John Collins John Collins ( born November 27 , 1961 ) is an American sports executive who has spent most of his career with National Football League and the National Hockey League where he currently serves as Chief Operating Officer . Career . As the NHL ’ s chief operating officer since August 2008 , Collins is responsible for strategic leadership and oversight for all of the League ’ s global business , marketing , sales , broadcast and digital media operations . Collins joined the NHL in November 2006 . In May 2007 , he earned the title of Senior Executive Vice President , Business and Media . His work with the NHL has led to a record number of sponsors and television viewers , resulting in a 66 percent rise in NHL advertising and sponsorship revenue . In 2010 , Collins was named an “ Executive of the Year ” by the American Business Awards , winning a Stevie Award for his success with the NHL . Prior to joining the NHL , Collins spent 15 years with the National Football League . In 2004 , Collins was hired as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Cleveland Browns , succeeding then retiring Carmen Policy . That year he was also named one of the top 20 sports advertising executives by Sports Business Journal . Starting in 2002 with the inauguration of the " NFL Kickoff " celebration at Times Square , he steered the NFL ' s focus toward big events , ultimately increasing NFL sponsorships by $ 1 . 9 billion , and doubled annual corporate sponsorship revenues to more than $ 200 million in 14 months . He also presided over the Super Bowl XXXVI halftime show featuring U2 . These successes led to Advertising Age naming him one of America ' s top 50 marketers in 2003 . Collins began his career in professional sports with NFL Films , where he , helped introduce programming such as HBO ’ s " Hard Knocks " and " Inside the NFL " . Collins later teamed up with HBO Sports and its " 24 / 7 " reality franchise to develop “ 24 / 7 Penguins / Capitals : Road to the NHL Winter Classic . ” He eventually became Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales for the NFL , where he led all marketing , programming , sponsorship and advertising sales functions and was a key member of the team that launched the NFL Network . Collins ' career began at advertising agency DDB Needham . At the NFL , Collins negotiated billions of dollars of marketing and advertising deals , including a landmark , 10 - year , $ 1 . 2 billion league - wide deal with Pepsi . [ NHL Winter Classic . In 2007 , Collins spearheaded the development of the NHL Winter Classic , a high - profile New Year ’ s Day game played outdoors , with NBC Sports executive Jon Miller , who told The Boston Globe that the key to making the game successful was “ Collins ’ s vision , energy , and passion . ” The Classic ’ s success earned him Marketer of the Year by Advertising Age Magazine . Sports Illustrated columnist Dan Shaughnessy said of the new Winter Classic , “ now hockey owns New Year ' s Day the way baseball owns the Fourth of July and football owns Thanksgiving . ” Sports Business Journal named the NHL Winter Classic the 2008 “ Event of the Year . ” Revenues for the 2010 Classic , played between the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers , were expected to generate $ 8 million in ticket sales at Fenway Park and $ 3 million in ad sales for NBC . [ edit ] Other major events . Moreover , the start of the NHL season is now marked by NHL Face - Off , a hockey and entertainment street festival featuring musical performances in Toronto ’ s Dundas Square , and in 2011 , the League will re - introduce the NHL Heritage Classic outdoor game in Canada . Under Collins ' guidance , the NHL Awards Show has moved to Las Vegas . Use of Technology . Collins has made expanding technology to sports fans a priority in his career . He told Forbes his goal is to “ surround our fan with ways to experience the game across all various kinds of tech and distribution so we ’ re not quite as tied to broadcast television , or even really cable television . We respect them , but we really want to go after the fans who are more tech savvy in more of a digital way . " Collins spearheaded the NHL Network Online , creating partnerships with news sites and portals ( The Hockey News , ESPN . com , Yahoo ) , blogs ( SB Nation , Bleacher Report , Yardbarker ) , video hubs ( YouTube , Hulu ) , and digital retail outposts ( iTunes , PlayStation Network ) . The NHL ’ s strategy under Collins is different than many other major sports franchises , which have resisted digital syndication efforts . This may be because , while hockey ’ s fan base is smaller , it is generally more affluent . NHL . com has seen significantly more traffic recently ( up 135 percent from August 2009 to February 2010 ) , receiving a record 13 . 4 million unique visits in January 2010 . Under Collins , the NHL has introduced an “ all - access ” service , tying together its online , radio , and TV offerings , including social and mobile outlets across multiple providers and handsets . This integration has contributed to a “ 66 percent annual average increase in sponsor support and ad spending on our media properties as well , ” Collins told ‘ ’ The Wall Street Journal ’ ’ . The League has also unveiled NHL GameCenter LIVE , enabling fans to watch out - of - market games via live video . These improvements in part led " Fast Company Magazine " to name the NHL one of the most innovative companies in 2009 . Technology has been a key part of Collins ’ strategy to increase the NHL ’ s profile , using digital platforms like the NHL Network ( in 38 million homes as of May 2010 ) , mobile phones , and a satellite radio alliance with Sirius and XM to reach new audiences . Collins was quoted saying , “ What we ' re seeing is some really well - designed products being offered across multiple platforms , which are providing content to that fan that , quite frankly , they ' re not getting anywhere else , and for which they have an almost insatiable appetite . ” Collins has also spearheaded use of social media with the NHL , a move which Yahoo ! Sports labeled one of the “ Five best NHL decisions of the last decade , ” noting , “ The NHL had an official YouTube channel and Twitter before most other leagues knew those things are ( and in fact the NFL and MLB still make YouTube pull down any clips using their broadcasts , which is six distinct kinds of stupid ) . ” The article also praised the NHL for its use of Twitter - exclusive contests for their fans and the extensive archives on NHL . com . As of November 2010 , the NHL ’ s Facebook and Twitter pages have more than 1 million fans and a half - million followers respectively . Vitrue , Inc . named the NHL among the top - 50 most social brands in the world . Rising NHL popularity . The NHL has seen considerable rise in viewership metrics recently . Game 6 of the Final on NBC was the most - watched ( 8 . 28 million ) and highest - rated NHL game ( 4 . 7 ) on U . S . television in 36 years . In Canada , Chicago ’ s win over Philadelphia in Game 6 averaged more than 4 million viewers , the highest audience ever for an all - U . S . Stanley Cup Final on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . TSN ’ s playoff coverage in Canada was up 70 percent over 2009 while French language RDS coverage was up 84 percent . The Conference Quarterfinal and Semifinal rounds were the most - watched first two rounds on cable since the 1993 / 94 season when NHL Playoff viewership became available by Nielsen . For the entire playoffs , CBC averaged 2 . 102 million viewers , up 62 percent from 2009 . The 2010 Stanley Cup play - offs saw the largest audience in the history of the sport “ after a regular season that saw record - breaking business success , propelled in large part by the NHL ' s strategy of engaging fans through big events and robust digital offerings . ” About these results , Collins said " I love the potential of our sport . The Stanley Cup is one of the biggest brands out there . We have an incredible fanbase and our league is filled with some of the best people around . We have an extraordinary opportunity for the NHL to take a giant leap forward , so this is a very exciting time for us . " NHL . com reported that “ the fruit of the surging television ratings and all those millions of pageviews ” will be seen in 2011 when the league renegotiates its international broadcast contracts . This success has resulted in a 66 percent rise in NHL advertising and sponsorship revenue . Collins said " It was a great Stanley Cup run , really across every possible metric . . . Our fans are consuming more hockey . " Merchandise sales were up 22 percent and the number of unique visitors on the NHL . com website were up 17 percent during the playoffs after rising 29 percent in the regular season . Since 2007 , the league has generated $ 330 million dollars in sponsorship ( a 162 percent increase ) and revenue has grown 85 percent .