NHL COVID-19 Response: Crisis Management Strategies

Introduction

The COVID-19 global pandemic has significantly impacted lives and livelihoods across the globe as the virus continues to spread worldwide and new variants emerge. COVID-19 has essentially affected every sector of the economy and society as governments have been forced to adopt measures to contain its spread. One of the areas most affected by the spread of the virus is sports. National sports leagues such as the National Hockey League (NHL) have been deeply impacted. In the initial stages of the pandemic, the NHL suspended all sporting activities — as did other national sports leagues — in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. However, as the pandemic continued and new variants such as the Delta variant emerged, the NHL was compelled to find better ways to manage its COVID-19 response. This paper provides suggestions for improving the NHL's response to the pandemic based on insights drawn from other organizations' responses to the crisis.

As previously indicated, the NHL's initial response to the COVID-19 virus in March 2020 was to suspend all sporting activities. The organization resumed these activities in August 2020 and established measures to help curb the spread of the virus among players and throughout the broader organization. The NHL adopted these response measures on the grounds that it has a responsibility to ensure the safety of all its stakeholders (Gregory, 2020). The league's COVID-19 response was organized into four major phases: self-isolation, testing in training facilities, testing in training camps, and regular testing. These initiatives, together with compliance with appropriate protocols, played a crucial role in preventing the spread of the virus within the NHL and its associated activities.

Despite playing a crucial role in curbing the spread of the virus, the response measures adopted by the NHL were not entirely effective, even as they contributed to an unprecedented hockey season. This implies that the NHL could have adopted alternative or additional measures to improve its response to the COVID-19 crisis. Mont, Curtis, and Palgan (2021) note that organizational responses to the COVID-19 pandemic were hampered by the lack of extensive literature on responding to epidemics — existing literature mostly focuses on traditional organizational threats such as human-error incidents and natural disasters. As a result, response strategies like those adopted by the NHL were primarily limited to existing frameworks for conventional threats. The following sections outline how the NHL's response could have been improved by adopting slightly different approaches from the outset.

Management of Daily Operations

As noted by Gregory (2020), the NHL's initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic was to halt all operations and sporting activities, including postponing the season and holding emergency meetings to determine the next course of action. In doing so, the organization followed measures implemented by other sporting associations such as the NBA. The prompt suspension of games had a significant impact on the league and the many livelihoods depending on it, and carried major financial implications given that the NHL is a billion-dollar industry. Notably, at the time of suspension, no one within the league had been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Even though the league's suspension was critical in helping curb the spread of the virus, the NHL could have responded more effectively by managing daily operations rather than halting the league entirely. As part of this approach, the NHL could have reduced parts of its operations and implemented local responses tailored to local contexts. Mont, Curtis, and Palgan (2021) identify the management of daily operations as a key organization-oriented response strategy for the global pandemic. Reducing operations and implementing context-specific local responses would have enabled the NHL to continue functioning while minimizing the financial and operational implications associated with a full suspension.

Managing daily operations would have begun with a needs assessment to identify critical and essential areas of operation. A needs assessment helps provide insights into employees' needs relative to their specific work responsibilities (Global CAD, 2020) and enables an organization to identify the private challenges employees may be facing. Through such an assessment, the NHL would have been better positioned to identify suitable approaches to the COVID-19 crisis, working with employees to jointly develop comprehensive, practicable solutions regarding the reduction of operations and the best ways to respond to incidents in local contexts.

The case for reduced operations during the COVID-19 crisis is supported by the example of the English Premier League (EPL). Football leagues across Europe — including those in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France — responded to the crisis by abandoning the 2019/2020 season entirely. However, the EPL adopted a different model that involved reducing parts of its daily operations and sporting activities (Quansah et al., 2021). Unlike the NHL, the EPL did not suspend all operations but continued with reduced activities. While this still had significant impacts on revenues, the league remained operational throughout the COVID-19 crisis. The decision by the Football Association to continue the league without spectators also provided a solid foundation for a seamless transition to the new season, as clubs were already accustomed to operating under modified conditions.

The EPL's model — continuing operations without spectators while adhering to all COVID-19 protocols — is a suitable example the NHL could have followed to improve its own pandemic response. By adopting such a model, the NHL would have continued operations and sporting activities in a manner that reduced the severe financial implications associated with a full shutdown. Airbnb provides another relevant example: its COVID-19 response involved suspending in-person stays in many countries and reducing the size of its workforce, while also renegotiating or eliminating some contracts as part of its reduced operations (Mont, Curtis & Palgan, 2021). Like the EPL case, Airbnb's approach demonstrates that the NHL could have balanced competing interests by reducing, rather than entirely suspending, its operations.

Drawing on the course materials, crisis management and response have two major dimensions: the communications side and the operations side. Organizations facing a crisis adopt strategies that fall within either or both of these categories. From a communications standpoint, organizations respond by providing timely information to their various stakeholders, seeking to safeguard the organization's reputation while operations continue. As noted by Guffey and Loewy (2019), organizations utilize different communication methods for workplace correspondence, particularly when dealing with a crisis. The operations side, by contrast, focuses on how an organization can keep its doors open during the crisis. Given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL would have improved its response by adopting measures that promoted operational continuity while also preventing the spread of the virus. Reduced operations and locally tailored responses would have enabled the NHL to achieve both objectives simultaneously.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 global pandemic has had significant impacts on societies across the world. The effect of the pandemic has been felt at the individual and organizational level as the virus brought significant disruptions to people's lives. The sports industry, including the National Hockey League, has also been affected by these disruptions. The NHL responded to the crisis by temporarily suspending the league — similar to other sporting bodies such as the NBA. However, this strategy ultimately had a greater impact on clubs than necessary, even though it helped curb the spread of the virus.

Based on insights from course materials and the experiences of other organizations, the NHL could have improved its response by adopting alternative strategies for better crisis management. The two recommended approaches — management of daily operations and adoption of a new business model — offer practical, evidence-based pathways through which the NHL could have balanced public health obligations with financial sustainability. Taken together, these strategies would have positioned the league to navigate the pandemic more effectively while protecting clubs, employees, and the broader ecosystem that depends on professional hockey.

References

Global CAD. (2020). Managing your organization successfully during COVID-19. Retrieved August 17, 2021, from https://globalcad.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GlobalCAD-CovidEnglish_April15v2.pdf

Gregory, S. (2020). The NHL had 0 positive COVID-19 tests throughout postseason. We asked Commissioner Gary Bettman what we can learn from that. Time. Retrieved August 17, 2021, from https://time.com/5894175/nhl-gary-bettman-stanley-cup-covid/

Guffey, M. E., & Loewy, D. (2019). Essentials of business communication (11th ed.). Cengage.

Maguire, K. (2021). COVID-19 and football: Crisis creates opportunity. The Political Quarterly, 92(1), 132–138.

Mont, O., Curtis, S. K., & Palgan, Y. V. (2021). Organizational response strategies to COVID-19 in the sharing economy. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 28, 52–70.

Quansah, T., Frick, B., Lang, M., & Maguire, K. (2021). The importance of club revenues for player salaries and transfer expenses — How does the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) impact the English Premier League? Sustainability, 13(5154), 1–22.