Montreal-based digital rep house Fuel Digital Media has just scored a new set of assets to represent, having inked a deal with the Montreal Canadiens organization and its sponsorship partner Effix.

Fuel will officially represent advertising opportunities across the Canadiens’ digital assets, including Canadiens.com and the organization’s mobile app. Effix will continue to represent more traditional advertising and sponsorship such as rink boards and naming rights.

The functions of the site and apps (which boast a combined seven-figure audience) go beyond accessing basic information such as rosters, results and stats. It also includes the team’s official store and HabsTV, its online video platform.

Ads can still be purchased directly, however, the Canadiens’ marketing team is also looking to access more programmatic revenues, says John Sclapari, founder and president of Fuel Digital Media.

Fuel had just hired its first VP of programmatic in February, and Sclapari tells MiC that the company’s investments in the space is part of what attracted the organization to the rep house. “We’ve been developing and growing in programmatic this year. So we’re going to be reaching out to all the trading desks all over in order to bring them that revenue.”

While some digital representation houses zero in on a few related, niche verticals, Sclapari says Fuel has focused on being diverse. It currently operates in 16 different verticals, with sports being a growth area. It already has Nation Network in its portfolio, giving clients access to advertising on fan sites like TheLeafsNation.com and JetsNation.com. It also represents the sale rights for PoolExpert.com, a playoffs pool manager.

But as exciting as the Canadiens deal is, it doesn’t mean Fuel is going to pivot away from anything else. Developing all verticals and assets is essential for broad reach, says Sclapari. It’s part of what enabled the rep house to ride out the worst of the pandemic – while Fuel has partnerships with major entertainment companies such as Sony and Paramount and saw that area adversely affected by shutdowns and movie release deferrals, he says it essentially recouped the loss over the next few months from its parenting and health verticals. Its strongest verticals are women’s lifestyle, parenting, health, real estate, entertainment and gaming.

But overall, he says, the Canadiens’ appeal stretches far beyond niche territory. An Original Six NHL team with legions of loyal fans – beyond Montrealers and Francophones – its website reaches more than 1.2 million monthly unique visitors. In addition, Fuel will also represent the media rights to the team’s official app, which reaches roughly 120,000 people.

“What’s great for advertisers is they’re going to be running in an environment where the level of engagement is huge,” says Sclapari.