Fans React After Maple Leafs Use AI in 2025-26 Season Hype Video

A video, posted by the Leafs, shows the team's 'Legend's Row' statues outside of Scotiabank Arena come to life. The video's incorrect logos and misspellings have suggested that the video uses AI.

On Instagram, the Leafs tagged the creator, Nemya Begloo, a VFX artist and graphic designer. The post on Instagram does not contain an «AI label», which is required by the site for any content considered to appear «realistic».

At time of publication, Begloo did not respond to a request for comment from Hockey Patrol on if generative AI was used in the video created.

Although not verified to be AI by the team or creator, the video has generated the belief that certain traits spell AI usage, and has caused a largely negative reaction from Leafs fans, who have criticized the perceived usage of such content.

Many corporations, including sports teams, have faced open criticism from users over incorporating AI content into their promotion, with many noting the ethical concerns of AI images taken from open source content from creators, as well as concerns about the environmental impact of AI.

The Canada Energy Regulator reports as of 2024 that there are 239 data centers in Canada, with it making up 71% of generated electricity across the country.

Such data centers use up both a high number of electrical costs, as well as a heavy usage of water for the purpose of cooling.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are not the first team to face questions over the implementation of AI on social media, and not the first to face criticism over it.

Recently, the AHL's Utica Comets faced backlash for previous AI usage, and most recently a day ago for an AI video of a child version of team captain Ryan Schmelzer.

The video faced even heavier backlash for the image generation involving a fictional child being viewed as heavily inappropriate, pointing to ethical issues in AI being able to create imagery involving children, which some have pointed to as a point of increased regulation to protect public safety.

A recent video of the former NBA star Kobe Bryant, who passed away in a helicopter crash in 2020, showed an AI video of the deceased basketball player playing the 'NBA 2K' video game. The video, which gained over 10M views on X, was criticized for using the likeness of the late Bryant.

The NHL, along with other sports leagues, have incorporated artificial intelligence within the sport, although have not done so publicly in a way that has faced open controversy, or has changed the game directly. None of the major five U.S. sports leagues currently use AI in game play.

The league announced a partnership in November of last year with 'VAST Data' for AI data archiving and storage, although it's unknown what is the extent of their agreement beyond that.

OpenAI, one of the leading platforms for AI and one of the richest with a $500b valuation, recently released their Sora 2 video generation software, which allows for up to 20 seconds of AI-produced video.

On their website, OpenAI calls their software «capable of creating sophisticated background soundscapes, speech, and sound effects with a high degree of realism».

For some, the usage of AI is one that is in all fun, and an added layer of the fan experience with an easier, and cheaper approach, while to others is viewed as an unethical form of media, and one that draws deeper criticisms beyond the content itself.