NHL sells naming rights for realigned 2020-21 divisions

Due to the ongoing closure of the border that separates the United States and Canada because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL realigned divisions for the upcoming season and shifted all Canadian clubs into a North Division. 

As part of this change, the league has also sold naming rights for all four of its temporary team groupings. 

Per an official release, clubs will compete in the Scotia NHL North Division, Honda NHL West Division, Discover NHL Central Division and the MassMutual NHL East Division. 

The regular season is scheduled to begin on Jan. 13 and, ideally, will include each team completing 56 games.

As Greg Wyshynski explained for ESPN, 13 franchises have announced sponsors for advertisements placed on player helmets, with more likely to come over the next week. The league is allowing for such ads to account for the financial losses accumulated during the health crisis as organizations continue to stare at the reality of playing games either without fans inside arenas or with venues filled at limited capacities. 

The Athletic's Daniel Kaplan has speculated that the NHL likely secured "a mid-seven-figure amount in each case if not more" for the division naming rights.