OHL Recognizes 2025-26 Business Award Winners
The Ontario Hockey League recognized its 2025-26 Business Award winners during the league’s annual Business Meetings, celebrating outstanding achievement and innovation across a variety of business, community, retail, broadcast and fan engagement initiatives throughout the 2025-26 season.
The awards recognize excellence both on the club level and across the league, highlighting organizations that have contributed to the continued growth and success of the OHL on and off the ice.
OHL Draft Engagement Award
Presented by Matt Walker, Director of Marketing & Events
Brantford Bulldogs
The Brantford Bulldogs are the recipients of the 2025-26 OHL Draft Engagement Award in recognition of their outstanding coverage of the 2026 OHL Priority Selection. Supported by a fully engaged business and hockey operations staff, including Spencer Hyman, Matt Gallant, Reed Duthie, Julia Boss-Zister and Connor French, as the whole business operations staff in Brantford is led and supported by Stephanie Barrett, the Bulldogs embraced the event from start to finish. From an impressive draft suite experience to comprehensive behind-the-scenes storytelling across digital platforms, Brantford showcased the excitement and significance of the OHL Priority Selection while setting a new standard for club-led draft engagement..
OHL Schedule Release Content Award
Presented by Josh Sweetland, Director of Communications
Oshawa Generals
The Oshawa Generals are the recipients of the 2025-26 OHL Schedule Release Content Award in recognition of one of the league’s most creative schedule launch campaigns. Led by Carter Smith, Game Day & Media Relations Manager, and Alexandria Cotterill, Multimedia Design Coordinator, the Generals took a hands-on approach by creating custom LEGO builds of each OHL club’s logo to reveal the 2026-27 schedule. Rather than relying on traditional graphics or AI-generated artwork, the campaign embraced a physical art form that stood out across the league, showcasing creativity, originality and exceptional attention to detail while offering fans a fresh take on schedule release day. The campaign also delivered outstanding results, leading the OHL in both impressions and engagement around schedule releases, demonstrating that thoughtful storytelling and creative execution continue to resonate with hockey fans.
OHL Content Team Award
Presented by Collin Jennings, Manager of Social Media & Digital Content
Kingston Frontenacs
The Kingston Frontenacs are the recipients of the 2025-26 OHL Content Team Award. Throughout the season, the Frontenacs consistently delivered creative, detailed and authentic storytelling that helped fans connect with the players, coaches and personalities behind the team. From player features and alumni coverage to day-to-day team content, Kingston set a high standard for engagement, growth and consistency, helping strengthen the connection between the organization and its fanbase while establishing itself as one of the league’s premier content operations.
OHL Game Night Theme Award
Presented by Josh Sweetland, Director of Communications
Guelph Storm
The Guelph Storm are the recipients of the 2025-26 OHL Game Night Theme Award for their highly successful Royal City Jockstraps rebrand weekend. Rooted in local history and executed with exceptional attention to detail, the initiative transformed every aspect of the game day experience, from centre-ice branding to broadcast presentation elements. Embraced by fans and the local community, the themed weekend demonstrated creativity, innovation and a commitment to delivering memorable experiences beyond the game itself.
OHL Best Broadcast Presentation Award
Presented by Jordan Henry, Director of Broadcast Partnerships & Video Content
Erie Otters
The Erie Otters are the recipients of the 2025-26 OHL Best Broadcast Presentation Award. The Otters continued to raise the bar for OHL broadcasts through innovation, creativity and a commitment to enhancing the viewer experience. From the addition of colour commentary from between the benches to elevated intermission features and compelling storytelling throughout their broadcasts, Erie consistently pushed boundaries while delivering one of the league’s most engaging and polished productions.
OHL Rivalry Week Engagement Award
Presented by Matt Walker, Director of Marketing & Events
Flint Firebirds / Saginaw Spirit
The Flint Firebirds and Saginaw Spirit share the 2025-26 OHL Rivalry Week Engagement Award for their continued success in building the I-75 Divide Cup into one of the league’s premier rivalry properties. Fueled by geography, history and community pride, the initiative featured a dedicated rivalry trophy, enhanced game presentation elements, coordinated marketing campaigns and compelling content that amplified excitement throughout Rivalry Week. Together, the two organizations created a marquee event that drove fan engagement, social conversation and community interest before, during and after each matchup.
OHL Best Game Presentation Award
Presented by Abby Perfetti, Manager of Business Operations
Brantford Bulldogs
The Brantford Bulldogs are the recipients of the 2025-26 OHL Best Game Presentation Award. Throughout the season, the Bulldogs delivered one of the league’s most energetic and engaging in-arena experiences, combining high-quality production, impactful fan engagement and seamless execution. Through dynamic entertainment, strong storytelling, creative partner integrations and exceptional video, lighting and live-event elements, Brantford consistently created an atmosphere that kept fans engaged and elevated the overall game day experience from opening night through the OHL Eastern Conference Championship.
OHL Retail Performance Award
Presented by Joelle Wood, Manager of Marketing & Events
Peterborough Petes
The Peterborough Petes are the recipients of the 2025-26 OHL Retail Performance Award. Through innovative retail initiatives, strong sales results and a continued commitment to enhancing the fan experience, the Petes have established themselves as one of the league’s leading merchandise operations. Under the leadership of Mark Million, Peterborough has played an important role in driving merchandise growth, strengthening purchasing power across the league and supporting initiatives that contribute to the continued success of the Ontario Hockey League.
OHL Community Involvement Award
Presented by Tracy Robert, Manager of Culture & Community
Kitchener Rangers
The Kitchener Rangers are the recipients of the 2025-26 OHL Community Involvement Award in recognition of an extraordinary year of fundraising and community impact. Through initiatives including game day 50/50 draws, game-worn jersey raffles and a variety of special events, the Rangers raised nearly $2 million while setting an OHL record with a 50/50 jackpot approaching $150,000. The organization’s efforts allowed it to provide community impact grants to 16 local organizations and award 19 scholarships to graduating high school students, demonstrating a lasting commitment to supporting the Kitchener-Waterloo community.
OHL Largest Corporate Partner Revenue Increase Award
Presented by Jeff Elia, Director of Corporate Partnerships & Business Development
Owen Sound Attack
The Owen Sound Attack are the recipients of the 2025-26 OHL Largest Corporate Partner Revenue Increase Award after delivering exceptional growth across their corporate partnership portfolio. The club achieved a year-over-year increase of more than 50 per cent in corporate partner revenue while generating substantial growth in arena inventory sales and increasing the value of its average partnership agreements. Owen Sound’s average cash sponsorship deal now ranks among the top three in the Ontario Hockey League, reflecting the organization’s success in building meaningful and valuable relationships with its corporate partners. Through a strategic and results-driven approach to sponsorship sales, the Attack established themselves as one of the league’s top-performing business operations during the 2025-26 season.
OHL Largest Ticket Revenue Increase Award
Presented by Jason Diplock, Senior Director of League Development
Ottawa 67’s
The Ottawa 67’s are the recipients of the 2025-26 OHL Largest Ticket Revenue Increase Award after achieving the league’s largest year-over-year percentage increase in ticket revenue. The growth was fueled by strong performance across multiple ticketing categories, including significant gains in single-game sales, partial season memberships and group ticket sales. Ottawa also ranked among the league leaders in average group ticket revenue per game, demonstrating the organization’s success in attracting and engaging fans throughout the season.
OHL Franchise Development Award
Presented by Matt Gergely, Director of Business Operations
Windsor Spitfires
The Windsor Spitfires are the recipients of the 2025-26 OHL Franchise Development Award in recognition of outstanding growth across multiple areas of the business. The club achieved significant increases in both corporate partnership and ticket revenue while continuing to strengthen fan engagement through creative promotions and themed events. From innovative initiatives such as cash drops and Elvis-themed weddings to a strong commitment to hospitality for league partners and guests, the Spitfires demonstrated excellence across all facets of their business operation throughout the 2025-26 season.
The Ontario Hockey League congratulates all award recipients and thanks every club for their continued commitment to growing the game and enhancing the experience for players, fans, partners and communities across the league.
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