From Bozeman to the big leagues, Heidi Browning hits the stage

Sept. 18 marked an exciting night for MSU’s hockey fanatics and future business entrepreneurs, as the Chief Marketing Officer of the National Hockey League (NHL) Heidi Browning visited Bozeman to speak about sports marketing. Browning’s speech married the business world with the athletic, taking students through her evolution from a native Bozemanite to one of the biggest names in the executive hockey world.

Browning attended as a speaker for the Orser Executive Speakers Forum, a series hosted by the Jake Jabs College of Business, which highlights innovative business leaders. She began her speech with an anecdotal story, sharing a sentiment known all too well by many college students: concerns about lacking personal direction.

Browning started on a pre-law track at the University of Colorado, Boulder. However, she quickly found herself in the business world after gaining a marketing award while working at Kaplan, a test preparation service. “Where you start is not where you finish,” Browning said.

Through her education in Boulder, Browning pursued marketing opportunities, moving all over the country to do so. Browning described moving not only from state to state, but company to company as well, eventually landing at the NHL in 2016.

In the early years of Browning’s marketing career, she was nervous about working within a hockey league. “I didn’t know anything about hockey,” she said, “I never thought that would have been my superpower.”

The idea of trying something new resonated with Madison Peck, a business management major. Peck explained how this portion of Browning’s speech helped her realize that you can stray away from familiarity in order to achieve greater things.

The next portion of Browning’s speech highlighted the various positions offered in sports marketing, as described by the acronym “F.E.A.R.S.” — which stands for fan engagement, analytics, research and social media. Browning elaborated on the acronym, stating that you don’t have to do sports to engage with sports. “It’s important to broaden your horizons and explore all of the different paths you can take to enter the sports world,” she said.

Expanding upon this, Browning excitedly shared a new method of connecting with NHL fans: social media. From all areas of the internet, Browning was proud to announce the NHL’s presence on 12 platforms in eight countries has accumulated more than 191 million followers across league, club and player accounts.

With this, the NHL and the National Hockey League Player’s Association (NHLPA)'s “Learn to Play” program has experienced a 42 percent increase in female participation in Canada. The NHLPA is the labor union for NHL players, according to its website. Additionally, the “Learn To Play” program has also experienced a 90 percent increase in BIPOC participation in the U.S. and 267,000 kids have participated in the program overall. BIPOC is an acronym referring to individuals who may be Black, Indigenous or people of color.

Although the social media presence of the NHL itself is important, the presence of fans is objectively even more so, Browning said. She highlighted the ways in which NHL fans such as Zac Bell, a hockey content creator, have been recognized for their love of the game.

Sam Switzer, a business finance student, connected on a personal level with this portion of her speech. “I know a bunch of small creators, and some of them were mentioned in the presentation today. So, I thought it was pretty cool how people are being recognized for branching out and getting big recognition from the NHL,” Switzer said.

Finishing out her speech, Browning concluded with a statement that connected with many students, including Austin Ayotte, a business finance major. “A specific thing that she said that really resonated with me is the fact that, say you’re in a successful setting — you are there for a reason. You don’t have to change to become the people around you. Be your own person, be unique,” Ayotte said.

In her closing statement, Browning paid homage to her Montana roots, letting the crowd know that they’re what got her to where she is today, “Don’t let them change you,” she said, “You’re where you are because of who you are.”

Correction: On Sept. 26, The Exponent reported that the NHL had experienced a 42 percent increase in its female fanbase and also experienced a 90 percent increase in BIPOC viewership. This has been edited to reflect the truth that the NHL/NHLPA's “Learn to Play” program has experienced a 42 percent increase in female participation in Canada and that the "Learn to Play" program has experienced a 90 percent increase in BIPOC participation in the U.S.