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Gary Bettman Set to Surpass Clarence Campbell


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Clarence Campbell was the President of the National Hockey League for 31 years (1946-1977). Gary Bettman will mark his 32nd year as Commissioner of the National Hockey League in 2025. He was elected on December 11, 1992, and assumed office on February 1, 1993.

 

PRESIDENTS OF THE NATIONAL HOCKEY ASSOCIATION

01. M. Doheney (1909-1910: 1 year)
02. Emmett Quinn (1910-1916: 6 years) Canadian
03. Frank Robinson (1916-1917: 1 year) 
04. Frank Calder (1917) British (Inducted in 1947)

PRESIDENTS OF THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

01. Frank Calder (1917-1943: 26 years) British (Inducted in 1947)
02. Red Dutton (1943-1946: 3 years) Canadian (Inducted in 1958)
03. Clarence Campbell (1946-1977: 31 years) Canadian (Inducted in 1966)
04. John Ziegler (1977-1992: 15 years) American (Inducted in 1987)
05. Gil Stein (1992-1993: 1 year) American

COMMISSIONERS OF THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

01. Gary Bettman (1993-Present: 29 years) American (Inducted in 2018)

 

Bettman recognized for 30 years of service as NHL Commissioner
Board of Governors shows appreciation for 'bold vision' at annual meeting

https://www.nhl.com/news/gary-bettman-recognized-for-30-years-as-commissioner-by-board-of-governors/c-338701538?tid=277548856

 

Proclamation of the National Hockey League Board of Governors
https://www.nhl.com/news/proclamation-of-the-national-hockey-league-board-of-governors/c-338699590

 

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Gary Bettman thumped the table three times.

 

"Let's go!" the NHL Commissioner said.

 

With that, the group of NHL owners and executives promptly quieted and sat for the Board of Governors meeting in the Ponce de Leon Ballroom at The Breakers a little after 2 p.m. ET on Monday.

 

Bettman presided at the head of a large rectangle, with deputy commissioner Bill Daly to his right and representatives from each NHL team wrapping around from A to W -- Anaheim Ducks to Winnipeg Jets.

 

Daly said Jeremy Jacobs, the owner of the Boston Bruins and the chairman of the Board of Governors, had asked "to commemorate a very special anniversary."

The moment provided a peek into the respect Bettman carries among the Board of Governors, the formality of these meetings and the lighthearted banter among longtime colleagues.

 

It was at The Breakers almost exactly 30 years before, on Dec. 11, 1992, when the Board elected Bettman as the NHL's first commissioner, a position with greater powers than those held by the five presidents who had led the League since its founding Nov. 26, 1917.

 

Only a few people in the room Monday were at the Board of Governors meeting three decades ago: Bettman, Jacobs, Detroit Red Wings senior vice president Jimmy Devellano, New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello, Dallas Stars president Jim Lites, Washington Capitals chairman Dick Patrick, Nashville Predators GM David Poile and NHL chief legal officer David Zimmerman.

 

Lites remembered looking at the resumes of the candidates for commissioner. At the time, he was the chief operating officer of the Red Wings, whose owner, Mike Ilitch, was on the search committee. Bettman came from the NBA, where he was the senior vice president and general counsel, experienced in everything from the salary cap to labor negotiations to TV contracts to licensing to marketing.

 

"Gary's resume stood out," Lites said.

 

The NHL was at a key point. The day before Bettman was hired, the NHL awarded expansion franchises to Anaheim and South Florida, bringing it to 26 teams. Annual revenues were about $400 million. There was no salary cap. Today, the League has 32 teams, annual revenues are approaching $6 billion, and a salary cap is at the center of a stable economic system.

 

"Where we are and where we were," Lites said, "it's kind of unbelievable, frankly."

 

Jacobs read a proclamation of the Board of Governors as the most powerful people in the NHL listened in silence for almost five minutes. Ten times, he started a bullet point with, "Whereas …"

 

The proclamation covered the economic system, revenue increase, competitive balance, community impact, footprint growth, broadcast and digital rights deals, rule changes, player safety, and tentpole events like outdoor games.

 

Toward the end, Jacobs said, "The Board of Governors extends deep appreciation to Gary B. Bettman for his bold vision and indefatigable stewardship of the game."

 

Finally, Jacobs looked up.

 

"That's it, Gary," Jacobs said. "That's as good as it gets."

 

The room erupted in laughter and applause.

 

"I think Jerry's comments were dead on," Lites said. "He's been an unbelievably dynamic guy in a really hard, hard job."

 

Lamoriello said, "Everything that Jerry said, it was eloquent. Gary's been just tremendous for the League. … He wasn't afraid to take a challenge. He's comfortable in his own skin and in what he does. To me, that's the most important thing."

 

Jacobs presented Bettman with a framed copy of the proclamation. They posed for a quick photo, and then Bettman stashed the memento in the background, out of sight, and returned to his seat.

 

"I felt like I was sitting through 'This Is Your Life,'" Bettman said, drawing more laughter.

 

Bettman thanked everyone. He is 70, Jacobs 82. He pointed out that when he was elected, he was 40, Jacobs 52.

 

"I don't know listening to that whether I was getting emotional or nauseous," Bettman said, drawing still more laughter. "As I think everybody knows, I'm not big on retrospectives, and also my operating mantra is, this isn't about me.

 

"This is about the game, this is about the League, and this is about all of you, and nothing could have been accomplished over the last 30 years without the great support that I've gotten consistently from ownership, from people at the clubs, from the great organizations that we have at the clubs and at the League office, from my running partner Mr. Daly.

 

"This is the ultimate team sport. For me at least, this has been the ultimate team effort, and I'm grateful to have spent the last 30 years doing it, and I hope the best is still yet to come."

 

Then Bettman got down to business.

 

"And now," he said, "if we can get rid of the sentimentality and go to work, we have an agenda to get through."

 

After the meeting broke up about 5 p.m. ET, Bettman spoke briefly to reporters.

 

"I actually can't believe how quickly it's gone," the Commissioner said. "It's been a fun ride. Sometimes a bit more fun than others, but it's been a fun ride."

 

 

Here is text of proclamation from NHL Board of Governors presented to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman at their meeting at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday. 

 

Whereas Gary B. Bettman, Commissioner of the National Hockey League, has, for thirty years, served steadfastly and admirably as the League's first commissioner, having been selected by the Board of Governors on December 11, 1992; and

Whereas the Board of Governors acknowledges and celebrates his presiding over the League's enormous growth and evolution into an entertainment and media company; and

Whereas in partnership with the Board of Governors, he has guided unprecedentedly good health and stability of the League's Member Clubs with an economic system that enables all franchises to thrive, while also increasing League revenue more than ten-fold and creating a competitive balance that is unmatched in professional sports; and

Whereas he prioritizes the League's ability to positively impact the communities in which we play by positioning the League as a strong, welcoming and leading voice for positive change; and

Whereas he helped to broaden the League's footprint from a regional sport to one that spans the breadth of North America and extends to a growing number of international markets; and

Whereas the transformative broadcast and digital rights deals, which secured the League's place in network television in the United States, have grown exponentially and deepened the League's connection to avid fans while gaining exposure to new audiences; and

Whereas his leadership over evolving and necessary changes to the sport's rules have been adopted at all levels worldwide to enhance players' safety and produce a renaissance of speed and skill without profoundly altering the sacred fundamentals of hockey; and

Whereas he has ensured that the development of technology to advance the playing, officiating and storytelling of the game does not interrupt the fans' experience and does not overwhelm its signature in-arena and broadcast human elements; and 

Whereas the League's establishment of a calendar of innovative tentpole events, particularly outdoor games, has deepened fans' connections to the unique aspects of hockey, while also revolutionizing the presentation of all professional sports; and

Whereas the Board of Governors extends deep appreciation to Gary B. Bettman for his bold vision and indefatigable stewardship of the game; and be it further

Resolved the preceding resolution be approved and proclaimed on this twelfth day of December 2022.

 

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Bettman hiring as NHL Commissioner 30 years ago changed face of hockey

How Board of Governors meeting on Dec. 11, 1992, set League on new course for success

https://www.nhl.com/news/gary-bettman-hiring-as-nhl-commissioner-30-years-ago-changed-face-of-hockey/c-338581258

 

by Nicholas J. Cotsonika @cotsonika / NHL.com Columnist

 December 12, 2022

 

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The black NHL All-Star jersey featured the League's old black-and-orange logo on the front. Instead of a last name on the back, it said, "COMMISSIONER." It was No. 1.

 

Gary Bettman pulled it on 30 years ago, after he was elected the NHL's first commissioner at the Board of Governors meeting at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida, on Dec. 11, 1992.

 

To his left stood Gil Stein, the outgoing NHL president. To his right was Bruce McNall, the owner of the Los Angeles Kings and the chairman of the Board of Governors.

 

Bettman smiled wide.

 

He was already an accomplished executive as the senior vice president and general counsel of the NBA. But there were only four leaders of major sports leagues in North America, and now, at just 40 years old, he'd be one of them.

 

"It was almost like an out-of-body experience," Bettman says now. "It wasn't that I was intimidated or overwhelmed. It was more like … the odds of being selected for a position like that were probably less than the odds of getting struck by lightning."

 

McNall felt the NHL had caught lightning in a bottle.

 

He says when he looks back today, he thinks of how the NHL's hiring of Bettman "helped change the face of hockey." He compares it to the Kings' trade for Wayne Gretzky on Aug. 9, 1988.

 

"In some ways it's equally important to the Gretzky deal -- maybe even more so in some ways, but certainly equal -- because Gary has done a phenomenal job there," McNall says. "That move was really, really important, and history has proven that."

 

The Board of Governors will return to The Breakers on Monday and Tuesday on almost exactly the 30th anniversary of Bettman's hiring. The meeting will take place in a ballroom named for Ponce de Leon, the explorer who supposedly sought the fountain of youth.

 

Bettman is 70 and still going strong, running a 32-team NHL with annual revenues approaching $6 billion. The League has grown and evolved in countless ways -- indoors and outdoors, at home and overseas, on TV and online. His legacy is well documented.

 

On the 30th anniversary of his start date of Feb. 1, he will match the tenure of his mentor, former NBA commissioner David Stern. On May 4, he'll pass Clarence Campbell, the NHL president from 1946-77, as the longest-serving top executive in League history.

 

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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs and NBA Commissioner David Stern stand outside the construction site of what would become the new arena for the Bruins and Boston Celtics in 1994.

 

NHL.com reconstructed the story of Bettman's hiring by combing through meeting minutes, poring over news clippings and interviewing people who were there. It provides a snapshot of a time when the League turned toward the future, with behind-the-scenes intrigue and funny moments.

 

"He's a unique character," says Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, now chairman of the Board of Governors. "We really got ourselves a gem of a leader."

 

In the Winnipeg Sun on Dec. 12, 1992, columnist Ed Willes wrote: "When sports historians look at the development of the NHL, they'll look at the Board of Governors meetings in December 1992 as a watershed mark for the League. … They'll conclude this was the point at which the NHL started to grow up."

 

Well, here we are.

 

"I have to say after 30 years that our pick was really good," former Montreal Canadiens president Ronald Corey says. "It was a first overall pick. Oh, yeah. What he did for the League, it's unbelievable. Really unbelievable."

 

* * * * *

 

The NHL was not like it is today.

 

"The League was at a turning point," Corey says.

 

Hockey had gone Hollywood with Gretzky's arrival in Los Angeles, and the NHL was expanding. The San Jose Sharks joined the League in 1991-92, followed by the Ottawa Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1992-93.

 

Still, many owners felt the NHL was lagging too far behind the other major sports leagues. It needed more TV exposure. Annual revenues were about $400 million.

 

The NHL had its first work stoppage when the NHL Players' Association went on strike April 1, 1992, threatening the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Though the strike ended in 10 days, the new labor agreement was to expire Sept. 15, 1993, setting up another round of collective bargaining. There was no salary cap. The owners felt the players' salaries were eating up too much of the revenue.

 

It was time for a change.

 

"As great as Michael Jordan has been, Mario Lemieux dominated our sport this spring playoff," Hartford Whalers owner Richard Gordon told The Associated Press. "And for a time, Wayne Gretzky dominated hockey more than anybody in the history of sport. We never took advantage of it.

 

"Every owner is a businessman, and he wants to see his assets grow, and we are seeing some erosion in some places. We need a television approach. We need a better international approach. We have great Europeans in our game, and the NBA has beaten us in Europe."

 

NHL president John Ziegler resigned June 12, 1992. The AP reported that one governor said there was no leading candidate for his replacement, but several names had been mentioned. One of the names the AP listed was Bettman.

 

The Board of Governors elected Stein interim president and McNall chairman June 22, 1992. The Board created a chairman's executive committee, led by McNall and consisting of one governor from each division: Corey (Adams), Detroit Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch (Norris), Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington (Smythe) and Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider (Patrick). The committee was tasked with finding a commissioner, not another president.

The NHL had a president as its top executive since its founding on Nov. 26, 1917, but now each of the other major sports leagues had a commissioner, a role with greater powers.

 

Stein was a candidate. The Board of Governors hired a search firm, Spencer Stuart, that generated many other candidates.

 

"They came up with some incredible people that ran big companies," McNall remembers. "But none of them had sports experience, and I thought, 'Jeez, this is like starting from scratch. They may be able to run a business, but what do they know about sports?'"

 

At some point, McNall called Stern and asked for a meeting. They spoke over breakfast.

 

"I said, 'David, I want you to become the commissioner of the NHL. We'll double your salary,'" McNall remembers. "And he said, 'Oh, my God. I just really can't leave the NBA.' But he was the god of commissioners in those days, as you probably know, so I thought, 'Let me get the best. I got Gretzky. Maybe I can get the best commissioner too. Why not?' So, anyway, he ends up saying no, but he said, 'I'll tell you what? You can speak to Gary Bettman.'"

Bettman was the No. 3 executive at the NBA behind Stern and deputy commissioner Russ Granik. Since joining the NBA in 1981, he had helped transform the league from a struggling organization into a model one. His experience included everything from the salary cap to labor negotiations to TV contracts to licensing to marketing.

 

McNall spoke to Bettman alone first.

 

"I realized he is the perfect guy," McNall says.

 

The only problem, McNall says, was that some would view Bettman as a basketball guy.

 

Bettman grew up going to New York Rangers games, had hockey season tickets and played pickup hockey in college at Cornell, and went to NHL games as a fan afterward. Still, he would be coming into the NHL from the outside.

 

By late November, the list of candidates was down to four or five. The search firm and the executive committee held interviews at the Waldorf Astoria in New York one day, and Bettman was the last to go in the late afternoon.

 

"We had good candidates, but when Gary came, boy, it was like …" Corey remembers, trailing off, then laughing. "I would call it an explosion of ideas. He was dynamite."

 

Corey says Bettman showed enthusiasm and knowledge of each aspect of the sports industry. At the same time, he didn't tell the governors what they wanted to hear to try to get the job. He wasn't an expert on the NHL specifically, and if he didn't know something, he didn't pretend he did. He was all business.

 

"He gave us the real facts, no BS," Corey says. "He doesn't [fabricate] an answer. The guy just tells us, 'I don't know. I have to check that.' I love it."

Bettman felt the title of commissioner was important for two reasons:

 

"One, I wanted to make sure as I was attempting to modernize our operation that I had the same powers that the other three major commissioners had, and obviously I was very familiar with the NBA's," Bettman says. "And two, I wanted it to be a signal that it was going to be different. I wanted it to be an internal and an external signal that we were moving in a different direction. It wasn't going to be the same old, same old."

 

The committee was unanimous that Bettman could take the NHL to the next level.

 

"This was the job not only of Gary but of the full League, but you need a leader," Corey says with a laugh. "When you meet with owners, it's not an easy job. Everybody has a say. Everybody thinks they're very sharp. Everybody would like to do something differently. You need somebody to say, 'Well, calm down, everybody. This is the line we want. This is where we want to head. This is our program, this is our plan, and we're going to achieve that this way.'"

 

Bettman remembers heading out the door after the interview and the recruiter from the search firm saying something like, "That was quite a session."

 

About an hour later, he received a phone call from the recruiter. The committee was offering a three-year contract.

 

Everyone got a taste of Bettman the negotiator.

 

"I said, 'Thank you. That's very nice. But I'm not prepared to take the job on a three-year contract,'" Bettman remembers. "It had nothing to do with the compensation. I had a great job, and I didn't want to be worrying in my early 40s about what was going to happen in three years.

 

"I said, 'It's got to be five years so I can get things up and rolling.' And he said, 'But they're offering three.' And I said, 'Thank you. But I'm not taking a three-year commitment.' He said, 'Let me call you back.' He called me back in five minutes and said, 'You've got five years.'"

 

Bettman didn't budge with other owners afterward, either.

 

In his Hockey Hall of Fame induction speech on Nov. 13, 2018, Bettman told a story about a phone call he received after his interview from Chicago Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz, McNall's predecessor as chairman of the Board of Governors.

 

"He had very, very, very strong opinions about everything, especially revenue sharing, which he vehemently opposed," Bettman said in his speech. "Before deciding whether to support me, Bill wanted to know my position. We had a very brief conversation, and I told him my view. Suffice it to say, he voted for me, anyway. …

 

"The most important rules for me in working for ownership have been: You must be open. You must be transparent and thorough. You must make decisions to the best of your abilities and for the right reasons, not political reasons. And you must always tell people the truth, even if they don't want to hear it."

 

 

 

Jacobs says that's how Bettman earned, and continues to earn, the confidence of the owners.

 

"He maintains a dialogue," Jacobs says. "When you're in front of somebody like this, it's hard to develop a negative approach to him. Even if you don't like what he's done or you wish he'd done it differently, you still respect him."

 

In early December, several media reports identified Bettman as the likely choice. A Toronto Sun headline said, "NHL has found its man." A Toronto Star headline said, "Bettman Mr. Right for NHL."

 

"They're getting the most valuable person in hockey since Wayne Gretzky," Milwaukee Bucks vice president of business operations John Steinmiller told the Boston Globe. "That is not overstating the case. He is what the NHL needs at the present time."

 

* * * * *

 

The Breakers is from another time.

 

The resort's website says it was founded on the sands of Palm Beach in 1896, right at the breakers, where the waves crashed and sprayed.

 

The current building was designed by the same firm that created the Waldorf Astoria in New York, and it was modeled after the Villa Medici in Rome. Since it opened in 1926, it has hosted a who's who: Rockefellers, Vanderbilts and Astors; Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan; heads of state and NHL owners.

 

Its ideals are "unapologetic luxury, seaside glamour and world-class service."

 

The NHL held meetings there from Dec. 8-11, 1992, culminating with annual croquet, tennis and golf tournaments; a cocktail reception; a showing of a Red Wings-Flyers game on ESPN; and a dinner dance.

 

It was at The Breakers that the League broke from the past.

 

The night of Dec. 9, Jacobs hosted a dinner party at his nearby home. Bettman says it was so he could meet the owners he hadn't met yet. Jacobs says it was a celebration of his hiring, which was all but official.

 

"Quite honestly, [McNall] ran the process very much, and we all got behind him," Jacobs says. "There was nobody that I would say that was close to Gary in competency or in background or enthusiasm or energy."

 

The NHL awarded expansion franchises to Anaheim and South Florida on Dec. 10. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Florida Panthers would join the League in 1993-94, bringing it to 26 teams and further expanding its footprint. Each team would pay a $50 million expansion fee, $600 million less than the Seattle Kraken would to enter the NHL last season.

 

David Poile remembers being the first person at the meeting on Dec. 11 specifically because he wanted to meet Bettman.

 

"What's bigger in the NHL than hiring the new commissioner?" says Poile, then the general manager of the Washington Capitals, now the GM of the Nashville Predators, a team that wouldn't join the NHL until 1998-99. "This is not a two- or three-year position. This is a person that's going to define your sport, your popularity, your revenues, everything. This is the most major decision that a sporting league can make."

 

The Board of Governors met in the Starlight A Room in the late morning.

 

According to the minutes, Stein reported the governors could elect a commissioner but would need to amend the constitution to grant him powers. McNall reported that the search firm and the committee unanimously recommended two candidates: Stein and Bettman. The committee members each gave his impressions of the candidates and made his recommendation.

 

Then Stein withdrew from the race. He said support appeared to be divided, and he wanted the Board to be unified in the interest of the League.

Eventually, Bettman stood in front of the Board of Governors.

 

"It was almost rubber-stamped," McNall remembers. "He came in. He introduced himself. He spoke a little bit. There were some questions, which he handled, of course, very well. And then the vote came. It was unanimous. It took, you know, five minutes."

 

Upon a motion duly made by Capitals owner Abe Pollin and seconded by Wirtz and the committee, it was unanimously resolved that Bettman be, and thereby was, elected to the office of commissioner of the National Hockey League effective Feb. 1, 1993, to serve for a period of five years from such date.

 

"I don't remember a standing ovation, because in fairness to everybody there, none of us knew Gary Bettman, including Mike Ilitch, other than that he had interviewed him with the committee," says Red Wings senior vice president Jimmy Devellano, then the Detroit GM. "We didn't know him. What we knew was that the NBA had passed us. …

 

"He had worked under David Stern. Stern probably at that time had seemed to be the most up-to-date commissioner, so to speak. He was highly, highly regarded, and I think [the committee] felt a certain comfort level that Gary had worked at David Stern's side."

 

Poile remembers a wait-and-see attitude too.

 

"You're bringing in a young guy from the NBA," Poile says. "He's working under David Stern. Those are good credentials. But it's the NBA. It's not hockey. He doesn't have a hockey background. …

 

"Maybe not being as worldly as we should be at that time, a lot of people thought it should be a Canadian. He came in with some challenges to overcome publicly."

 

Bettman told another story in his Hockey Hall of Fame induction speech. Late in the evening after his hiring, he strolled into the bar at The Breakers and was greeted by Brian Burke, then GM of the Whalers. Burke went on to work for Bettman as NHL executive vice president and director of hockey operations from 1993-98, and he is now president of hockey operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

 

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"He's known to be quite outspoken and a good friend, but Brian Burke and I were not yet acquainted," Bettman said in his speech. "Brian started the conversation like this, 'Boy, are they going to love you.' I probably said, 'Huh?' But for the purposes of the story, I said, 'What did you mean?' And he said, 'You're an American, a New York lawyer, and you're short and from basketball.' All of that was true. The fact that he would actually say that surprised me."

 

Bettman said perhaps he's an acquired taste.

 

He's self-aware and self-deprecating, with a quick wit and biting sense of humor.

 

"I say to him, 'I get all this credit for getting Gretzky. I don't get any credit for getting you,'" McNall says. "And he laughs and says, 'Because you might get [grief from] some people too.'"

 

* * * * *

 

The first call Bettman made after his hiring was to his wife, Shelli. The second was to Stern. The third was to Bob Goodenow, the executive director of the NHLPA, who had sent him a congratulatory note via fax.

 

Gary Meagher, then NHL director of public relations, now NHL senior executive vice president, communications, remembers handing Bettman a draft of the press release of his hiring. Within 10 minutes, Bettman hand-delivered a marked-up version. Though the press release was only a few paragraphs, he made many edits and went over each of them with Meagher to make sure he understood them, a hint of the attention to detail to come.

 

Reporters gathered for a press conference and sat in folding chairs. In a dark suit and colorful tie, Bettman sat at a table between McNall and Stein in front of black curtain and an NHL banner. McNall had the jersey folded underneath an NHL cap to his right as they spoke, ready for a photo op.

 

"I believe that a commissioner has a responsibility to run the game as well as he can for the benefit of everyone -- the owners, the players and the fans," Bettman told the reporters. "The owners are my employer, but the way a league performs well is by making its product as attractive as it can to the greatest number of fans, and I believe that by making this sport as attractive as possible as a sport and as an entertainment product, that we'll be in a position to satisfy all the needs, those of the owners, those of the fans and those of the players as well."

 

 

 

The photo followed, plus another outside on the seawall. The first thing that comes to mind looking back, Bettman says, is that he can't believe he let Meagher stage that. He's being honest. He's also teasing Meagher.

 

"I haven't held it against him too badly," Bettman says.

 

Bettman guesses the jersey is in a closet. Neither photo hangs anywhere in his office or home.

 

"That's not me," he says. "This job, from my standpoint, has never been about me. It's about the League. It's about the owners. It's about the fans. It's about the people that work here and at the clubs. It's about the players. And that may be my legal training. It's always about your client."

 

Bettman remembers flying home through bad weather the next morning. It was a rough ride, the plane switching airports to find a place to land, but he made it through, foreshadowing the next three decades.

 

He asked the NHL office to put together a stack of papers for him -- the collective bargaining agreement, the constitution, the bylaws, everything he needed to study. Between Christmas and New Year's Day, he and Shelli took their three children on vacation in Vermont.

 

"I remember having massive loose-leafs of materials that I was reading when I wasn't skiing or playing with my kids," Bettman says.

 

He had a massive job ahead of him.

 

What would the Bettman of today say to the Bettman of 30 years ago?

 

"Enjoy the ride," he says. "It's going to be challenging, stimulating and intense."

 

Quoting Thomas Edison, he says, "Vision without execution is hallucination."

 

"There were things I knew we needed to do to catch up, there were things we needed to do to move forward, and we had to be in a position to execute on all of them," he says. "It always came down to execution and detail."

 

The results speak for themselves.

 

"Try to name a change in the last 30 years in hockey that has been more impactful than hiring Gary Bettman, and there is none," Poile says. "There have been some [other big changes], but this is the most significant one."

 

Says Devellano, who has been in the NHL since starting as a scout with the St. Louis Blues in 1967, "I would say after 30 years Gary has done what he was hired to do, and he's done it pretty brilliantly. I would say as we look back now, I don't remember the League ever being in a better place."

 

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Bettman named 2023 recipient of SBJ Lifetime Achievement Award

NHL Commissioner to celebrate 30th anniversary, will be honored May 24

https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-commissioner-gary-bettman-named-2023-recipient-of-sbj-lifetime-achievement-award/c-340572290

 

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was named the 2023 recipient of the Sports Business Journal Lifetime Achievement Award in the publication's Jan. 30-Feb. 5 issue.

 

Bettman will be honored at the Sports Business Awards in New York on May 24.

 

"Since his first NHL media rights headlined the inaugural issue of Sports Business Daily back in 1994, Gary Bettman has been a fixture in our pages and an immensely influential figure in our industry," Sports Business Journal publisher and executive editor Abraham Madkour said in an SBJ article announcing the award. "His willingness to think big, take risks and stick to his principles have solidified the NHL as an important property in the global sports landscape and positioned the League to continue to thrive well in the future."

 

Bettman will celebrate his 30th anniversary on the job Wednesday and surpass the late David Stern, who was NBA commissioner from Feb. 1, 1984 to Feb. 1, 2014, as the longest-tenured commissioner of the four major men's professional sports leagues in North America. He was NBA senior vice president and general counsel under Stern before being elected the first commissioner of the NHL on Dec. 11, 1992. He took office Feb. 1, 1993.

 

Sports Business Journal listed among Bettman's accomplishments the growth of the NHL during his tenure from 24 to 32 teams and an increase in League revenue from around $400 million per season to a record $5.2 billion last season. It also credited the Bettman's "penchant for creativity" through expansion and relocation for establishing thriving teams in nontraditional markets, with the Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights as prime examples.

 

The NHL became the first major professional sports league with a team in Las Vegas following the addition of the expansion Golden Knights in 2017-18. The Seattle Kraken joined the NHL in 2021-22 as its 32nd team.

 

Sports Business Journal also pointed to the NHL Winter Classic, the annual outdoor game created in 2008, developing into a major regular season tentpole event and the League's willingness to sign media rights agreements with nontraditional broadcast partners, beginning with Fox Sports in 1994 and later Comcast's OLN. That led to a long-term relationship with NBC Sports and, starting last season, partnerships with ESPN and Turner Sports.

 

"The 70-year-old has had an incredible journey in growing the game around the world and the NHL has flourished under his direction and guidance," Madkour wrote of Bettman on the Sports Business Journal's Forum page. "He has been a leader with substance and clearly helped define the sports business of the modern era. He is well deserving of SBJ's Lifetime Achievement Award."

 

Sports Business Journal noted that the NHL has had three work stoppages under Bettman, but also credited him with delivering "significant victories for the League at the negotiating table." Those included obtaining long-term cost certainty for owners in 2005 "with the establishment of a salary cap, improvements to the on-ice product and greater parity between the large- and small-market teams."

 

 

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SBJ announces Gary Bettman as Lifetime Achievement Award recipient for 2023

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2023/01/30/Upfront/lifetime-achievement.aspx

 

Few leaders in sports history have done more to shape their sport than NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has done for hockey over the past 30 years.

 

 

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A disciple of legendary NBA boss David Stern, Bettman left his role as that league’s senior vice president and general counsel in 1993 to become the first commissioner of the NHL at age 40. Now 70, the Queens native has led the league’s growth from a regional pastime to a binational behemoth with fans across the U.S., Canada and, increasingly, the globe. Furthermore, the league’s revenue has increased exponentially from around $400 million a year to more than $5 billion.

 

As Bettman begins his fourth decade at the helm of the NHL, Sports Business Journal is pleased to announce that he has been named the recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award for 2023. He will be honored in person at the Sports Business Awards on May 24 at the Marriott Marquis in New York. 

 

“Since his first NHL media rights headlined the inaugural issue of SportsBusiness Daily back in 1994, Gary Bettman has been a fixture in our pages and an immensely influential figure in our industry,” said SBJ Publisher and Executive Editor Abe Madkour. “His willingness to think big, take risks and stick to his principles have solidified the NHL as an important property in the global sports landscape and positioned the league to continue to thrive well into the future.”

 

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Gary Bettman’s 30th anniversary as NHL commissioner is this week.GETTY IMAGES
 

Time and again, Bettman has shown a penchant for creativity. Through expansion and relocation, he has helped turn places such as Dallas, Nashville and Raleigh from “nontraditional” hockey markets into thriving NHL outposts with their own unique hockey cultures. Then there is Las Vegas, where the Golden Knights debuted in the 2017-18 season, making the NHL the first major professional sports league to plant a flag with one of sports’ most successful expansion franchises ever.

 

Under his leadership, the NHL disrupted North American professional sports with the creation of the Winter Classic, a major tentpole event during the regular season. He has signed media rights agreements with nontraditional partners — first the still-new Fox broadcast network in 1994 and later Comcast’s relatively unknown OLN — as part of a long-term vision to grow the sport’s prominence in the U.S. Those moves led the league to a long-term partnership with NBC and, starting with the 2021-22 season, record-setting agreements with ESPN and Turner Sports.

 

While the three work stoppages under his watch will always be a part of Bettman’s legacy, he delivered significant victories for the league at the negotiating table. Bettman’s conviction in the 2004-05 lockout in particular led to long-term cost certainty for owners with the establishment of a salary cap, improvements to the on-ice product and greater parity between large- and small-market teams.

 

As the longest-tenured commissioner of a major North American sports league, Bettman has influenced the careers of countless members of the sports business community during his storied career. Many of them will share their stories when SBJ profiles Bettman in its May 15 issue.

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Ugg...Bettman is a lawyer and a  weasel...he ensures all the owners are making lots of money...but he is bad for the game with all the rules he's implemented concerning salary cap rules and all the other dumb rules he's brought into effect...

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1 hour ago, Villella McMeans said:

Ugg...Bettman is a lawyer and a  weasel...he ensures all the owners are making lots of money...but he is bad for the game with all the rules he's implemented concerning salary cap rules and all the other dumb rules he's brought into effect...

 

I guess he's earning the money the owners have been paying all these years: those were all things that they wanted, but he gets all of the hate.

 

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2 hours ago, Villella McMeans said:

and all the other dumb rules he's brought into effect...

Indeed.  Perhaps the NHL ‘enterprise’ is a better business for owners under his reign.  But I could give a fleeing fork about that.

 

Is the game better?  Number One on my list:  and I know I am a broken record…but his asinine OT points rule has made it hard to stay interested in the regular season horse race.  Nearly two decades into it, I still loathe that it is not a Zero Sum Game with “some games are 50% more equal than others” thank you Mr. Orwell.

 

Plus the OT isn’t real hockey. 
 

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4 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

 

I guess he's earning the money the owners have been paying all these years: those were all things that they wanted, but he gets all of the hate.

 

Yeah that's why they'll never fire him he has earned his pay and more because he's made NHL marketable like the NBA and NFL etc and there's still room in the market to make even more closer too what those leagues earn...and he earns all the hate too obviously because fans don't care what the owners make we only care that he made hockey less fun to watch...

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2 hours ago, SaucyJack said:

Indeed.  Perhaps the NHL ‘enterprise’ is a better business for owners under his reign.  But I could give a fleeing fork about that.

 

Is the game better?  Number One on my list:  and I know I am a broken record…but his asinine OT points rule has made it hard to stay interested in the regular season horse race.  Nearly two decades into it, I still loathe that it is not a Zero Sum Game with “some games are 50% more equal than others” thank you Mr. Orwell.

 

Plus the OT isn’t real hockey. 
 

Exactly...obviously teams the high offense teams benefit more in regular season if they can get it to overtime...and I agree regular season OT isn't real hockey...

 

Some other rules I hate are the dumb trapezoid behind the net...how they didn't allow the Vegas owner to call his team what he wanted after the guy already paid the five hundred million price tag...obviously the all star formats and voting etc...too many to name and even more I don't even know about in bargaining process too...

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PRESIDENTS OF THE NATIONAL HOCKEY ASSOCIATION

01. M. Doheney (1909-1910: 1 year)
02. Emmett Quinn (1910-1916: 6 years) Canadian
03. Frank Robinson (1916-1917: 1 year) 
04. Frank Calder (1917) British (Inducted in 1947)

PRESIDENTS OF THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

01. Frank Calder (1917-1943: 26 years) British (Inducted in 1947)
02. Red Dutton (1943-1946: 3 years) Canadian (Inducted in 1958)
03. Clarence Campbell (1946-1977: 31 years) Canadian (Inducted in 1966)
04. John Ziegler (1977-1992: 15 years) American (Inducted in 1987)
05. Gil Stein (1992-1993: 1 year) American

COMMISSIONERS OF THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

01. Gary Bettman (1993-Present: 30 years) American (Inducted in 2018)

 

30 YEARS FOR GARY BETTMAN!

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The little turd reminds me of Frank Burns. A greedy little ferret faced dick who got power wedgied and stuffed in a gym locker daily. His accomplishment in hockey is that he has made a small handful of already wealthy old fat white guys wealthier. Thats it. He has deprived fans over and over the chance to see best on best tournaments. He has deprived elite players the opportunity to earn what their true value is, and he has deprived traditional hockey markets franchise opportunities in order for his rich old fat white guy governors to receive expansion fees. So if the measuring stick is making a small group of rich guys richer, hurray for betturd. Otherwise, he hasn't done a damn thing to improve the game and its fanbase.

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Bettman talks technology, sports betting in sit-down with Bloomberg TV

NHL Commissioner says giving game to fans 'on their terms' essential going forward

by Amalie Benjamin @AmalieBenjamin / NHL.com Staff Writer

https://www.nhl.com/news/gary-bettman-talks-technology-sports-betting-in-interview-with-bloomberg-tv/c-342610770

 

If there's one thing that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the League are looking to do moving forward, it's to bring more people to the game. In a sit-down with Business of Sports on Bloomberg TV, he said one important way to do this is through innovations in the business.

 

"Whether it's streaming and technology or sports betting or puck and player tracking or changing how games are broadcast or streamed or whether it's tentpole events or whether it's behind-the-scenes shoulder programming, what we're constantly looking for is more and more ways for people to connect to the game and to do it on their terms," Bettman said.

 

That's what technology offers, an ability to access the game in many different ways, through the use of more cameras and more angles, through advances in data collection and disparate entrance points for a new generation of fans.

 

"Being able to give fans more and give it to them on their terms is what's going to be essential going forward," Bettman said.

 

It was just one topic Bettman addressed in a wide-ranging interview conducted earlier this season at the NHL offices in New York and posted Wednesday by Bloomberg TV, including sports betting, the media landscape and player compensation.

 

But the through-line of the interview was the ways in which fans and potential fans can access and connect to the game, and how that has evolved.

 

"To me, the most important thing is you've got to provide your fans with easy access, which is fairly priced," Bettman said, in talking about streaming.

 

"But also when you're looking at the millennials and Gen Zs, they want more than just the games now. They want behind the scenes. We do 'Road to the Stanley Cup, Road to the Winter Classic.'

 

"It's about giving a look at our players and our game from a vantage point that when I was the equivalent age of a Gen Z, you could only imagine what was it like to be inside of a locker room, to see the players getting ready. And that's what our younger fans are demanding, and frankly I think it's good for the game. Particularly for our game based on our players for them to see that."

 

Another avenue for bringing people into the game has been sports betting. Though Bettman admitted that he's been called a contortionist in the past in relation to his evolving views on sports betting, he has seen how the industry has added eyeballs to games that might not have otherwise tuned in.

 

"It's just another way, for fans who want to, to connect to the game," he said. "For us, on an off night, if you haven't been a hockey fan but you feel interested in placing a bet, maybe you'll place a bet on us and you'll watch the game and we'll hook you."

 

Ultimately, Bettman said that he is seeing huge positives from the on-ice product right now, with the game getting younger, faster and more entertaining. And that -- along with the new media partnerships with the Walt Disney Company, particularly ESPN, and WBD -- is helping the bottom line.

 

"The players, both former players and current players all marvel, saying the game may be in the best place it's ever been," Bettman said.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/media-manifest/videos/android/WiFi/bf533e86-321a-4bd0-ad07-0c8892c64632.m3u8?idType=BMMP

 

 

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Bettman receives Sports Business Journal Lifetime Achievement Award

NHL Commissioner recognized for growth of League, creativity in 30 years on job

https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-commissioner-gary-bettman-receives-sbj-lifetime-achievement-award/c-344570470

 

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NEW YORK -- NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman realizes how important it is to remain on the cutting edge in an attempt to take the game to new heights each season.

 

It's been his goal, his passion and his priority the past 30 years.

 

"The world is evolving, and if you don't move forward, think big, then you're going to fall backward," Bettman said. "It's about finding new ways to connect. It's about looking to use the things that are part of our world now that weren't part of our world when I started in sports, and it gives you an opportunity to use the platform that sports represent to do more than ever before."

 

It's because of that belief and foresight that Bettman received the Sports Business Journal Lifetime Achievement Award on Wednesday. It was presented during the national weekly trade magazine's 2023 Sports Business Awards at the New York Marriott Marquis.

 

"I've always tried to never make this about me," Bettman said. "It's about the owners, it's about the fans. It's about the people who work here and at the clubs, and if I reflect all of that effort, then I'm good with that."

 

Bettman celebrated his 30th anniversary on the job Feb. 1 and surpassed the late David Stern, who was NBA commissioner from Feb. 1, 1984 to Feb. 1, 2014, as the longest-serving commissioner of the four major men's professional sports leagues in North America. 

 

Bettman was NBA senior vice president and general counsel under Stern before being elected the first commissioner of the NHL at age 40 on Dec. 11, 1992. 

 

"The specifics of basketball vs. hockey isn't what I learned," Bettman said when asked about his time at the NBA. "What I learned was the importance of relationships, the importance of being thorough and doing your homework. The importance of focusing on what your goal is and the importance of making decisions for the right reasons, meaning you do your homework, you make as informed a decision as you can and you don't do it for political reasons, because political and popular reasons can change in the moment. 

 

"You've got to do what you think is right because if you're wrong, at least you did it because you thought it was right. And that's how you sleep at night."

 

Sports Business Journal listed among Bettman's accomplishments the growth of the NHL during his tenure from 24 to 32 teams and an increase in League revenue from about $400 million per season to a record $5.2 billion last season. Bettman confirmed Wednesday that number has since risen to $6 billion.

 

"It's gone in the blink of an eye," Bettman said about his 30 years on the job. "I have trouble understanding how it could go this quickly, but my job is to worry about playing a game, and that's a business? It doesn't get any better than that and not just because of the game but because of everything we can do with our platforms to make a difference."

 

Bettman has presided over 55 percent of the games in NHL history, and 600 million-plus people have attended games during his tenure.

 

Sports Business Journal also credited Bettman's "penchant for creativity" through expansion and relocation for establishing thriving teams in nontraditional markets, with the Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights as prime examples.

 

The NHL became the first major professional sports league with a team in Las Vegas when the Vegas Golden Knights joined the League in 2017-18. The Seattle Kraken joined the NHL in 2021-22 as its 32nd team.

 

The NHL Winter Classic, the annual outdoor game launched in 2008, has developed into a major regular-season tentpole event, and the League's willingness to sign media rights agreements with nontraditional broadcast partners, beginning with Fox Sports in 1994 and later Comcast's OLN, led to a long-term relationship with NBC Sports and, starting last season, partnerships with ESPN and Turner Sports.

 

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The League announced April 11 that it will appear in Australia for the first time when the Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings play preseason games at the 2023 NHL Global Series in Melbourne on Sept. 23-24. It will be the NHL's first attempt at hockey in the Southern Hemisphere and the farthest it has trekked from North America, after playing in Europe and Asia. 

 

Australia represents the fourth continent to host an NHL game. The Coyotes and Kings will play at Rod Laver Arena, home of the Australian Open tennis tournament, on a rink the NHL will construct with many of the same parts used for outdoor games.

 

Will venturing Down Under be the NHL's boldest move yet?

 

"No, how about selling 70,000 tickets in 20 minutes to play outside in the snow, which if it was two degrees warmer would have been rain," said Bettman, referring to the 2008 Winter Classic featuring the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. "I don't view things in terms of this is risky or not. I view it in terms of, 'Is this an exciting opportunity?' and 'Do we think we can do it?' understanding that not everything you try to do comes off the way you plan to do it.

 

"I look at what it is that we could do, that we're not doing, that we could do better and that's how we move forward. It's about what can we do to continue to connect with our fans, grow the game, and to make this game as exciting and as entertaining and appealing as anything else you could do with your leisure time."

 

Though Sports Business Journal noted the three work stoppages under Bettman, it pointed out the Commissioner delivered "significant victories for the League at the negotiating table." Those included obtaining long-term cost certainty for owners in 2005 "with the establishment of a salary cap, improvements to the on-ice product and greater parity between the large- and small-market teams."

 

Bettman said, "I love the game, and I love everybody associated with the game, and it's challenging. Every day is different and you're not just dealing with the issues of the day, you're trying to focus on what do we need to do to move forward, and we've done lots of things to move the game forward.

"Working here and doing what I do is part of the ultimate team effort in the ultimate team sport. And that's why I think, with everybody working together, why we've grown as much as we have."

 

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the award for Bettman was "a long time coming but very well deserved."

 

"I see the leadership qualities he has all the time, so every day I've worked with him I've seen him in every situation," Daly said. "In tough times -- the pandemic being one of them -- some of the work stoppages we've been involved in and some of those negotiations, even some of our media negotiations ... It's where he really elevates himself and separates himself from the pack."

 

Emmy-winning actor and St. Louis Blues fan Jon Hamm, who introduced Bettman at the ceremony Wednesday, said of the Commissioner, "It's been nice to get to know him over the course of my fandom, really. And it's been impressive to see what he's been able to do just with the League. … I've been a fan for pretty much my entire life. The Blues franchise is, I think, 54 years old now or whatever (56) and I'm 52, so it's a couple years older than me, but I kind of grew up with that franchise. It's been nice to get to know Gary, and it's really been nice to get to see what he's done."

 

Also during the ceremony, the NHL won the award for Sports Breakthrough of the Year for its Digitally Enhanced Dasherboards, advertising technology that debuted this season.

 

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