Activations for a Good Cause: The Mustache Cup

If you’re like us, we’re certain you’ve heard about Movember, the highly successful men’s health organization built around the simple concept of men growing a mustache in November to raise awareness and funds for cancers specifically targeting males. Both of us have participated on numerous occasions, sporting Movember ‘staches and hoping, in our small way, to support cancer research.

Founded in 2003 in Melbourne (Australia), Movember focuses on prostate and testicular cancers, suicide prevention and mental health. Today, it counts more than six million active participants and has funded more than 1300 projects to support men’s health.

So, why write about Movember in Money & Power? Well, while this story is coming out well after the fact, we wanted to spotlight the “Mustache Cup”, a tournament where the NHL, AHL and ECHL participated in challenges this past Movember to raise awareness and funds for the Mo-Bro (as they call it) Movement and its important causes.

What is the Mustache Cup?

In a nutshell, it’s a fundraising challenge where league clubs go head-to-head in a month-long competition encouraging fans to support their favorite team or player’s Movember efforts. Each team is led by a captain and club staff get involved creating opportunities for meet-and-greets with the winning team.

As for the results, the best of the fundraising winners in 2025 were:

NHL: Club: Minnesote Wild; Players: Nico Hischier, Patrik Laine and Mikael Backlund

AHL: Club: San Jose Barracuda; Players: Pavol Regenda, Brad Marek and Dillon Boucher

ECHL: Club: South Carolina Stingrays; Players: TJ Friedmann, Ryan Walker and Scott Docherty

The Wild, by the way, led the fundraising efforts, bringing in just under US$50,000. And what interested us were some of the tactics teams used including:

• Men’s health awareness nights

• Movember awareness events

• Mental health awareness nights

• Ticket promotions and in-arena activations

• Panel discussions and community conversations

In 2025, the most successful competition ever, with US$157,000 raised from the three leagues ($127,000 from the NHL; $16,000 from the AHL; $14,000 from the ECHL).

In addition, NOBAD, a hockey lifestyle brand emphasizing streetwear, came on as an official prize partner. In fact, as part of its activation efforts, NOBAD created custom Movember Mustache Cup Champions hats, which were awarded to the top three individual player fundraisers across all leagues, recognizing standout leadership and impact.

“The Mustache Cup is a natural fit within hockey culture,” said Tyler Millar, Movember's Community Development Coordinator who leads the Mustache Cup. "Hockey has always been a team-first sport, and the tradition of growing a mustache—whether for the playoffs or for Movember—has long symbolized camaraderie, bonding, and showing up for one another. This competition gives teams a chance to build that connection early in the season, while also bringing fans, players, and clubs together around a great cause.”

We couldn’t agree more with Millar. It’s inspiring to see a three-league program (one including 11 NHL teams) continue to grow each year and it seems only fitting to congratulate the teams and players that made Movember meaningful last year.

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Norm O’Reilly is the dean of the University of New England’s College of Business and Partner with the T1 Agency. Rick Burton is the David B. Falk Emeritus Professor of Sport Management at Syracuse University and co-host of The NIL Clubhouse on Spotify and Apple. They are co-authors of Business the NHL Way, published by the University of Toronto Press.