada, and Europe to use the NHL and its thirty-two team logos and branding in products, at retail points of sale, through events, and media. The NHL partnership is expected to give the brand, founded in 2018 by Switzerland’s Küffer family and a group of investors and executives that includes former NHL star and Norqain co-founder Mark Streit, a significant boost in profile through television broadcasts and in professional hockey arenas. 

“Our partnership will give Norqain incredible brand visibility on NHL broadcasts across the world”, says Kyle McMann,
NHL Senior Vice President, Global Business Development. Alongside the NFL, Major League Baseball, and the NBA, the National Hockey League is one of the top four professional team sports leagues in the U.S. and Canada, and is considered the world’s premier ice hockey league. However, with annual revenues of about $6.6 billion and total in-person attendance of about 22.9 million in the most recent season, it still trails football, basketball, and baseball revenues and audience by a wide margin. 

“Ice hockey has been part of the brand since day one. Everything you are passionate about is always very authentic, so when we started the Norqain brand with Mark [Streit], we were all about sports, and ice hockey was a big part,” Ben Küffer, Norqain’s founder and CEO, says in an interview ahead of the announcement. Indeed, Norqain has previously partnered with the Spengler Cup international hockey tournament and the NHL Players Association, which granted it a role at the annual NHL All-Star Game. The new NHL agreement brings Norqain’s association with hockey to the next tier. “It’s really a dream come true to be associated with the NHL at this level. Everyone knows how popular the sport is in North America, and the U.S. is our number one market,” Küffer adds.