The business of the NHL

[Barrie 900]

Interesting read about how the NHL owner's and Gary's decisions to try and increase revenue is hurting the game.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/7380104

[Earthhuman 8]

Good article, and written without bias. Facts, and then interpretation.

[CJmango 0]

"There is no value in changing the game of hockey to save the weak."

/agree

The article is a bit convoluted, but I think it puts a realistic spin on decisions that repeatedly frustrate fans.

[auxlepli 17]

Here's a link to the original blog.

http://puckstopshere.blogspot.com/

New nickname for the commissioner, Gary "Gimmick" Bettman

[betterREDthandead 58]

What a shocker that 30 businessmen who also own hockey teams are out to make money

In a perfect world, NHL hockey would exist for its own sake. Decisions would be made based on what is best for the NHL. Making money would not be the driving factor behind NHL decisions. Hockey would be.

However, we don't live in a perfect world. We live in a world where every aspect of the game is sold to the highest bidder. We live in a world where finances impact every decision made by the NHL.

In a perfect world, NFL football would exist for its own sake. Decisions would be made based on what is best for the NFL. Making money would not be the driving factor behind NFL decisions. Football would be.

However, we don't live in a perfect world. We live in a world where every aspect of the game is sold to the highest bidder. We live in a world where finances impact every decision made by the NFL.

In a perfect world, MLB baseball would exist for its own sake. Decisions would be made based on what is best for MLB. Making money would not be the driving factor behind MLB decisions. Baseball would be.

However, we don't live in a perfect world. We live in a world where every aspect of the game is sold to the highest bidder. We live in a world where finances impact every decision made by MLB.

In a perfect world, NBA basketball would exist for its own sake. Decisions would be made based on what is best for the NBA. Making money would not be the driving factor behind NBA decisions. Basketball would be.

However, we don't live in a perfect world. We live in a world where every aspect of the game is sold to the highest bidder. We live in a world where finances impact every decision made by the NBA.

Sound about right? What makes the NHL special?

[theman19 47]

"What a shocker that 30 businessmen who also own hockey teams are out to make money"

that arguement doesn't even come close to holding water.

all the sports you listed have commissioners who at least fake like they care about the integrity of the game.

There would be riots in this country if suddenly bud sileg goes,..."well the yankees and red sox are storied rivalers,...but i'd rather have them play the royals and brewers 15 times a year instead. So i'm going to move them out of there divisions and make sure they play each other once, every two years".

or in football

Detroit vs. Green bay? Dallas vs. Washington? Naw,...lets have the texans play the newly expanded Portland rain clouds on thanksgiving day from now on!

Basketball

hey i got an idea,...lets hire john zigler, i bet he knows a lot about how to be the commissioner of a basketball league

I shake my head everytime i hear someone even begin to make excuses for how screwed up the NHL has become.

Edited October 28, 2007 by theman19

[Barrie 900]

"What a shocker that 30 businessmen who also own hockey teams are out to make money"

that arguement doesn't even come close to holding water.

all the sports you listed have commissioners who at least fake like they care about the integrity of the game.

There would be riots in this country if suddenly bud sileg goes,..."well the yankees and red sox are storied rivalers,...but i'd rather have them play the royals and brewers 15 times a year instead. So i'm going to move them out of there divisions and make sure they play each other once, every two years".

or in football

Detroit vs. Green bay? Dallas vs. Washington? Naw,...lets have the texans play the newly expanded Portland rain clouds on thanksgiving day from now on!

Basketball

hey i got an idea,...lets hire john zigler, i bet he knows a lot about how to be the commissioner of a basketball league

I shake my head everytime i hear someone even begin to make excuses for how screwed up the NHL has become.

I agree. The other 3 Leagues do an outstanding job at marketing and giving fans what they want the majority of the time. It doesn't take a major in marketing to know the big NHL markets should be playing each other more and that there's to many teams in the League.

I've been a life long NHL fan, but many of the changes they've done post lockout have really pissed me off. I'm not surprised seeing 2,000+ empty seats at the Joe this season for games.

[betterREDthandead 58]

"What a shocker that 30 businessmen who also own hockey teams are out to make money"

that arguement doesn't even come close to holding water.

all the sports you listed have commissioners who at least fake like they care about the integrity of the game.

There would be riots in this country if suddenly bud sileg goes,..."well the yankees and red sox are storied rivalers,...but i'd rather have them play the royals and brewers 15 times a year instead. So i'm going to move them out of there divisions and make sure they play each other once, every two years".

or in football

Detroit vs. Green bay? Dallas vs. Washington? Naw,...lets have the texans play the newly expanded Portland rain clouds on thanksgiving day from now on!

Basketball

hey i got an idea,...lets hire john zigler, i bet he knows a lot about how to be the commissioner of a basketball league

I shake my head everytime i hear someone even begin to make excuses for how screwed up the NHL has become.

Are you honestly serious? No, I don't think you can be.

Baseball: In case you forgot, baseball happens to have the most seriously unbalanced schedule of any of the sports. Bud Selig, in order to make more money, ended over 90 years of tradition by introducing interleague play. In order to make more money, he expanded the playoffs. In order to make more money, there was a player strike in 1994, and in order to make more money, the league used replacement players in 1995. In order to make more money, they damn near locked out the league a couple years ago. And in order to make more money, they expanded the league.

Football: In order to make more money, the league has been giving Los Angeles every possible opportunity to have a new team, despite the fact that not one, but two teams couldn't support themselves there. (Sound familiar?) In order to make more money, owners plucked two of the league's oldest and most tradition filled teams and moved them in the dead of night, despite the fans absolutely screaming otherwise. In order to make more money, the league holds the Super Bowl - the most sponsor-filled, money-grubbing cashfest in the history of sports.

Basketball: In order to make more money, the league locked out the players a few years ago. In order to make more money, the league drafts 18- and 19-year olds who are absolutely not ready for the prime time and ruins their careers. In order to make more money, the league is perpetually accused of rigging the draft lottery.

You are out of your ******* mind if you think the NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB are not businesses, their decisions driven in the direction of money, money, money, money, money. MLB tried to put advertisements on the bases for the All-Star Game. They have an arcane and absurd blackout policy that nobody likes, in order to make money. The NFL blacks out home games if the stadium doesn't sell out. (Didn't we hate Bill Wirtz for exactly the same thing??)

I don't think Bettman's decisions are exactly made of gold. I do think the NHL's marketing efforts blow donkey chunks. I do think - no, I know - that the NHL is no different than any other league when it comes to trying to make money.

[theman19 47]

Let me clarify my argument isn't that leagues are only intrested in making money , the difference is they make money, and make SMART moves to make money. The NHL does not.

Everything you've listed,...has worked,

Everything i listed is something the nhl did that didn't come close to working.

Edited October 28, 2007 by theman19

[DaKineMaui 8]

More shootouts. Less fighting.

aloha

[Dabura 12,232]

You are out of your ******* mind if you think the NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB are not businesses, their decisions driven in the direction of money, money, money, money,

No one is going to deny this. The problem is that the NHL as a corporate entity is nothing short of a joke, always working for the proverbial bacon, but never quite bringing it home. The NFL, NBA, MLB -- at the end of the day, they all know how to get the job done. The NHL? Something something TOTALLY RADICAL JERSEYS something something LAS VEGAS something something EMPTY SEATS? WAAHHH??? something something....

Granted, the league is at an inherent disadvantage, as hockey and the States will never be great bedfellows. But the point remains: The NHL is a bad business.

[NC WINGS FAN 5]

I am by no means an expert in the field of marketing, but shouldn't the NHL, which has long had a solid, loyal fan base, be marketing itself more to the "hardcore" fans (the ones willing to promote the game for free) instead watering the game down or loading it with gimmicks in a lousy attempt to move the impartial and casual fan "up the escalator"? It seems to me that the last thing you want to do is piss off your core fan base when they are the ones spreading the word or marketing your product!!...... free of charge. Instead, they are trying to reinvent the wheel. This article, like many before it, simply illustrates how blatantly poor the NHL is run If anyone is ever looking for an example proving that money is the root of all evil, tell them to look no further than Gary Bettman and how the second oldest pro sport league is run.

[vangvace 12]

I am by no means an expert in the field of marketing, but shouldn't the NHL, which has long had a solid, loyal fan base, be marketing itself more to the "hardcore" fans (the ones willing to promote the game for free) instead watering the game down or loading it with gimmicks in a lousy attempt to move the impartial and casual fan "up the escalator"? It seems to me that the last thing you want to do is piss off your core fan base when they are the ones spreading the word or marketing your product!!...... free of charge. Instead, they are trying to reinvent the wheel. This article, like many before it, simply illustrates how blatantly poor the NHL is run If anyone is ever looking for an example proving that money is the root of all evil, tell them to look no further than Gary Bettman and how the second oldest pro sport league is run.

Yes the NHL is the most poorly run league. Some of that is also due to the fact that less than a handful of owners have been around since 1994. Let alone having continuity at the BOG meetings.

With that out of the way...

No league focuses on the hardcore fans. Those are the people that it is a given will bring in revenue. What every league, or business for that matter, is trying to do is bring in new fans and their money. It's the one or two gamers that push revenue up from expected (season tickets, etc).

[Guest Hatethedrake!]

I think the solution is...to kick the Leafs out of the league. Just make them defunct. Then they can show the Wings on Hockey Night in Canada each Saturday. The Wings can play Canadian teams. Just kick the Leafs out. That would make me very happy.

[betterREDthandead 58]

No one is going to deny this. The problem is that the NHL as a corporate entity is nothing short of a joke, always working for the proverbial bacon, but never quite bringing it home. The NFL, NBA, MLB -- at the end of the day, they all know how to get the job done. The NHL? Something something TOTALLY RADICAL JERSEYS something something LAS VEGAS something something EMPTY SEATS? WAAHHH??? something something....

Granted, the league is at an inherent disadvantage, as hockey and the States will never be great bedfellows. But the point remains: The NHL is a bad business.

Granted, yes: The league sucks at the whole making money thing. They could take a lesson from, say, MLB's attempt to advertise on the bases.....the fans and media threw a fit and MLB canceled the idea.

I just don't like the notion that the NHL is the only league out there doing things for money rather than the sanctity of competition, which to me is how the article came across. They all are. The NHL is just bad at it.

[The Enforcer 13]

Fire on Ice. Ticket packages available now.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Dabura 12,232]

I just don't like the notion that the NHL is the only league out there doing things for money rather than the sanctity of competition, which to me is how the article came across.

Personally, I didn't get that from the article. If anything, I think it echoes what we're saying -- that is, that the NHL's business model and marketing strategies are faltering. Chasing the Almighty Dollar is fine, but if you're a professional sports league, you have to be smart and tactful about it. And The NHL is anything but.

Bettman is, in a not-so-far-fetched sense, out of control. For the life of him, he can't seem to understand that if you're going to make a move designed to increase revenue at the risk of toying with an already-frail Stateside fanbase, you had better be damn sure that that move is going to get you the earnings you desire. Otherwise, all you're going to do is over-extend yourself and piss off a lot of consumers (and make no mistake: the consumer is central to just about any business's vitality). But his schemes rarely work in that sense, and with each failure, his hole (and the league's hole) grows deeper and deeper.

Hell, the brass can't even handle the duties that aren't ostensibly tied to money, duties like taking a hard stance on dangerous plays. "We're going to take a hard stance on recklessness. To that end, we will be keeping an eye on Tomas Holmstrom."