Toronto-based sports nutrition company BioSteel has entered into a new sponsorship deal with the Montreal Canadiens.

The deal will see BioSteel’s branding incorporated into the Canadiens’ online and social media content, including the fan-voted Performer of the Week poll on the Habs’ website and Facebook pages and the end-of-week social media recap for the team.

The deal with the Canadiens marks the second professional sports team BioSteel has sponsored since its launch in 2010 and the first hockey team (it also partnered with the Toronto Raptors in 2015). The partnership will also coincide with the official launch of BioSteel in Quebec, which CEO John Celezna said will help boost the brand profile in the province similar to how its deal with the Raptors helped bring the company more mainstream exposure.

“I can’t say that the Raptors alone were responsible for raising sales, but through the partnership it’s definitely helped grow our brand equity in the marketplace,” he told MiC.

Because BioSteel is a private company, Celezna would not disclose any sales stats or market share to MiC.

While BioSteel does promote itself through other media, Celezna said sponsorship plays a key role in its strategy in order to keep the brand authentic.

“The first purchase of our product when we became BioSteel was the Toronto Raptors — they are invoice 001 on our QuickBooks,” said Celezna. “And the Canadiens were the first NHL team to purchase our products back in 2010. So both of those are examples of the company coming full-circle. They’ve been longtime users of the product, and in this marketplace, that kind of authenticity is so important.”

The sponsorship deal with the Montreal Canadiens was negotiated directly between BioSteel and the Canadiens franchise. Celezna would not disclose the length of the sponsorship.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock