SVG Sit-Down: NHL Chief Content Officer/EVP Steve Mayer on League's New Production Facility and Growing Content Operation The goal is to be increasingly aggressive in developing programming and platforms By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Tuesday, May 17, 2022 - 3:27 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Since joining the NHL in late 2015, Chief Content Officer and EVP Steve Mayer has overseen a full overhaul of the league's content-creation and -distribution efforts. What was once a small department focused on serving internal needs is now a full-fledged production factory that creates original content for the NHL's digital and social channels, NHL Network, rightsholders, and more.
NHL's Steve Mayer: We are truly a production company, and the growth potential is endless.
Last year, the NHL Original Productions and NHL Studios teams led by Mayer finally moved into the league's new headquarters at One Hudson Yards in Manhattan. Originally scheduled to christen the new facility in 2020, the move was delayed by the pandemic.
Now, with the aid of a dedicated new studio and robust production facility at Hudson Yards, the NHL's production arm has ramped up its efforts for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and beyond. SVG recently sat down with Mayer at the new headquarters to discuss the new Stanley Cup Stories and upcoming Third Period Live digital series, how his team has weathered the pandemic, why the new facility is a game-changer for the production team, how the league is bringing more original productions like Quest for the Stanley Cup (which returns May 27) in-house, and how he sees the NHL's production operations continuing to grow in the future.
Now that you are settled into your new facility, how would you say your team navigated the very challenging past couple of years?
It has been hard on everyone here on so many levels, but, looking back now, it's really amazing how well we got through it all. We knew that we needed to be resourceful right from day one, and we knew we were going to have to do things differently.
In the early days [of the pandemic], we had to be there for our fans to keep them updated - not only what was going on with the league in terms of coming back but also what was going on with our players in their own lives. The technical and engineering team was absolutely amazing: they were able to take what we had in our previous building and essentially replicate it in people's homes. Our editors and producers each had satellite offices in their basements, living rooms, and bedrooms, and all of that needed to connect. Somehow, that all happened immediately.
It was truly shocking just how fast we were able to come back. At the time, we were faster than the major networks that cover our sport. We even learned how to do a Zoom television program and Zoom press conferences before our network partners did. They were dying for programming so we were giving them really valuable content. That was possible only because we acted really fast. Suddenly, we were producing television shows, and our content was going viral. We came up with a trivia show hosted by P.K. Subban, and we had an interview show that took you inside players' living rooms and bedrooms, and we met their girlfriends and their mothers and their families. We did so much unique programming, and it drove every one of us in this department to come up with ideas and be super creative. And we were obviously incredibly aggressive when we came back with the bubble and just continued to grow from there.
How has the move into the new building gone, and how has this new facility benefited your content-creation efforts?
The move to this [new building] was literally scheduled for a couple months after [the pandemic arrived], so we were already packing up our boxes for the move. Then everything changed, and, obviously, the move-in was pushed back, which was very disappointing. But we're thrilled to finally be here and exploring how this facility can make us better and more efficient.
First and foremost, everything here talks to each other. Right now, I can log in to an edit room and watch an edit happen live. The connectivity in this building is incredible, but we've also kept the connectivity to people's homes as well. Whether you're in the office, at home, or on the road, you still have access to everything. The pandemic has made people look at content extremely differently. Connectivity and being able to share content and footage has always been important but never as much as now.
We've also now gotten our studio launched and are producing shows and content throughout the Playoffs. Next year, we've got a whole slate of programming that we're going to announce.
How is your team looking to grow the NHL Studios operations here now that you're in the new facility and have launched the new studio?
On the studio side, we are launching two programs during the Playoffs that are primarily for YouTube: Stanley Cup Stories and Third Period Live.
Stanley Cup Stories is all about highlighting the amazing content being produced at the club level. We've aggregated all this incredible content from playoff teams, and we're producing our own and then packaging all of it into Stanley Cup Stories. These are the really heartwarming stories that we're telling about our Playoff players. The teams are loving it because it gives them a chance to amplify their content and to give credit to their talented producers and directors.
We're also doing a second-screen experience starting in the Conference Finals called Third Period Live. It's a unique approach, with lots of casual conversation along with heavy integration of puck-and-player tracking. There will also be a gambling component to the show where we look at the latest live odds and
North America Stories
04/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p-compatible PTZ auto-frami...
04/06/2026
This recent grad from Spring, TX, led creative-video output for the Aggies' men's basketball team last season and has been producing video and creating ...
04/06/2026
For the first time at a women's golf major, every player in the field will r...
04/06/2026
Three Panasonic PT-RQ45 40,000-lumen 3-Chip DLP projectors made their first live...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin and Akamai have announced a collaboration with NRJ Group, a French mult...
04/06/2026
Telestream will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7952), demonstrating media work...
04/06/2026
Sony has announced the development of RIALTO 65, a 65mm format image sensor block for the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera, targeting release in the first half of...
04/06/2026
KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N8025, June ...
04/06/2026
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of FIFA Wor...
04/06/2026
The Challenge: Receiving Heavy Media Files From Road Games Quickly and ReliablyT...
04/06/2026
MASV, a managed file transfer platform used in broadcast and live sports product...
04/06/2026
NESN has announced the appointment of Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Haider returns to NESN, where he previously served as Vice P...
04/06/2026
David J. Halberstam, who spent almost 50 years in sports as a broadcaster and an executive, died June 2 after a years-long battle with brain cancer.
Over his l...
04/06/2026
Although collegiate production programs are tasked with delivering high-quality ...
04/06/2026
California studio, two production trucks, global distribution system are combine...
04/06/2026
New global program empowers and supports storytellers through scriptwriting course and access to industry experts
TikTok and Sundance Institute today announce...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
All the Truth in My Lies Coming to Netflix on August 28
Entertainment
04 June 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Download the imag...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Larry Tanz, VP of Content, EMEA, Delivers a Keynote Speech at ...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium With the New FIFA World ...
04/06/2026
Keeping conversations real on LinkedIn Published on Jun 4, 2026 Categories: Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Share
LinkedIn
Facebook ...
04/06/2026
June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming.
GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
03/06/2026
Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies have announced a multi-year extension of their partnership, with Wasabi continuing as the club's official cloud storage...
03/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP as part of the relocation of its n...
03/06/2026
The Riedel Group has announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 201...
03/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the deployment of its intercom solutions at Itaka Arena ...
03/06/2026
Scott Coker has announced six senior executive appointments for his new global MMA promotion, which launched earlier this year with $60 million in financing. Ad...
03/06/2026
Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup 2026, has announced its digital and social media programming for the tournament, running Ju...
03/06/2026
The Bundesliga has announced the launch of Captain, an AI assistant built into t...
03/06/2026
Anthony James Partners (AJP) is serving as technology consultant for a moderniza...
03/06/2026
Audio-Technica has announced the recipients of its annual sales rep firm awards for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The awards were presented by Jim Schanz, Executive ...
SVG Sit-Down: NHL Chief Content Officer/EVP Steve Mayer on League's New Production Facility and Growing Content Operation The goal is to be increasingly aggressive in developing programming and platforms By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
