The National Hockey League generates over $6 billion annually (2025 figures), with a growing share from digital products: video games, streaming subscriptions, fantasy APIs, and team analytics dashboards. Each of these products relies on a license key—an alphanumeric string that authenticates a user’s right to access software or content. Despite its ubiquity, the license key is rarely studied as a standalone object in sports technology research. This paper fills that gap by examining how the NHL and its partners deploy license keys to control distribution, combat piracy, and segment markets.