t’s all for the fans! Fans are the lifeblood of every professional sports team; without them, teams would have nobody to play for and wouldn’t exist. Therefore, it’s important that teams put in the work to make sure their fans are happy, not just with the quality of the team’s play, but also how it treats its fans. 

Hockey, especially at The NHL level, is highly skilled, super fast and an overall terrific experience when you are live and in person. Many call it the greatest in-person sport you can attend. But that’s just the on-ice product. For as much as teams jump through hoops trying to build consistent winners, they also attempt to make sure their fans are happy off the ice. After all, hockey is more gate-driven than the other “Big Four” sports (MLB, NFL, NBA). So, fan experience matters greatly. 

One franchise that attempts to be creative and changes things up year-over-year is the New Jersey Devils. Going back to 1982 (when the Devils first came to The Garden State), they have always wanted to be different. The late, great Dr. John McMullen owned the Devils back then and he didn’t want his team to be like the NFL’s Jets and Giants, teams who physically play in New Jersey but identify with New York. He wanted his team to embrace all things New Jersey and while he may be gone, that sentiment is still alive within the organization today. 

Currently, Jillian Frechette occupies the key role of Chief Marketing Officer for the Devils and is entering her eighth season with the franchise, meaning that it is her job (as well as those whom she supervises) to find ways to keep Devils fans happy and engaged, regardless of how the team is playing. They want fans to come out and support the team no matter what. Die-hard fans will always support their team, but Frechette and her staff have to take into account the casual and lapsed fans, as well as the die-hards, when they plan out special nights and events. 

Over the course of their 40-plus-year existence in New Jersey, the Devils have hosted many different themed nights and done many different things to try and entice fans to come to the arena and support the team. 

For Frechette, it all starts with determining what types of nights and events work and what types don’t. “Theme nights are a lot of fun,” Frechette explained. “But they’re a lot of work. And I will tell you that most of the work and contemplation, evaluation and review, debate, discussion, all of that happens over the summer months, long before our schedule is released and long before we know who we’re playing and on what night. There’s many things that go into it.”

“We wanna make sure that we’re reflective of themes that are meaningful to people in New Jersey,” Frechette continued. “I think next on the list would be what makes sense for our sponsor partners. We’ve got some great sponsor partners, Prudential, RWJBarnabas Health and Citizens. So, some themes that are going to align with what’s important to them and what they seamlessly believe that they can celebrate and amplify. And then other pieces come into play. Maybe different giveaways that we activate based on the theme that we know our fans might love. 

“Past history and success with certain theme nights. Sometimes there are pop culture moments that become more important, or maybe a trend that we think we can sort of seize the opportunity to put on our theme night schedule. If there’s a new Star Wars movie coming out, that might be an example of something that we would align with a theme night that’s quite timely at that time of year. Sometimes it could be the opponent, although less so. Usually our theme nights are more wrapped around something that makes sense for our Jersey fans and it’s less about who the opponent is.”

Among the many themed nights the Devils have in store for the 2025-26 season are: Devils Down The Shore (February 25, 2026); Star Wars Night (March 29, 2026); and Hockey Fights Cancer in partnership with RWJBarnabas Health (November 29, 2025). These nights are the epitome of what resonates with Devils fans.

In the Devils’ press release distributed on Monday, Frechette was quoted as saying, “We take great pride in weaving our bold, Made in Jersey spirit in every theme night, giveaway, and community and cultural celebration this upcoming season. These nights are more than just hockey; they are a celebration of the rich diversity of New Jersey, reflective of fan-favorite elements, and what connects our fans together to the game. As we say bye bye to our Jersey jersey, we look forward to engaging with our fans with special merch and activations to commemorate its final season.”

That “rich diversity” is also reflected in the Devils’ wide array of culture- and community-based nights. The dates for those events are as follows: “Pride (10/22), People with Disabilities (12/1), Filipino Heritage (12/3), Jewish Community (12/11), Ukrainian Heritage (12/21), Faith & Family (1/14), Italian Heritage (1/27), Swiss Heritage (1/29), ASL (2/3), Black History Month (2/5), Irish Heritage (3/4), Portuguese Heritage (3/12), Polish Heritage (3/14), Women in Sports (3/16), and Autism Acceptance (4/9).”

But it’s more than just celebrating the different ethnic backgrounds of their fans. One of the most “New Jersey” things out there is the never-ending Taylor Ham vs Pork Roll debate. When Blittner’s Blue Line asked Frechette about how the Devils incorporate all of that into their plans, she responded by saying, “What you will notice is we do sort of celebrate and amplify some of the Jersey eccentric characteristics, let’s call it and quite often that comes to life on our social platform. So, in 2021, we moved forward and officially launched our brand identity campaign. It’s called Made in Jersey. 

“There was lots of work and thought and research and contemplation that happened in the months ahead of that launch. The brand identity campaign was meant to do a few things. One, it was meant to be a market for quite a while, so it’s still in market. It was meant to sort of provide a north star for our brand, for our fans, for our staff, for our sponsored partners, so that we sort of knew and understand who the New Jersey Devils were, are and will be. And two, it was meant to be really sort of a mindset, less of a sports marketing campaign and more of a Jersey-centric mindset. 

“So, quite often you will see lots of debate on our social platforms and different pieces of content that are wrapped around funny things, specific and unique to Jersey. It could be the Pork Roll-Taylor Ham debate. It could be some fun and cheeky turnpike references. It could be sort of the collective smack talk about New York and the chip on our shoulder and the pride that we wear being here in New Jersey and proud to live and work and play here. 

“There’s a lot of things that sort of inform that brand identity campaign. And certainly, things do show up on our social platforms equally, sometimes as things show up in-game. But those things are always things that we sort of care for in some way, shape, or form, even though they might not be a full-blown theme night.”

Another aspect Frechette and her staff have to concern themselves with is the ever-shifting aging curve of the fanbase. As more and more of New Jersey’s longtime fans grow older, more and more younger fans are being welcomed into the mix. But the younger generation’s likes and dislikes are obviously varied from those of the older fans. So, Frechette and Company have to be mindful of that.

“We are always looking to care for all Devils fans,” Frechette said. “We certainly choose to activate, to launch and produce different promotions and campaigns to bring theme nights forward to develop and deliver on content. We’re always sort of thinking about different segments of our fan bases that these things will care for. We know that the New Jersey Devils had been in market for over four decades, beginning in 1982. 

“We know that they had great success, winning three Cups in that window of time. And so we had lots of fans who are potentially an older and aging demographic that we never want to exclude or to feel shuffled to the side. So we look to care for those fans with much of what we do. Equally, we know that we want to grow our audience and diversify our fan base and that might mean some younger segments of fans. So we look to do things for those fans that care for some of their interests as well. Across the board, whether it’s a theme night or content or some kind of ticketing promotion, we always have multiple ages and stages in mind and we’re always very careful and cautious not to exclude anyone.”

One of the things that bridges the generation gap is the Devils’ third jersey, also known as their “Jersey” jersey, which was designed and created by Frechette and Martin Brodeur and released back in 2021. While the initial reactions to that jersey were mixed, they have become extremely popular with the entire Devils fanbase. Unfortunately, as times change, so do third jerseys and this year the Devils will wave good-bye to their “Jersey” jerseys.

“It’s very bittersweet,” Frechette explained. “We launched that jersey in 2021. I was very fortunate to have a design partner in crime in the years ahead of 2021. So that jersey was designed by me, in collaboration with Marty Brodeur and then launched in 2021. It’s a fabulous jersey. Lots of thought was put into all of the design elements and equally, lots of thought was put into the merch that came with the launch of that jersey and the merch that showed up at retail. 

“We have loved every moment that black jersey has been in market, because it says right on the front, “Jersey” and it really sort of speaks to and celebrates our fan base. But third jerseys are not forever. So, this season we’ll say farewell. That black jersey, we will have 11 game nights where that jersey will be worn at home, presented by Pepsi. And then, the very last time that jersey will be worn at home will be the last game of the season, Jersey Appreciation Night. There’ll be some fun things that happen throughout the season to celebrate the farewell. We’re moving forward with some special promotions and different content throughout the season. I’m really excited ’cause we have some great content with our players looking handsome as ever in the black uniform.”

While the black “Jersey” jerseys may be going away, as Frechette said, they will be celebrated, which means the Devils will be celebrating two things this year: the other being another Ring of Honor Induction (presented by Citizens). 

“I’m not going to give any hint,” Frechette said. “But I will tell you that the Ring of Honor celebration presented by Citizens has really become both a fan favorite and a staff favorite. It’s our one time of the year that we can really celebrate the legacy of the Devils in New Jersey. And in particular, the individuals whom we look to honor. We have two past recipients that hang and are celebrated in our building. 

“Of course, we’ll have one coming up this year and I’m going to spill no beans. But I can tell you that it’ll be an amazing night. And that’s a great example of a night where some of our fans who have been with us a long time have memories and share those on social media. It’s a great night where we are able to sort of dig into the Devils’ archives and call out different images that are really special to our team and our brand. So, anything that celebrates our rich history is a favorite of mine and I’m really excited about Ring of Honor.”

So much to look forward to for Devils fans, staff and Frechette and her team. The 2025-26 season is sure to be a memorable one for New Jersey, both on and off the ice. For more information about the team’s various theme nights, please visit newjerseydevils.com/themenights.