It’s Time to Acknowledge the NHL’s Diversity Problem

The NHL’s diversity report was many things. A surprise was not one of them.

No sports fan would be shocked by the findings of the league, no matter how many times commissioner Gary Bettman feigned surprise and promised improvement. It’s been the same story for more than a hundred years, and the league has continuously remained ignorant of the glaring diversity problem. With the release of the first ever diversity report, however, the league can no longer look away. For the sake of their future, the NHL must pay attention to the report’s staggering conclusions and do something.

The report focused on league and team employees, which makes sense considering there is no diversity in gender or sexual identity among players, and even racial diversity is practically nonexistent.

Even considering how historically non-diverse the league is, the data is still astounding. A colossal 83.6 percent of league and team employees identify as white, while a mere 3.74 percent identify as Black, 4.17 percent as Asian, and 3.71 percent as Hispanic/Latinx––statistics that see the NHL trail behind every other major sporting league by a substantial margin. If these numbers look bad, consider that out of 64 NHL general managers and coaches, San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier is the sole person of color.

While gravely disappointing, there is a definite reason behind the data presented. Hockey is among the most expensive sports to play. In contrast to the more diverse sports of soccer and basketball, hockey is a significant investment because of the sheer cost of equipment. It’s rare to see a player from an underprivileged community make it into the big leagues, and unfortunately, the sheer expense of the game has stagnated the growth of BIPOC players.

This issue is only exacerbated by the prevalence of retired players in executive roles, practically all of whom are white men. It’s also compounded with the league’s inaction after countless racist incidents throughout its history. It took the NHL decades to recognize the bravery that Willie O’Ree displayed in becoming the first ever Black hockey player. Coach Bill Peters has still not been banned from returning to hockey, even after he was accused of repeatedly assaulting former player Akim Aliu because he was Black. Countless incidents of this sort have gone completely unnoticed, and the league has stood by and allowed them to happen. While the expense of hockey is certainly a contributing factor to its whiteness, it has allowed the league to cut itself much slack as it continuously fails to stimulate representation and opportunities for players in underprivileged communities. Even in the aftermath of this staggering report, Bettman did not announce any concrete plan in this regard, opting to continuously praise the league’s marginal progress since its inception in the 1910s.

The league’s shortcomings don’t end with race. As was expected, the diversity of sexual orientation was nonexistent. The report showed that a stunning 93.14 percent of employees identify as straight. By contrast, 1.52 percent identify as bisexual, 1.12 percent as gay, and 0.81 percent as lesbian. Sports as a whole certainly tend to lag behind workforce standards in terms of LGBTQ+ diversity, but these figures are pathetic even relative to other sports. In the report, the NHL repeatedly mentioned its efforts to increase LGBTQ+ representation throughout the league with “Pride Nights” and “You Can Play” campaigns, but clearly, these efforts have had no impact on increasing LGBTQ+ diversity. Not one current NHL player identifies as anything but heterosexual. Luke Prokop remains the sole LGBTQ+ player affiliated with any organization. As the NHL attempts to usher in a younger generation of fans and players, it’ll need to substantially increase its LGBTQ+ representation if it hopes to avoid intense backlash.

Arguably the most deceiving part of the report was the section regarding gender diversity. At first glance, the data appears acceptable. Overall, 36.81 percent of NHL employees identify as women, while 1.34 percent identify as “other” or preferred not to answer, a category for which further breakdown was not provided by the league. These numbers are by no means perfect, but the NHL isn’t inexplicably far off from the general workforce, which consists of 46.6 percent female employees. The 10 percent difference between the two numbers signifies there is room for improvement, but the NHL also displays positive metrics elsewhere: in its marketing division, 46.2 percent of employees identify as female, practically identical to the general workforce.

The issue becomes apparent, however, when the investigation turns to women in hockey operations, the executive suites of organizations. Each organization boasts approximately 50 different opportunities in hockey operations. As The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn found, on average, two of these roles are held by women, a statistic that was conveniently left off of the NHL’s report. The data highlights the lack of leadership opportunities for female employees. While the numbers on the surface may appear relatively positive at first glance, a deeper dive suggests that the NHL has work to do, even in an avenue it may have felt more comfortable and confident in.

Even with the work of the “Hockey Is For Everyone” program, the NHL has a long way to go. While this report inspires very little confidence, it at least provides an opportunity for the league to reflect and identify the areas where it can improve. Now, the NHL needs to create and execute an impactful plan and see meaningful progress before it praises itself for work yet to be done. The league has begun to work with the Hockey Diversity Alliance to provide more opportunities for young BIPOC players, but these efforts aren’t going far enough. NHL teams need to make an active effort to scout out BIPOC players in less prominent hockey towns. The league needs to ensure that all organizations promote a diversity and inclusion program, and enforce this program by mandating tangible results. We’re not going to see change happen overnight, especially in a sport whose history has been entirely populated by straight, white men. But when the change does become apparent, hockey will be infinitely better.