The Leafs Nation’s 2023-24 Trade Deadline was a huge success, especially when you factor in how little the Toronto Maple Leafs actually did at the deadline. In comparison to last season, where the team brought in two of the biggest fish of the deadline in addition to seven new players and essentially lit the hockey world on fire, more people checked out TLN this year than they did last year in the two weeks leading up to and through the 2024 NHL trade deadline.
So as the managing editor of this website, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who checked out our coverage. Whether that was a show, podcast, the Daily Faceoff Live Trade Deadline special, or just read an article or two on our site, we appreciate the support!
TLN put together a content plan specific to our writers and their strengths that proved to work tremendously in our favour. We had writers designated to work on news hits, player profiles, and pieces profiling sellers in the weeks leading up to the deadline. Our highest-grossing piece was our trade deadline predictions article, which brought in tens of thousands of pageviews despite only going live three days before the deadline itself. Our team did a great job in having this plan ready to go to preview each acquisition that came in, and it gave the fans more than enough content than they could have asked for to learn about players they may not have even heard of going into the deadline. Overall, we consider our deadline a great success and have intentions of keeping our momentum up for the rest of the season.
As a Network, the entire Nation Network crushed this deadline. Here are some numbers:
The Nation Network & Daily Faceoff Generate Record Engagement During 2024 NHL Trade Deadline
The Nation Network (“TNN”) and Daily Faceoff (“DFO”) experienced record engagement during the 2024 National Hockey League (“NHL”) Trade Deadline. During the week leading up to the NHL’s marquee mid-season event, TNN’s premier lineup of NHL insiders, writers, and broadcasters, led by Frank Seravalli, served fans exclusive coverage of all trade-related rumours and developments from around the league.
Highlighted and anchored by DFO’s five-hour live special on March 8th, TNN delivered fans non-stop content geared toward the day’s biggest storylines and hottest rumblings, all the while amplifying its commercial partners across its suite of digital sports media channels. DFO’s 2024 Trade Deadline Show – streamed live on YouTube, Twitter (X), Facebook and Instagram – increased viewership 65% over its 2023 NHL Trade Deadline Show. When accounting for TNN’s entire catalogue of programming to air on March 8th, it amassed over 170,000 live podcast and video views across six shows – Daily Faceoff Live Trade Deadline Special, Oilersnation Everyday, Leafs Morning Take, Coming In Hot, Barn Burner, Sekeres & Price and Canucks Conversation. Additionally, as a continuation of TNN’s efforts to expand the reach of its offerings, DFO’s 2024 Trade Deadline Show was syndicated on Anthem Sports & Entertainment’s specialty television channel, Game+.
Bolstering this breadth of video distribution, TNN’s portfolio of websites attracted 2 million unique users and generated in excess of 11.6 million pageviews in the days leading up to the deadline, peaking with more than 1.4 million pageviews on March 8th.
DFO’s YouTube channel continues to experience strong growth and momentum amongst young, digitally native audiences. Between March 1st – March 8th, DFO’s YouTube channel engaged an audience comprised of 55% adults between the ages of 18-44. During the same period, DFO produced video content with over 30,000 hours of watch time on YouTube.
Reaching fans where, how, and when they want while facilitating authentic interactions with top-tier sponsors is core to TNN’s content strategy. TNN has made direct sales and partnerships – on both a regional and national level – a key focus for its video-podcast segment. By leveraging an omnichannel footprint, TNN activates both endemic and non-endemic partners across video, podcast, social media, and through live events and merchandise. During the 2024 Trade Deadline, TNN amplified key partners such as Tim Horton’s, DoorDash, Wendy’s, Betano, and Fountain Tire.
So, yeah, this was a very successful deadline for us as a company and we just wanted to take the time to thank you all for your support!
