92.5% of NHL officials chose to wear it. That’s how you know it works.
NHL officials skate at the same speed as players and referee the fastest sport in professional athletics. Until now, they had to glance at arena scoreboards to track period and power play clocks, taking their eyes off a game that never slows down. Presidio built a custom Apple Watch app that delivers haptic alerts synchronized to the official NHL game clock.
THE OUTCOME
NHL officials skate at the same speed as players and referee the fastest sport in professional athletics. Until now, they had to glance at arena scoreboards to track period and power play clocks, taking their eyes off a game that never slows down. Presidio built a custom Apple Watch app that delivers haptic alerts synchronized to the official NHL game clock. Adoption was voluntary. 92.5% of on-ice officials use it anyway.
HOW THEY GOT THERE
Presidio started by watching officials work, observing games up close and conducting one-on-one interviews to understand which notifications actually mattered on the ice. The answer was clear: only alerts that affect safety. The NHL Watch Comms app uses Apple Watch’s haptic engine to deliver distinct tapping patterns for power play endings and period endings, synchronized in real time to the official arena clock.
WHY IT WORKED
Presidio didn’t design a feature-rich app. They identified two moments that create genuine safety risk, and built exactly what was needed for those two moments, nothing more. A 92.5% voluntary adoption rate is the only proof of concept that matters.
“Presidio learned quickly and delivered a best-in-class product that provides critical information to our on-ice officials.”