'I love what I do' [Archive]

nivek_wahs

02-12-2007, 01:54 AM

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=c37d3840-431f-4640-bb3c-59b40c8adc22&k=11062

'I love what I do'

Greg Harder, Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, February 10, 2007

ESTEVAN -- NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is setting the record straight.

"The speculation that my tenure was going to be ended in a shortened timeframe, all of that speculation was without foundation," Bettman declared Friday. "I'm under a long-term contract and I love what I do."

According to recent media reports, some NHL owners are losing patience with the commissioner, who has held his post since 1993.

However, Bettman scoffed at the suggestion he's on his way out, adding that he plans to stick around "for as long as the owners will have me and for as long as I like doing what I'm doing, and that's for the long foreseeable future."

Here are some other key issues Bettman discussed during his visit to Estevan:

His aspired legacy as NHL commissioner -- "To leave the game stronger and healthier than when I got to this position."

How the Collective Bargaining Agreement applies to his legacy -- "It's not personal for me. We did what we had to do in order to fix some problems that were pretty profound and for which the survival of our game, particularly in small markets and particularly in Canadian small markets, was at stake."

The state of the NHL -- "I think we're in a much stronger and better place than we've been. We now have an economic system that not only enables our clubs to be economically stable but enables all of our clubs to be competitive. If you look at the standings, 26 clubs are either in the playoffs or in the hunt. That's something that we felt we owed to our fans. We made a lot of rule changes last year -- a package if you will -- including the shootout, which has been extremely positively received by our fans. And so, since I'm basically a traditionalist at heart, I think we've changed the things that needed to be changed and now we need to continue to monitor to make sure its working the way we want."

The new officiating standard: "We know it has gotten a little squeaky at the minor hockey level, particularly with parents in terms of the calling of penalties and the like. This isn't a change that people could expect to happen overnight, although I think everybody agrees that this will benefit the game long term because it emphasizes the most important aspects of our game, particularly skill."

The decision to reject a lesser offer from ESPN and sign a U.S. TV contract with Versus (formerly the Outdoor Life Network) -- "We've made some decisions that in the short term people have criticized but they weren't short-term decisions. I think the ultimate judgment needs to be held back for another couple of years."

The controversy regarding the NHL's unbalanced schedule (each team doesn't visit each city) -- "We need to make an adjustment but we need to do it taking into account all of the factors. We have some time zone issues which were not addressed by the current debate. There's a possibility a franchise (the Pittsburgh Penguins) may move and then we'll have to deal with alignment. My preference is to wait until we can get a better handle on everything and then make the change that's appropriate to address these concerns."

The NHL's commitment to Canadian franchises: "Were it not for the Canadian (financial) assistance program, were it not for the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Canadian franchises wouldn't be as healthy as they are. The six Canadian franchises are playing at virtually 100 per cent of capacity. Our television ratings are strong and we know, it is our mantra, that if NHL hockey isn't working in the six Canadian markets then it isn't going to work anywhere."

Whether a return to Winnipeg is in the cards -- "The fact is, we prefer not to relocate and have no current plans to expand. However, if for example Pittsburgh has to move, a number of cities have expressed interest in having an NHL franchise and they're not all American cities. Winnipeg has expressed an interest over time. We haven't done any studying on it. My own belief is -- and I've been on record for a long time on this since we've had the new CBA -- with a new building (the MTS Centre), with good ownership ... I think the new CBA levels the playing conditions enough that Winnipeg might well ... be able to support a franchise. But that's not an issue we're currently confronted with."

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

dondo

02-12-2007, 09:19 PM

I'll bet he loves what he does he does, he gets to screw over every hockey fan daily, he seems to have no accountability for how he has undersold the broadcast rights to bottom feeding broadcast provider, ruining the game with his wholesale and wholey stupid changes...

Gifting franchises to American cities that could care less about hockey and screwing the Canadian fans over by not allowing every freaking team to play every freaking team at least once a season -- and making it impossible to have a hockey day in Canada -- 5 more years of this a_hole, wholey freaking jeezus ... next up widening the nets soccer style, and painting the ice blue and making stripes orange to accomodate the TV cameras.

This guy will be the death of real hockey and yet he gets a contract extension -- there is no justice.

die bettman! - die a horrible pathetic death .. like the bottom sucking lawyer that you are.

Sput

02-12-2007, 11:39 PM

Soundy

02-13-2007, 02:04 AM

Anyone catch this one from Saturday's National Post?

NHL fans have left the building
Gate receipts paint real picture of a false economy
Mark Spector National Post
Saturday, February 10, 2007

The National Hockey League has always played fast and loose with the fans and media over the word "attendance." And while under the league's revenue-based salary-cap system, it does not behoove the NHL to spin gate receipts, the latest numbers do not paint a positive picture.

In a confidential NHL document obtained by the National Post, the league's overall gate receipts climbed just 4.9% through Dec. 31, despite an average ticket price hike of 5.9% across the league this season.

More alarming is the fact that gate receipts are down in nine U.S. markets, which means in a gate-driven league with negligible U.S. TV deals, more than one-third of the 24 American clubs are not making as much money in ticket sales as they were last season -- despite higher prices in most cases.

To the scouts, media, players and coaches who travel the circuit, the league's latest PR spin -- an announcement last week that NHL clubs drew, on average, crowds of 17,075 to games in January of 2007, giving the league its best month in the NHL's 89-year history -- approached desperation. The people who see the thousands of empty seats in many U.S. arenas know the real score. They are also well aware that the NHL includes giveaway tickets in its attendance figures -- whether those tickets get used or not.

The NHL's spin stops, however, with the bottom line.

In a league without significant TV revenue that bottom line is gate receipts, a figure on the financial statement obtained by the National Post that does not credit freebie tickets or services in kind.

For the first half of the 2006- 07 NHL season, the bottom line on the leaked document speaks of the NHL's false economy. One that is on the decline in more than one-third of the league's U.S.-based cities.

According to the document, 26 of 30 clubs raised ticket prices this season. On a league wide average, the average ticket price went up 5.9% to $52.31 (all figures in U.S. funds).

Through Dec. 31 however, gate receipts were up only 4.9%, lagging behind the ticket hike -- a hike that will be impossible to duplicate again next season. In 16 NHL cities -- more than half of the league -- the percentage of ticket-price increase was not met or surpassed by an equal percentage of increased gate receipts.

Paced by a whopping ticket increase of 21.4% in Edmonton, the steepest jump in the NHL this season, the six Canadian teams raised their ticket prices by an average of 8.7%.

Their gate receipts also rose, by 9.2%, placing all six Canadian NHL teams among the top dozen gate-receipt leaders in the NHL.

Toronto and Montreal lead the NHL respectively, followed by the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks. The Oilers (8th), Flames (9th) and Senators (12th) round out the top 12 leaders in per night profits.

Here are some other highlights from the league's financial picture, through Dec. 31, 2006:

- The Maple Leafs still have the priciest ticket in hockey at $80.31 and bring in the most gate receipts per game at just over $1.5-million per game. By the New Year, the Leafs had rung in nearly $31.8-million in gate receipts, roughly equal to the combined total of Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta and Carolina.

- The Oilers' 21.4% increase may be their solution to having just 16,839 seats to sell, but a small market team that once bragged of having the lowest ticket prices in the NHL now has the sixth most expensive tickets, at an average of $61.16 per seat. Will that go down if the Oilers get the new building they're looking for? Not likely.

- St. Louis raised ticket prices by 13.1% for this season, yet gate receipts are down 0.1% from '05-06. That speaks to declining crowds and a franchise that may have exceeded its price point in St. Louis.

- With the best team in the NHL to date, gate receipts in Nashville were up 28% on Dec. 31, at just shy of $525,000 per game. That still left the Predators in 23rd spot overall, with nightly gate receipts that are less than half of four Canadian teams, and not equal to 60% of the ticket revenues the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators reap on a per-game basis.

- Carolina's 47% jump in gate receipts is the biggest improvement in the NHL, no doubt a spin-off of their Stanley Cup victory last spring. With the Hurricanes fighting for a playoff spot, and college basketball season now well underway in Carolina, the club will be hard pressed to hold those gains through the end of the regular season.

- The Islanders' gate receipts are down the most at more than 20%, despite a 1.6% decrease in ticket prices. In Manhattan, the Rangers' receipts are up 19.1%.

A look at the financial statement of the Edmonton Oilers after their Cup run in 2005-06 provides a glimpse into how profitable a long playoff drive can be for an NHL club. Of course, the teams are not paying players during the post-season, and roughly 20% of gate receipts go to the league.

The Oilers still pulled in more than $26.5-million dollars in gate revenues from 11 home playoff dates -- or more than $2.4-million per home game, before concessions and parking.

That helped to change the bottom line from an $8.5-million loss in 2005-06, when the Oilers missed the playoffs, to a profit of more than $13-million last season.

Mspector@nationalpost.com

© National Post 2007

Full story is here... (http://tinyurl.com/29eau7)

LifelongChiefsFan

02-13-2007, 03:16 AM

I thought this was a pretty good opinion article that I read a couple weeks ago on Yahoo. I don't believe it's been posted here before.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=dw-bettman012907&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Unhappy anniversary
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
January 29, 2007

Everyone has a favorite conspiracy theory about the NBA. Some like the idea that David Stern fixed the 1984 draft lottery. Others favor his supposed secret suspension of a star player for gambling problems.

Mine dates back to the early 1990s, when the NHL was white hot with fans and never better on the ice. Wayne Gretzky was in Los Angeles. Mark Messier was with the New York Rangers, who were on the verge of ending their Stanley Cup drought. Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Ray Bourque, Patrick Roy and many others were hitting their prime.

Anyone who doesn't think hockey can work in America is forgetting this era. All of a sudden, hockey was challenging, if not beating, the NBA in a number of major U.S. markets – including New York. It's almost impossible to imagine now, but it happened.

As the conspiracy theory goes, Stern sensed the potential trouble in 1993 while the NHL was in search of a new commissioner. So he looked around his own office for someone so incompetent that if they got the job, the NHL would be marginalized by their mismanagement and never again be a threat to the NBA.

Naturally, Stern recommended one of his assistants, Gary Bettman, for the job.

True story or not, it worked.

Bettman is set to begin his 15th year as commissioner Thursday, and like most hockey fans I feel the need to mark the occasion by popping a bottle of champagne, chugging the entire thing in an effort to drown my misery and then smashing the empty bottle over my temple to black out the memories.

There has never been a commissioner of a major North American sports league this inept, yet the league's board of governors keeps employing him, keeps giving him another chance to sink this once-proud, once-vibrant league to new depths.

Bettman is on a 14-year run of bad ideas. His latest was a classic, moving the league's all-star game, which featured attention-grabbing young megastars, to midweek on the Versus Network – as opposed to NBC on a weekend. He claimed it would allow Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin to own the sports landscape, unlike some crowded weekend.

The result was a catastrophic 0.7 rating. That's a meager 474,298 households in the States that bothered to watch, down 76 percent from the last all-star game.

It is par for a season which has seen TV numbers plummet in both the U.S. and Canada (down 20 percent by some reports), attendance drop and media coverage dwindle.

Hockey fans would laugh if we weren't crying. We'd figure it would be the last straw that would lead to his dismissal, but at this stage, we know he's never going away. For those of us who grew up loving and living this sport and this league, all of us who cared about the NHL long before Bettman's slow, steady suicidal stewardship of it, it's just the latest in a recurring nightmare.

The Bettman era has been an unmitigated disaster for the league in virtually every possible way, one outrageously terrible initiative after another.

I could write a book about Bettman's insulting and imbecilic moves through the years (Chapter 9: "The Glowing Puck") but the main problem has always been the same. He has shown no respect for the game, for its history, for its fans, for its unique qualities.

Bettman might consider himself an astute sports marketer, but in practice he is arguably the worst of all time. He has never figured out how to change his marketing plans to fit the product of hockey. Instead, he changed the product to fit his marketing plans.

The league is now overexpanded and overpriced, misplaced and misdirected. It is less exciting, less interesting, less traditional and more difficult to follow for the non-obsessive fan.

Yes, hockey fans remain. I'm one of them. But even we can't believe what has happened here. It is bad enough a desperate, ill-advised grab of supposed "new, emerging markets" have come at the expense of the old fan base. It's dispiriting that the league chased the fickle corporate dollar and priced out families. But what's worse is it just keeps going and going, Bettman on the job for life.

Under Bettman's watch, the NHL's improvements are few. Certainly new technologies such as the "Center Ice" package and the Internet have been great. And there are far more highly skilled players than in 1993, thanks to the influx of talent from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

Of course, Bettman had nothing to do with these things occurring.

The elimination of the red line and the crackdown on obstruction are positives. Some will argue that shootouts to decide regular-season games and the severe curbing of fighting are positives, but that's a matter of personal preference.

While some hail the salary cap that allows across-the-board competitiveness, I think it suppresses the kind of elite play that makes the game great. Hockey is the ultimate team pursuit – the need for timing and teamwork is paramount. The individual star is utterly worthless without strong teammates.

The great player needs other great players to be great. In the mid-1980s, Gretzky needed Messier, Paul Coffey, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri and others to maximize his abilities and thrill fans. A salary cap prevents talent from flocking together like that, so we get economic viability of the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for breathtaking teams such as the Edmonton Oilers of 1980s or the Detroit Red Wings of the late 1990s.

The negatives are too numerous to list, but consider the league's current uneven schedule which serves no purpose other than cutting travel costs for a few cheapskate owners. Teams play eight games per season against division foes, or 32 a year against just four teams.

Bettman claimed it would spawn "new" rivalries. Of course, old rivalries such as Detroit-Toronto – two hockey-mad towns separated by a single highway that actually has an exit for Wayne Gretzky Blvd. – no longer play a home-and-home series each season. It's like killing Red Sox-Yankees so Blue Jays-Diamondbacks might catch on.

And, since fighting has been curbed, the "new" rivalries haven't really taken because a hockey rivalry without fighting is like non-alcoholic beer.

Plus, not everyone gets to see young superstars such as Pittsburgh's Crosby or Washington's Ovechkin.

Last week, 22 franchises tried to bring the old schedule back, but eight blocked the move in a vote while Bettman, predictably, did little lobbying on behalf of the majority opinion.

This is Bettman's NHL. Fourteen years, four bankruptcies, three franchise moves, two lockouts, one lost season and no effective leadership. The business is so sick that the Pittsburgh Penguins, despite a loyal fan base and the most promising talent since Gretzky, are 50-50 to move to that noted hockey hotbed of Kansas City.

Bettman has his apologists who point out that he beat former NHLPA head Bob Goodenow during the last lockout and got a salary cap installed.

Which is true, except it cost the NHL an entire season and an incalculable number of fans. And the proposed cap for next season is already creeping close to the average pre-lockout team salary. Wasn't the new deal only needed because the old deal was so bad? And who negotiated that one for the NHL in 1994? Oh yes, Gary Bettman, who locked the players out and killed all momentum from the Rangers' Stanley Cup championship to get that ill-fated deal done.

Lord knows what is next. Lord knows how he can make it worse. Lord knows what prior screwups he'll try to solve now with fresh screwups.

You'd think a 0.7 was rock bottom, but then again, this is someone who surveyed the burning wreckage of the NHL and decided that what would really turn things around this time were sleek new uniforms from Reebok, which were trotted out last week.

"This is an evolution of our uniform," Bettman proudly crowed.

Of course, already fans who are carrying even a few extra pounds report that they look ridiculous in the new form fitting jerseys, which has led to predictions of plummeting apparel sales and jokes about how Bettman hatched the idea after watching George Costanza comically change the New York Yankees' uniforms to cotton.

"This is a Seinfeld episode, isn't it?" wrote one fan on the San Jose Mercury News' hockey blog.

Yes, David Stern's bizarro world, now entering its 15th year and counting.