NHL Reveals First-Ever (Lack of) Diversity Report

The National Hockey League has revealed the findings of its first-ever Diversity and Inclusion Report. The official 24-page document was released at its board of governors meeting on Tuesday, marking its shift towards promoting social activism and change within its organization. Information included stems from the work of the NHL's Executive Inclusion Council and three separate sub-committees, designed to thoroughly examine issues related to diversity and inclusion amongst the NHL's players, teams, fans and executives. "We are working to better understand and accelerate our engagement across all layers of diversity - including nationality, race, gender identify, sexual orientation, disability and religion," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wrote within the report. "Each day, we are committed to ensuring inclusion becomes more of 'who we are' than 'what we do.'" With a heavy focus on diversity within league and club hires, the report provided a brief demographic breakdown of coaches, managers and front office positions. The report also listed seven dimension that help pull the league's diversity efforts in the same direction: leadership, education, employment, marketing, partnerships, participation and community engagement. "During the past few years, the NHL and its 32 Clubs have accelerated efforts to grow our sport, particularly with underrepresented audiences," Bettman added. "The information in this report seeks to both detail the work we have done and establish metrics that will enable us to chart our progress. Transparency is essential so that we can hold ourselves accountable and for all stakeholders -- including NHL Players, partners, fans and future fans -- to understand the breadth and depth of our work to create a safer, more welcoming, more diverse game and business." But the findings are rather troubling. Despite all the sugar-coating the percentages speak for themselves. A staggering 83.6 percent of NHL league and team employees are white. Making up the minority is as follows:

4.17% Asian
3.74% Black
3.71% Hispanic/Latino
0.5% Indigenous
*2.48% chose not to answer

One of the 32 NHL team general managers is black (Mike Grier, who was promoted to his role this past year). 61.86 percent of NHL league and team employees are male.

36.8% identify as female
*1.34% either identify as 'other' or chose not to answer

93.14 percent of NHL league and team employees are straight/heterosexual.

1.52% identify as bisexual
1.12% identify as gay
0.81% identify as lesbian

Click here to view the full report. Key findings - via the NHL: - The NHL's league office formed an internal Inclusion Steering Committee in 2019. Its creation mirrors work at the team level where 27 teams have established or are about to create organizational diversity and inclusion councils, working groups or advisory boards. - Twenty-two teams have launched or are about to launch mentorship/fellowship/hiring programs to develop BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and female talent to work in hockey operations or front office roles. - The NHL has seen some progress through recent hires. Mike Grier became the League's first Black general manager when the San Jose Sharks hired him in July. - Six women have also been hired as assistant general managers since January: Emilie Castonguay and Cammi Granato (Vancouver Canucks), Meghan Hunter (Blackhawks), Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser (Toronto Maple Leafs), Kate Madigan (New Jersey Devils) and Alexandra Mandrycky (Kraken). - The accelerated pace is an outgrowth of the NHL's commitments to combat racism in society and hockey and to make the sport more inclusive and welcoming following a series of high-profile incidents, including the murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died while in the custody of police in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. - In March, the NHL hired Jennifer Ekeleme as vice president for multicultural engagement and integration "to accelerate culturally relevant marketing efforts and strengthen crossovers into off-ice touchpoints like music, fashion and food." Twenty-five teams have or will launch specific marketing campaigns aimed toward BIPOC, the LGBTQ+ community, women and/or people with disabilities, or have dedicated a specific portion of their marketing budgets toward future diversity and inclusion campaigns, the report said. - In addition, 23 teams have or will enter new business partnerships/relationships with minority or woman-owned businesses, representing a growth of 14 teams (44 percent) since November 2020. - To support League-wide youth hockey programs, the NHL and NHL Players' Association's Industry Growth Fund (IGF) has distributed more than $135 million in the United States and Canada and is taking steps to help retain and develop BIPOC and women hockey participants. Some of those funds were directed toward low-cost introductory programs like Learn to Play in the United States and First Shift in Canada. The IGF made a three-year commitment in 2022 to support Hockey Equality, an initiative founded by "Hockey Night in Canada" analyst and retired NHL player Anthony Stewart to diversify youth hockey and lower barriers to inclusion at the grassroots level.