Thoughts on teams controlling images, "authenticity," the Stadium Series, and much more

Maybe this connect, maybe it doesn't, let's find out together!

Bear with me, this piece might not exactly connect.

As I noted in the Shap Shots chat function¹ I was at the Prime Time Sports Management conference in Toronto yesterday. It’s a two-day event that brings together panels and discussions about various topic in sports and entertainment, from marketing and media to technology and sales and much more.

I learned a ton, and most of it wasn’t about hockey. For example, I learned all about how the Canadian Woman’s Rugby Team used a grassroots fundraising effort to win a silver medal at the 2025 Rugby World Cup, operating on a budget of $3.5 million while England, which won gold, had an operating budget of $25 million.

I also learned that the Rogers Centre put in more than $8 million in network improvements into the building last year to prepare for the Taylor Swift concerts, a move that a representative from Rogers said turned into an added benefit for the baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays, when it served a multitude of fans during the recent World Series run, that ended in a Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I also caught up with NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly during the conference, for this story on the state play for hockey development when it involves the CHL, USHL, NCAA, Hockey Canada, and USA Hockey.

And then while I was driving home from Toronto, it was announced that the Dallas Stars will host an outdoor game in February of 2027 at AT&T Stadium, aka Jerryworld, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Maybe we can connect these things, maybe we can’t. Either way, let’s buckle up and find out, together.