Gary Bettman interview

[mjlegend 155]

Q: Jerry Moyes was losing a great deal of money.

A: He was losing, I don’t know, $20 million to $25 million a year. Okay, so that happens to clubs occasionally...

I'd like Comrade Gary to personally take a $20-$25 million hit per year for a few years and see how his bottom line is doing. The better-run leagues don't have franchises bleeding millions like this.

[Chunkylover 26]

I have to say he pretty well handled whoever was asking the questions. He seems very intelligent and smart enough not to accept a false premise when presented with one. This is the only thing I disagree with him on:

"I would submit if you went across our fan base most people would probably tell you they understood what we were doing and why."

As is demonstrated all over hockey discussion boards, most people commenting have no idea what the Phoenix fiasco was about, or what Bettman's job even is in the first place.

This is the most interesting part:

Here in Canada, surveys conducted by Reginald Bibby, a well-known sociologist, show a steep decline in the proportion of young people following the league compared to past decades. There are also stats that show, over the past 15 years, fewer young males are playing the game.

Canada deserves another team why? Maybe that's a bit unnecessarily incendiary, but I thought the quote was interesting nonetheless.

[Louisville 112]

I'd like Comrade Gary to personally take a $20-$25 million hit per year for a few years and see how his bottom line is doing. The better-run leagues don't have franchises bleeding millions like this.

This part made me laugh, $20-$25 million? Baaaaaah it happens

[Chunkylover 26]

I can't really fault his answers, only the fact that he's a hostile witness throughout what I read of the interview. To be fair, we DON'T know about some of the Coyotes' operations, and while he comes off as an ******* when he talks down to the interviewer and dances around some questions, I can't really condemn him for it.

You don't think he was a hostile witness because of the hostile interviewer?

I swear to god if Gary Bettman was the president and he was asked about the war in Iraq he'd deny that there was a war and just say they the troops are over there having a tea party. And economic problems? No such thing. People are just realizing money isn't everything and there are smiles all around.

We don't need Gary Bettman to be President to hear those responses from the White House.

I'm glad Bettman is in charge. People will always need to blame something because it's out of their control. He is a great commissioner and will be looked back on for improving the league, not harming it.

Sarcastic or not, this is quoted for truth.

Yes the league needs someone to blame and Bettman is it.

However, he has done jack s*** for this league. He's nickel and dimed the game into a profit from where he started, but no way has he done anything great at all for the sport of hockey.

Bettman has taken the league off major TV stations through his brilliant negotiating, put the league in risk of being dissolved TWICE, and now has made a mockery of the league in some vendetta against Balsillie that could have been resolved much easier.

Most fans of the sport can't even legally watch a whole season due to this man and his brilliance.

He nickel-and-dimed the league to a profit and he hasn't done anything for the league? Oh and Bettman didn't take hockey of major TV stations, ESPN didn't want hockey at all.

He's an idiot.

The thing about younger Canadians no longer watching is a huge issue. Something he should be addressing. The simple fact is, a lot of my friends who were diehard Leaf fans no longer even WATCH the sport. That's a combination of the Leafs being horrid and because of the fact that they CAN'T!

I get lucky and catch a game on CBC when the Wings play a Canadian team. Other than that, I have to stream if I'm at home...

Getting young Canadians into hockey isn't the NHL commissioner's job.

This part made me laugh, $20-$25 million? Baaaaaah it happens

This is really the only valid critique throughout this whole thread.

[Doc Holiday 0]

We don't need Gary Bettman to be President to hear those responses from the White House.

I'm sure....

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

This is really the only valid critique throughout this whole thread.

That makes the most sense, when you consider it was at the end of your post.

[55fan 5,133]

He kind of makes me think of what it would be like if my neighbour's socially inept grandson that plays alone because no one likes him was to be reincarnated as a K-Y dispenser.

[Chunkylover 26]

That makes the most sense, when you consider it was at the end of your post.

I was referring to the guy who questioned Bettman's glib statement about the loss of $20-$25M. That was a valid critique, because that's a serious loss. Now if it has happened before, to cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Ottawa, that is, if there is precedent to major losses like that, then I can maybe understand why he thinks things can be turned around with the right people in charge. Look at how much better the team is doing with a good coach, i.e., not someone who bought their coaching position, but someone who earned it.

The Illitch model makes it clear that the problem with an underperforming franchise is not the fans, and not the game itself, but the people who are in charge. Put the right people in the right positions and a team (the Red Wings) that can't fill their home arena (the Joe Louis) even when they're giving a car away every game night, can turn into a champion and the post popular NHL team in two countries and much of the hockey-world.

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

The "search" for a suitable owner of the franchise in Phoenix would make a pretty good "reality" tv show.

[jollymania 162]

Bettman is a rat

[tiff_luvs_homer 5]

I saw his stupid face and couldn't even begin reading the article... I went completely braindead for a second there until I clicked out of the link.

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

The "search" for a suitable owner of the franchise in Phoenix would make a pretty good "reality" tv show.

The sad part is I think Gary likes the publicity it's getting the league (that or he thinks he needs to justify himself to win back fans that don't like him already for other things). Now he's making claims of it being a personal thing (of course it is, stop polishing turds), and he's an idiot for continuing to drag it out in the public eye. If he really wanted Phoenix to be successful, he'd be helping them along, not plastering them in the news.

As to anyone who says the interviewer asked... he could have said no, move on.

Edit: There's nothing even to report until they can actually put a name to these "investors".

Edited November 19, 2009 by CaliWingsNut

[Guest Four]

Q: Let’s switch gears from Phoenix.

A: Really? Okay!

LOL.

Q: You talked about opportunities to grow the game and showcase it. Obviously one of those is the Olympics. Yet there’s no commitment to continuing on with them after Vancouver.

A: If you want to put any responsibility as to why we even go to the Olympics in the first place, I’m the one that did that. I thought it was the right thing to do, and I made the arrangements with the Players’ Association, with the IIHF and the IOC. We haven’t said we’re not going to Sochi [Russia in 2014]. We’ve just said we haven’t made a decision, and that seems to have snowballed into something bigger, like we’re anti-Olympics. Stopping our season in the middle is not without its impact. We get to February, we’re about to hit the stretch runs. Teams are firing on all cylinders, the races are close and it all comes to a stop. We have some teams, because of the arenas they play in, who don’t have a home game for three or four weeks, and you kind of lose the consciousness among fans. Then there’s the competitive issue. If you’re an NHL team with a diverse international roster you could send a dozen players, while another team might send one or two. That doesn’t mean you don’t go, it means you balance the pros and the cons. If we go to Sochi, it’s eight hours time difference from the East Coast of North America. Every game’s going to be played between four in the morning and two in the afternoon, live. You tell me—is that worth it, to shut down and impact, potentially, your season? I don’t know the answer.

But it's worth it to impact the Red Wing's season in the playoffs by giving them no break, right?

Edited November 19, 2009 by Four

[Holmstrom96 347]

He's been booed in more arenas than the Joe.

Put him up on the big screen in any arena, home team winning or losing, you will hear boos, period.

[Chunkylover 26]

Put him up on the big screen in any arena, home team winning or losing, you will hear boos, period.

But does anyone really know why they're booing? He's not really responsible for most of what he's blamed for. For instance: the ticky-tack hooking and holding calls (Shanahan and the competition committee), the Wings losing to the Penguins (obviously too many injuries!), hockey being dropped from ESPN (ESPN exec at the time hated hockey), Quebec and Winnipeg moving (poor management), et cetera....

I think the real reason he's booed is the natural tendency of humans to resist authority coupled with some degree of ignorance.

[Opie 308]

When does he stop getting credit for the economy being good.

A lot of people who defend him state that under him the league has been the most profitable, but the economy that just abruptly ended on a lot of us was by far the best the economy had ever been, and due to that EVERY major sports organization lived through its most profitable time. Including the MLS.

What has Bettman done so well not to get booed?

Has he found a better tv package, no but in the meantime the UFC, a sport considered to be too violent for most homes, is on nightly and the resurgence of the sport can be pin pointed to one event shown free on a no name network that is now very big thanks to the UFC.

Has he cracked down and shown an Iron fist like Goodell and NFL, nope instead his league has shown a propensity to let big names get away with things.

Has he followed the rest of the sports with integrating Replay, sure in an ineffective manor while other sports (including MLB) think of ways to retool it and make it better, during the season! A ref can overrule a video replay as easily as last night?

Has he completely make a mockery of the situation in Pho?

You may say well all of those Hes should be Theys as he doesn't do it alone, yeah and Bush and Obama didn't / don't take heat for things done in their cabinets or by the senate or congress.

He is the head of this ship and he needs to right it or former players need to step in and help the game they help make awesome!

Again, why should I like the guy or stop booing him?

Edited November 19, 2009 by Opie

[ManLuv4Clears 7]

When does he stop getting credit for the economy being good.

A lot of people who defend him state that under him the league has been the most profitable, but the economy that just abruptly ended on a lot of us was by far the best the economy had ever been, and due to that EVERY major sports organization lived through its most profitable time. Including the MLS.

What has Bettman done so well not to get booed?

Has he found a better tv package, no but in the meantime the UFC, a sport considered to be too violent for most homes, is on nightly and the resurgence of the sport can be pin pointed to one event shown free on a no name network that is now very big thanks to the UFC.

Has he cracked down and shown an Iron fist like Goodell and NFL, nope instead his league has shown a propensity to let big names get away with things.

Has he followed the rest of the sports with integrating Replay, sure in an ineffective manor while other sports (including MLB) think of ways to retool it and make it better, during the season! A ref can overrule a video replay as easily as last night?

Has he completely make a mockery of the situation in Pho?

You may say well all of those Hes should be Theys as he doesn't do it alone, yeah and Bush and Obama didn't / don't take heat for things done in their cabinets or by the senate or congress.

He is the head of this ship and he needs to right it or former players need to step in and help the game they help make awesome!

Again, why should I like the guy or stop booing him?

There ya go Opie

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

But does anyone really know why they're booing? He's not really responsible for most of what he's blamed for. For instance: the ticky-tack hooking and holding calls (Shanahan and the competition committee), the Wings losing to the Penguins (obviously too many injuries!), hockey being dropped from ESPN (ESPN exec at the time hated hockey), Quebec and Winnipeg moving (poor management), et cetera....

I think the real reason he's booed is the natural tendency of humans to resist authority coupled with some degree of ignorance.

LOL. You're funny.

Quote from good ole Gary....

"We felt coming out of the work stoppage and the year off, doing the traditional mode, going back to ESPN, where they have everything, wasn’t going to help us bring the game back as strong."

"With the use of digital technology, we can really give our fans as close a connection to the game as they want in a whole variety of ways. We think having come back as strong as we have from the work stoppage, four years of record attendance and record revenues; our ratings are up just about everywhere on television. We’re probably as strong as we’ve ever been."

What was that about ESPN execs again?

I hate Bettman and his constant merry-go round of lies... Ohh the owners said... but we... NO. Take ******* responsibility.

I love how our ratings are "up just about everywhere" WTF does that mean? "Probally as strong as we've ever been" On 5 channels?

Edited November 19, 2009 by CaliWingsNut

[Chunkylover 26]

When does he stop getting credit for the economy being good.

A lot of people who defend him state that under him the league has been the most profitable, but the economy that just abruptly ended on a lot of us was by far the best the economy had ever been, and due to that EVERY major sports organization lived through its most profitable time. Including the MLS.

What has Bettman done so well not to get booed?

Has he found a better tv package, no but in the meantime the UFC, a sport considered to be too violent for most homes, is on nightly and the resurgence of the sport can be pin pointed to one event shown free on a no name network that is now very big thanks to the UFC.

Has he cracked down and shown an Iron fist like Goodell and NFL, nope instead his league has shown a propensity to let big names get away with things.

Has he followed the rest of the sports with integrating Replay, sure in an ineffective manor while other sports (including MLB) think of ways to retool it and make it better, during the season! A ref can overrule a video replay as easily as last night?

Has he completely make a mockery of the situation in Pho?

You may say well all of those Hes should be Theys as he doesn't do it alone, yeah and Bush and Obama didn't / don't take heat for things done in their cabinets or by the senate or congress.

He is the head of this ship and he needs to right it or former players need to step in and help the game they help make awesome!

Again, why should I like the guy or stop booing him?

I agree that the buck stops at the top. Certainly you've raised some good points, and he is responsible for providing leadership. I just don't know that he's really done as much bad as he's blamed for, and am certain that he's not getting any credit for any good that he's done.

This is just me, but it's a sign of poor management to make a public display when rebuking a lesser official. Colin Campbell is responsible for rules enforcement, and I don't know who is in charge of the refs, but they both know when mistakes are made, but it damages all authority when even one part of it is publicly mocked or rebuked.

If you have trouble accepting that, personalize it: if you were Auger would you rather be confronted in front of the media, or behind the scenes?

Wasn't the NHL one of the leaders in implementing instant replay? What they need to do is embed sensors in the puck and net.

I won't tell you that you absolutely must cheer for him, but if he's really as woefully incompetent as you suggest then the league would have struggled in spite of the economy. If people deserve blame when things go wrong, they deserve credit when things go right.

LOL. You're funny.

Quote from good ole Gary....

"We felt coming out of the work stoppage and the year off, doing the traditional mode, going back to ESPN, where they have everything, wasn’t going to help us bring the game back as strong."

"With the use of digital technology, we can really give our fans as close a connection to the game as they want in a whole variety of ways. We think having come back as strong as we have from the work stoppage, four years of record attendance and record revenues; our ratings are up just about everywhere on television. We’re probably as strong as we’ve ever been."

What was that about ESPN execs again?

I hate Bettman and his constant merry-go round of lies... Ohh the owners said... but we... NO. Take ******* responsibility.

I love how our ratings are "up just about everywhere" WTF does that mean? "Probally as strong as we've ever been" On 5 channels?

So, you pick the part where he takes responsibility for the ESPN thing, but mock the part where he says things are better than they were before. If he's a liar how can anything he says be trustworthy? You're cherry-picking what you want to accept as truth.

The league should be concerned about making money and I believe Versus offered them more. If a tiny network like Versus can outbid ESPN, then ESPN isn't really as successful as we all think. Since that's not the case, ESPN's low-balling of the NHL shows their true interest in the game.

[Pucks 66]

Pucks

"Hey Gary what's up with that disallowed goal for the Wings the other night?"

Gary

"Never happened. Got any bananas?"

[edicius 3,269]

Pucks

"Hey Gary what's up with that disallowed goal for the Wings the other night?"

Gary

"Never happened. Got any bananas?"

You forgot his standard answers too.

"OMG OUR OFFICIALZ ARE THE BESTEST IN ALL OF SPORTS!!!111"

and

"THERE RIGHT 99.99999999999% OF THE TIMES!!!!11 GO PENGUINS!!!"

(Yes, I intentionally misspelled "they're" for dramatic effect and general buffoonery.)

[Doc Holiday 0]

I think this photoshop from the playoffs bears repeating.

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

I quoted part of this earlier.. thought I'd include a link to a reputable source backing it up. It's on page 2 of the article.

Speaking in defense of Versus...

"There tends to be some criticism of them, probably initiated by some of their competitors [...] We felt coming out of the work stoppage and the year off, doing the traditional mode, going back to ESPN, where they have everything, wasn't going to help us bring the game back as strong.

"We felt we needed to be in a place where the network would grow with us, they'd make us their most important priority, and give us special treatment. And Versus has done that."

-Gary Bettman

-LA Times-