Blues marginalize some fans with Hockey is for Everyone event that won’t include hockey
On Tuesday, March 24, the St. Louis Blues organization will hold its annual celebration of the National Hockey League’s Hockey Is For Everyone initiative.
The St. Louis Blues, themselves, will not be present.
In what is believed to be a first in the history of the initiative, the Blues have opted to host the event during a watch party held at Enterprise Center for an away game to be played in Washington, DC against the Capitals.
In the press release announcing the event, the team guaranteed “the full in-game experience, including opening videos, goal horns, lights, organ music, appearances by Louie and Blue Crew, prize giveaways and more.”
Not included? Live hockey.
Reached by email for comment in this column, Blues Vice President of Media and Brand Communications Mike Caruso referred a statement he provided to USA Today.
“Due to unprecedented ticket demand and sales following last season’s success, we weren’t able to execute as many ticket promotions as we have in the past,” the statement said, in part. “However, instead of foregoing Hockey Is For Everyone completely, we wanted to brainstorm ways to continue its application. That is where the idea of a watch party came in.”
The Blues emphasized that all proceeds from the watch party would benefit “participating organizations” and the team’s charitable trust, Blues For Kids. One organization that is not set to share in those proceeds is Metro East Pride.
Metro East Pride of Southwestern Illinois describes its mission on its website as, “(promoting) unity, viability and self-esteem among lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender and queer persons and to promote a positive image in the Metro East area and throughout the Southwestern Illinois community activities and services.“
The organization’s president, Randy Elser, said that Metro East Pride was not consulted prior to the scheduling of the event, but was contacted and invited to attend. Metro East Pride was also offered the opportunity to sell tickets to the event and keep 50% of the proceeds of those sales. That offer was shared publicly with interested groups in the press release announcing the event.
Jordan Braxton, representative for PrideSTL, said the organization is “disappointed to hear that the St. Louis Blues have again decided not to openly welcome and support LGBTQIA+ fans in a home game for Pride Night with the Blues. We ask the St. Louis Blues a chance to be seen, heard and supported.”
Further, Braxton said, “The night’s message ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ as a viewing party of an away game at the Enteprise Center, falls short with a lack of consideration and understanding of those within the St. Louis community.”
Braxton extended that concern on behalf of “people of color, physical disabilities and gender diversity.”
At least 28 of the NHL’s 31 teams have hosted, or are scheduled to host, a Hockey Is For Everyone event concurrent with a home game during the 2019-20 season. Many teams choose to hold multiple events, with each focusing on attempts to “drive positive social change and foster more inclusive communities,” as per the broader initiative’s state goal.
The initiative has been criticized for not taking substantive steps to ensure that NHL franchises make moves toward seeking increased participation from marginalized communities. Indeed, the “pride” section of the NHL’s Hockey Is For Everyone website has not been updated with new video content since last summer and does not list any celebratory events during the 2019-20 season despite many having taken place.
The Blues have hosted multiple pride events in the past and have been active in working with disadvantaged people in the broader St. Louis community. The Blues Special Hockey program helps young people and adults with developmental disabilities learn to play the game and find ways to be active in team sports. In 2014, the team’s 14 Fund partnered with Clayco to build a street hockey rink at the Mathews-Dickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club in north St. Louis.
The Blues for Kids charitable trust has donated more than $5 million to various endeavors in the community, according to the team’s web site. The club is also presently holding an auction and raffle to benefit victims of the deadly tornadoes which ravaged Nashville this week.
Given their place at the forefront of community leadership, the organization’s decision to be the only team in the NHL to host their Hockey Is For Everyone night on a night in which the team is not in town takes on an even more curious light.
In his statement to USA Today, Caruso went on to say that the Blues “also have the flexibility to completely tailor our game presentation and in-game activations to the HIFE initiative – something we couldn’t do at a normal home game due to pre-sold sponsorship/partner elements.”
It’s unclear which presentation elements would be unavailable to the Blues as a result of pre-sold partnerships or why those partnerships would not be in effect for the scheduled watch party.
Ticket demand would indeed limit the amount of available seats which could be sold for any individual home game. Still, that concern did not prevent the Blues from scheduling three separate theme nights on which they honored scouts. Nor did it prevent a continuation of Star Wars Night, 90s Night, or a night honoring 105.7 The Point’s Rizzuto Show.
Indeed, 27 of the Blues’ 41 scheduled home games this season were devoid of any theme assignment. While wrapping all of the Hockey Is For Everyone initiatives into one night may have created a logistical challenge, that did not prevent the Capitals from hosting six nights under that banner, nor the Pittsburgh Penguins from hosting four.
“Our watch parties garnered national acclaim during the playoffs last season and we are hoping to duplicate that atmosphere with this year’s HIFE event,” Caruso said.
Such an atmosphere would be welcomed by Blues fans who identify as members of marginalized groups, as the atmosphere of live hockey from which they have benefited in years past was unable to be squeezed into this year’s schedule.
