The game between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche on March 16 will mark a turning point with the variety of content introduced in the broadcasts
The National Hockey League (NHL) joined forces with pharmaceutical giant Farmacias Similares, socially represented since 1997 by the mascot Dr. Simi, to turn its league games into a unique event in which numerous innovations have been introduced in the narratives of the games in order to attract Spanish-speaking audiences to the world of ice hockey.
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The kickoff began with the clash between the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche on March 16, a game in which viewers enjoyed a variety of unique and exciting animated programs, which they will have for the rest of the 2024-2025 regular season. These include numerous formats, types of content and distribution partners.
“It all starts in a conversation with my father-in-law, Bill Bennett, who was a professional player in the NHL. That’s where the idea came up to bring a league game to Mexico for the first time in history. We went to the NHL offices in New York, where we explained the origin and impact of Dr. Simi,” said Victor Gonzalez Herrera, Executive President of the ‘Por un Pais Mejor’ Group, which is composed of several companies, including Farmacias Similares.
“The NHL loved partnering with Dr. Simi, who represents togetherness, kindness and so many things for Latinos. That’s why we decided to use hockey as a new way of connecting. It’s a sport and at the end of the day, sport is health,” explained Gonzalez Herrera.
With the help of Beyond Sports (Sony) technology, real-time NHL EDGE positional data is combined with Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations optical tracking to bring every shot, save, pass, check and goal to life in the NHL animated shows.
Both the NHL and the Mexican company have devised this technological alliance to mark a historic point in 2025 as it will be the first fully animated game in Spanish, which will feature graphics, the participation of the commentators and, of course, Dr. Simi, who will put on his skates to make himself felt on the ice.
“The announcers will appear as digital figures, like avatars in the game. Dr. Simi will also be integrated and that’s part of what makes this all so amazing: the level of customization and integration to better engage and engage different audiences, because it’s really designed for them,” said Dave Lehanski, NHL executive vice president of business development and innovation.
Lehanski was completely satisfied with the experience left by the invention in the clash between Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche, in which the executive already foresaw that this alliance would be a success. “It is a virtual animated environment that allowed us to create a three-dimensional ice rink, in which we included sensors both in the players’ jerseys and in the puck, to accurately track plays and stick movements,” he said. He emphasized the new information that NHL en Español followers have, such as statistics and informative data.
