NEW YORK – Lega Serie A, the Nationwide Hockey League (NHL) and the Nationwide Hockey League Gamers’ Affiliation (NHLPA) will carry their groundbreaking Content material Collaboration Partnership to life in Milan this week, as a collection of the NHL’s high European stars participate in a sequence of joint activations with Serie A golf equipment and legendary gamers.
The partnership actions and celebrations coincide with the annual NHL/NHLPA European Participant Media Tour, which takes place in Milan on August 22 — someday earlier than the 2025-26 Lega Serie A season kicks off. The NHL and NHLPA’s go to to Italy represents a key milestone forward of NHL gamers’ participation on the Olympic Winter Video games Milano Cortina 2026.
Gamers and executives from each leagues and members of the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) will take part in occasions aimed toward strengthening ties between the sports activities, whereas highlighting the shared ardour of soccer and hockey followers worldwide. Among the many 26 NHL gamers anticipated in Milan for the European Participant Media Tour, seven (7) have been named to preliminary Olympic rosters: Carolina Hurricanes ahead Sebastian Aho (Finland); Chicago Blackhawks ahead Lukas Reichel (Germany); Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen (Finland); Detroit Pink Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (Germany) and ahead Lucas Raymond (Sweden); New Jersey Devils ahead Nico Hischier (Switzerland); and Toronto Maple Leafs ahead William Nylander (Sweden).
In Milan, a delegation from the NHL and NHLPA will go to the coaching facility of 20-time Scudetto champion Inter earlier than attending Milan’s opening Serie A match of the 2025-26 season on the iconic San Siro Stadium. Milan, whose roster options United States Males’s Nationwide Crew captain Christian Pulisic and his compatriot Yunus Musah, will play newly promoted Cremonese.
The VIP experiences with Inter and Milan—two of the world’s greatest soccer golf equipment and sporting manufacturers—will embrace jersey exchanges and conferences with Serie A Legends and might be documented with social media collaborations.
Previous to the membership activations, Lega Serie A will take part within the NHL Worldwide Broadcaster Summit, providing perception into how the league works with its world broadcast companions and positions itself as a frontrunner in sports activities advertising and marketing and content material worldwide.
Andy Mitchell, CEO and Managing Director of Lega Serie A USA, mentioned: “Once we first introduced our partnership with the NHL and NHLPA earlier this 12 months, we spoke about our shared values and the distinctive alternative to carry our sports activities nearer collectively. This week in Milan is the right instance of that imaginative and prescient in motion.
“From broadcaster workshops to VIP matchday experiences, these activations enable us to attach our gamers, our followers, and our manufacturers in genuine, memorable methods. We’re particularly grateful to the collaborating Serie A groups for opening their doorways and serving to us create such impactful experiences for the NHL’s Olympians and delegates.
“With Milano Cortina 2026 on the horizon, the synergy between Serie A and the NHL is very helpful for each events.”
Invoice Daly, NHL Deputy Commissioner, added: “The NHL is honored to go to Milan alongside our companions at Serie A, persevering with to construct on the momentum of our strategic collaboration. This week’s occasions give our gamers and management the prospect to immerse themselves in one of many world’s nice sporting cultures whereas showcasing hockey and NHL gamers to new world audiences.
“By partaking immediately with Serie A’s passionate followers and iconic golf equipment, we’re strengthening our world footprint and creating connections that can resonate nicely past the Winter Video games.”
Rob Zepp, Senior Director, Worldwide Technique and Progress at NHLPA mentioned: “Kicking off this collaboration at marquee occasions in Milan, alongside our companions at Serie A and the NHL, underscores our shared dedication to elevating sport worldwide. Collectively, we’re giving followers all over the world unprecedented entry to the tales, personalities and moments that unite us by way of sport, and celebrating the worldwide spirit of competitors forward of the Olympics.”
The primary-of-its-kind partnership between a North American sports activities league and a European soccer league is impressed by a collaboration in March 2025, which noticed Scudetto-winning legends Andrea Pirlo and Marco Materazzi trade jerseys with New York Rangers’ star middle **Mika Zibanejad** at Madison Sq. Backyard. The collaboration is designed to rejoice each leagues’ histories, gamers, join their world fan bases, and create cross-sport alternatives forward of the Olympic Winter Video games Milano Cortina 2026.
