Is there anything Gary Bettman has done that has helped the NHL?

Question

I hear nothing but bad things about the guy, so I ask if he has done even ONE thing that has helped the NHL?

Answer 1

Well, let me think
1. He increased the annual revenues per team from $4.8MM in 1993 to $21MM (and the NHLPA has benefitted greatly from this)

2. He facilitated the use of NHL players in the Olympics

3. He was instrumental in bringing the World Ice Hocey Championships to Canada in 2008 (first time ever)

4. He has increased the exposure of the game. In 1993, Live NHL games were available in 12 countries. Today they are shown in 31.

Things he has been blamed for, which he had no part ion
1. The changing of the schedule. The NHL adopted a division based schedule in 1980-81, 13 years before his arrival

2. Changing the names of the divisions from Historical names to Geographic names. This decision was made in 1991 by John Ziegler (I was on the committee)

3. Loss of Television Revenue. The NHL does not have a US Network deal because US Networks refuse to make decent bids. NHL ratings in the US have been constant for over 20 years, long before Bettman joined the league. The fact is, regardless of whoever is commissioner, the ratings in the US aren't going to change, unless the league becomes predominantly American. In the last 20 years, as both the Men and Women's Tennis tours have had the number of top Americans decrease.........the ratings have decreased sharply. This is a situation in most countries. People prefer to watch their own. Am American wants to see Tiger Woods win the Masters...not Mike Weir (and CBS has the 31% viewership decline to prove it). Pete Sampras should be winning Wimbledon....not Federer.


I have been involved with the NHL in one way or another since 1960. I have met Clarence Campbell, John Ziegler Gil Stein, and Gary Bettman. I have also met Alan Eagleson, Bob Goodenow, and Ted Saskins. I have taken part in several dozen NHL committees. I know how the league operates. The NHL Governors run the NHL, Gary Bettman is their spokesman.

Gary Bettman is responsible for ensuring that the owners wishes are carried out, he only gets a say when their is a tie. And that never happens. If you get a chance to talk to the majority of players and owners, Bettman is great for the game. If you get a chance to talk to Chris Chelios, you will realize that nobody is good for the game.

Gary Bettman did not cause the lockout, the owners voted to keep the players out. Bettman helped the owners (and the players) make a lot of money. But no commissioner in the world is going to make hockey a financial windfall in Nashville like it is in Toronto.

The rules changes are chosen by a group of players and owners, not by Gary Bettman.

The cities chosen for expansion were chosen by the owners, not Gary Bettman. During the Stanley Cup final, Bill Daly mentioned that the league owners have approved the addition of 2-4 more teams.


To Lubers25
The NHL governors will gladly increase the number of games they play against the other conference........if the number of games are increased. The NHLPA will not allow an increase in the number of games (and requested a reduction in the number of games during the most recent CBA talks). As the number of teams increase (for better or worse) and the number of games stay constant, there will be give and take in how the schedule is created. For most teams, their division/geographic rivals pull in the most fans, and in 1980 the owners adopted this mentality and for the last 27 years, teams have been playing the majority of games against their own division. During the GM meetings in February, this was brought up for a vote again, and the owners voted 26-4 against the idea.
Again, your last two points (taking a step back, and the lack of needing a push into the Southern US) aren't Bettman specific. I agree that there is little or no reason to expand to markets where they currently have little or no interest. However, as long as there are people like Jeremy Jacobs and Ed Snider ("Everybody in Winnipeg is already a hockey fan - we gain no extra fans moving there") the NHL will continue to expand into markets where there is somebody with a big fat pocketbook who will line the owners pockets. This will happen regardless of who the commissioner is. Unfortunately, the number of Darryl Katz's' and James Balsillie's in Canada with the money to purchase a team is very few, and those with it, are reluctant to spend it on a hockey team. It is very sad when you have a team from one of the largest TV markets in the US, and a network with 100% coverage (NBC) and the number of viewers in Canada exceeds the number of viewers in the US. The NHL Governors had everything they wanted..........a large market US team, full continental coverage, and still no viewers.

To Trombass
What's wrong with playing each team home and away? Ask Ed Snider. He put forward the schedule idea and James Karmanos seconded it. And the vote was supposedly overwhelmingly in favour. It's all about money. Pittsburgh will draw more fans to Philadelphia than will San Jose. Anaheim will always get more fans when the Kings come to town.

Personally, I would prefer to see a more balanced schedule, and have the top 16 teams make the playoffs. I would love to see a Montreal-Toronto Cup Final, or Detroit-Chicago, or Calgary-Edmonton, or Rangers-Flyers, etc. None of which can happen under the current system

Answer 2

I wasn't going to answer this question until I read Like I'm Telling You's answer because I didn't have anything nice to say. By no stretch will I claim to know the in's and out's of how the NHL management works, but as someone who has been involved with the game my entire life, I am capable of recognizing something that is a bad business decision for the league. Regardless of whether Bettman is directly responsible for everything that has taken place or not, he is the head of this organization. Aside from getting revenue in order for the owners, I see very few positives that have come under his watch. The primary role of any league commissioner is to ensure that no-one takes action detrimental to the league. That fact has been held up by the US Supreme Court. So far, the league has over expanded and apparently has agreed to do it again, dumped long standing traditions, agreed to a TV deal that benefits a league owner and reduced the exposure of the NHL. Under his watch, the league has ostracized existing fans in the hope of bringing in new fans and done so unsuccessfully.

I will only address the issues I disagree with. I either agree or simply do not have enough information to form a legitimate argument on the issues I do not address.
Positives:
4: Despite the fact that he has increased the international exposure of the game, what has he done to increase exposure in North America? Regardless of the dollar amount of the deal, the package that was agreed to benefited ownership of one of the member organizations of the NHL and it took most fans in the US 1/3 of the season just to find the right number on their dial, if they even had the channel available at all.

Things he has been blamed for, which he had no part in:
1. The issue is not changing to a divisional schedule, it was changing to a conference schedule. Prior to Bettman, fans in the West would have had at least three opportunities over two seasons to see the stars from the East. Currently, they get one chance approximately every six seasons. This, in my mind, relates back directly to exposure. As a Flyers fan growing up in the 80's, I was at every home Flyers / Oilers game specifically to see Gretzky and the Oilers. Today's fans do not have that opportunity any longer and the change took place under Bettman's watch.
3. The television networks are not making decent bids because the NHL does not generate enough interest in the US to warrant a decent bid. If I am ESPN, I pay more to put poker on than hockey too. They draw better ratings and ratings generate revenue. This is an issue that existed long before Bettman arrived, however the league has actually taken a step backwards under his watch rather than the situation improving.

The point you make about an owner not being as financially successful in Nashville as Toronto reinforces my argument in my opinion. It is a fact that some areas of the US have little to no interest in the game of hockey. With the new CBA in place, there is no longer any reason to continue the push into the southern US as opposed to Canada. Hockey is the 4th sport in the US, but they are looking to possibly surpass the number of teams in the NFL? That's simply ludicrous.

EDIT: I get your points, but whether he is exercising his powers or not, Gary Bettman does in fact have the authority to over rule these things if he deems them detrimental to the game and the legal precedence has been established several times in other sports. If he has made the choice to be a puppet for the owners, that responsibility still falls directly on him.

Answer 3

He may be getting ESPN back into the mix, which will greatly improve it's exposure and hopefully in turn it's fan base.

I don't care if he is the spokesperson, someone needs to be blamed. So when people say Gary Bettman is a slughead, they really mean the NHL top people are slugheads. People find it easier to blame the face.

I wish we could get more owners who actually loved the sport like us fans instead of love the chang in their pockets. I don't care what anyone says, The U.S. is the most shallow country in the world. The owners are dirtect reflections of that. $$$$$$$

Answer 4

exposure to the American market.
Period!
Even at that, remember, sometimes,( as it is with him)
money talks and money behind him told him what to say.
He has been told to make so many bad decisions that he is a non-person. Strip away his ego and there is nothing left ,except the money behind him.
Unfortunately no one is wondering where would we be if we had a GOOD man in his position for the last decade +.
The game of Hockey is bigger than It's birthplace in eastern Canada.
But, if we are going to move teams because there is more MONEY to be made elsewhere, then No team is safe.Too bad the owners can't understand that they are only visiting a place where the traditional hockey people live.
Regardless of what you hear hockey,
is bigger than the united states and it's bigger than Canada.

Bettman?
He's just a fly on the headlight.

Answer 5

Crickets.............from me anyway.

I suppose he helped in having NHL players participate in the Olympics, although he played only a small role. I like the NHLers in the Olympics but at the same time, the Olympics should be for amateurs so I am torn on this.
It's been nothing but work stoppages, bad TV deals, bankrupt teams, hits on tradition etc, since he took over.

The NHL was blossoming in the early 90's before his tenure is all one needs to know.

Answer 6

I'll give him the salary cap, which came nearly 10 years too late.

Like I'm Telling You Who I A: People aren't complaining about THAT schedule change. We're talking about the one that happened during the lockout. The one that said that you played your division teams 8 times each, the other conference division's teams 6 times each, and 2 out of conference divisions' teams 1 time each. What? Took one too many hits with the Blackhawks? What's wrong with playing each team home and away?

Answer 7

He has helped the NHL become irrelevant in the United States. If only he was still in the NBA...

Answer 8

Took out the red line. I do like that. But other than that, nope. He's screwed the game up, just flipped it upside down.

Answer 9

Nope

Answer 10

I guess with the salary cap...he helped the owners make more $$$. Thats about it.