CHL launches in-house media sales unit
By Derek Winkler
The Canadian Hockey League has launched a new in-house department to handle national and regional sponsorship and media sales. The department will be operated in collaboration with the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The unit will be headed by Ryan Hudecki as vice-president of partnerships. Hudecki was previously at Canadian Controlled Media Communications, which has handled this work for the league for the last 18 years. CCMC recently ceased operations.
“As we continue to innovate and grow, we are excited about the new opportunities that will be born out of bringing both corporate sponsorship and media sales in-house,” said Dan MacKenzie, president of the CHL. “We also couldn’t be more excited to welcome Ryan Hudecki, who brings a wealth of experience having done an excellent job of managing the CHL’s sponsorship business as a member of CCMC for 18 years. Building on the great work done by CCMC, our newly structured corporate sponsorship team at the CHL will maximize existing revenue drivers, while identifying exciting new ones across our league’s three-member leagues.”