NHL Officials Eagerly Embrace the Apple Watch
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Apple and the National Hockey League (NHL) have just announced a collaboration that will see referees and other on-ice officials wearing Apple Watch to keep track of what’s going on.
The NHL announced the news earlier today, noting that the refs will be wearing Apple Watches at the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series on Saturday for the first time ever in an outdoor game.
These also aren’t being used merely to tell the time and receive notifications; they have a custom-built app called “NHL Watch Comms,” developed by Presidio, designed specifically to let them view important information relevant to their duties — all with a flick of the wrist.
They’ll have a quick view of the game clock, and also be able to receive haptic alerts to let them know when NHL players are leaving the penalty box, when time is out in the period, and more. These notifications will have unique haptic patterns so officials can recognize what they’re about without needing to glance at their wrist all the time. They can also see the jersey numbers of which players are in the penalty box at a given time.
According to Victoria Song at The Verge, the wearables will be synced to the cloud-based NHL Oasis feed that’s used to track players, game telemetry, and other data. This ensures that all the officials receive the same information at the same time.
“We wanted to make sure that the officials had really good awareness and were able to keep their eyes on play,” Andres de Corral, vice president of digital services at Presidio, told The Verge, adding that “by enabling haptic responses, we were able to provide non-visual cues to the officials.”
The NHL Watch Comms app has been in testing for the last few seasons at specific indoor venues. According to the NHL, officials across the League have been using this technology on a widespread scale, with almost all wearing the watch this season. On-ice officials eagerly participated in the process from day one, David Lehanski, the NHL’s executive vice president of business development and innovation, said in the announcement.
However, Saturday will mark the first time it’s going into full swing when the Columbus Blue Jackets host the Detroit Red Wings at Ohio Stadium.
The goal is to improve communication between officials during the stress of an in-game environment, with its roaring crowds and extremely fast-paced action. That’s challenging enough at an indoor venue, but gets even more challenging outside.
“The environment changes every time the officials go out onto the ice,” said Lehanski. There’s an even bigger change in an outdoor setup where there’s no giant scoreboard hanging over center ice for officials to glance at. The NHL Watch Comms app fills a crucial gap in that context.
“We’re excited the deep collaboration with the NHL continues with Apple Watch,” said Scott Brodrick of Apple worldwide product marketing, in a statement. “Apple Watch is the perfect device for NHL Officials, providing a connected, durable, and powerful experience right on their wrist. With the bright screen and haptic notifications, the officials can get critical, real-time information at crucial moments, helping keep their focus on the action.”
Lehman says this is just the “tip of the iceberg for new.” Saturday’s Stadium Series will put the technology in the spotlight, but NHL is looking to expand it in the future to provide “direct communication between the four officials on the ice, the other officials in the arena and in Toronto, and communication between officials and coaches.”
