The organization’s “Milk” logo will be featured on Leafs jerseys this season
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Ontario’s dairy industry will be well represented when the puck drops on the 2022-23 Toronto Maple Leafs season.
The NHL club selected Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) as its jersey patch partner on a multi-year agreement.
“We are absolutely thrilled,” Cheryl Smith, CEO of DFO, told Farms.com. “We’ve had a longstanding partnership with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment across many of the properties and working in the community.”
In August, for example, DFO and the Toronto Raptors unveiled a new basketball court at Woolner Park.
As part of this expanded hockey relationship, DFO’s “Milk” logo will be featured on Leafs jerseys.
When the Leafs wear blue, the logo will be in white. And when the Leafs sport their white jerseys, DFO’s logo will be in blue.
“Their colours are our colours,” Smith said.
This partnership represents a unique opportunity for Ontario’s dairy sector.
Conviva, an analytics company, studied cross-platform engagement of NHL teams during the 2021 regular season.
The research showed the Maple Leafs averaged 4,387 engagements per social media post.
The team that had the second-most, the Boston Bruins, averaged 3,512 engagements.
Having the “Milk” logo on the jersey helps DFO engage with millennials and members of Gen Z.
“We’re targeting the right people at the right place at the right time,” Smith said. “We really see this as important to the sustained and long-term success of the dairy industry. There are more eyes on the Toronto Maple Leafs than almost any other sports organization.”
And though the jersey patch will read “Milk,” it means more than primary milk production.
The entire sector is represented in the logo, Smith said.
“This is not a vanity mark, it’s industry promotion and investments into the Ontario economy,” she said. “We deliver the milk from the farmers to the processors who turn it into goods that are sold through retailers and food service outlets.”
In August 2021, the NHL’s board of directors approved jersey advertising beginning this season.
So far, the Montreal Canadiens (Royal Bank of Canada) and the Winnipeg Jets (Canada Life) are the only other Canadian teams to have secured a jersey patch partner.
Members of Leafs Nation won’t have to wait long to see the jerseys in a game setting.
The Maple Leafs take on the Ottawa Senators twice in preseason action on Saturday.
Game one is at 1:00 p.m. and the second game starts at 7:00 p.m.
The two clubs will square off again on Friday, Sept. 30 at 7:00 p.m. in Ottawa.
Farms.com has contacted the Toronto Maple Leafs for comment.