Tank's Take February 14, 2003

Bettman's Mess

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has taken allot of heat since taking over in 1992 over his mishandling of everything from the 1994 strike to contraction to the All-Star Tie. Selig deserves to get hammered he may be one of the worst Commissioner in the history of sports, but he has good company in NHL boss Gary Bettman.

Gary Bettman who celebrated his 10th anniversary as Commissioner on February 1st, sounds like Charles Dickens when he says, "It's is the best of times, it is the worst of times for the NHL." However, right now it is hard to see where the good times are with the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres filing for bankruptcy and a countdown to possible labor Armageddon after the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires at the end of the 2003/04 season. In addition American Television Ratings are struggling more then ever, and attendance is down throughout the league.

Part of the problem is the NHL expanded too fast adding nine teams in ten years deluded talent and adding teams to markets that were either too small or in areas where hockey has yet to even grab any attention let alone be fertile ground for a team. Both teams in Florida are struggling to draw fans. Raleigh has had to almost explain hockey along the way to unfamiliar fans since the Hurricanes moved there in 1997. While Nashville and Phoenix barely realize their teams exist. However, one of the most puzzling recent additions is Atlanta. It may be good to have Ted Turner in the league as an owner, but the city of Atlanta failed in its NHL experiment with Flames from 1972-1980, and is known as a notoriously poor sports town, even failing to sell out Atlanta Braves playoff games.

While the NHL struggles with NHL teams in non-hockey cities its Canadian Franchise are struggling to keep up despite a large loyal fan base. Since Bettman took over the Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets have been forced to abandon their loyal fans for financial solvency in the United Sates. The Nordiques have been a rousing success playing as the Colorado Avalanche, while the Jets have struggled getting attention in Phoenix as the Coyotes.

If they have loyal fan bases in Canada where hockey is king, why can't they succeed financially? The reason is the exchange rate the Canadian dollar is only worth 66 cents American, and NHL player's salaries are paid in American Money. Add this to the high taxes levied by the Canadian Government and you have a Nation's pastime in danger of heading south literally.

The Canadian Government has rejected lending any help to their teams leaving them in their sorry state. This means it has to be up to the NHL to keep their Canadian Teams form going under, or being forced to move. This has been a major failure in Gary Bettman's tenure as Commissioner not only has he stood by and watched two teams move, he has stood by and watched Canada's teams forced to sell off their best players. His has resulted in a 10-year struggle in which no Canadian Team has made the Stanley Cup Final since 1994. Weather a team is competitive or not is not always the fault of the Commissioner, as success is cyclical. However, when a team develops star players and is forced to trade them away because they cannot afford them. Then it becomes a genuine problem.

Currently the Ottawa Senators are the best team in the NHL. However, with bankruptcy looming, how long can they stay at the top. Will they even be able to make a run in the playoffs with their team intact? These are questions that should never be an issue. The solution here is simple the NHL must find away to balance the Canadian Teams expenses, or in another 10 years they could be left with just 2 teams.

Another problem comes with poor ownership the Buffalo Sabres financial problems are due to Adelphia's bankruptcy and fraud charges. John Riggas the pioneer behind Adelphia, and former Sabres is currently facing 24 counts of securities, wire and bank fraud, and conspiracy in a scheme to defraud investors and creditors out of billions of dollars. This has left the Sabres in a dark cloud as the NHL is forced to run the team while new ownership is sought. Where the Riggas situation is a disturbing it is that this is the 3rd owner to face prison time due to fraud and embezzlement since Gary Bettman took over.

Former Kings owner Bruce McNall, who served 4 years in federal prison was already in place when Bettman too over. However, the John Spano affair shows the questionable screening process of Gary Bettman. Spano who purchased the Islanders with high hopes or reviving a dynasty and building a new arena in 1995, was a complete fraud. Spano who was not nearly as much as he claimed was defrauding creditors and failing to make payments to the teams former owners. This put the Islanders in a state of flux that they are now just finally starting to emerge from. However, it showed a failed sense of judgment in deicing club ownership by its commissioner. In other sports this would never happened because the backgrounds of owners are heavily checked to make sure that they could afford to keep their teams competitive, and contribute to the future success of the league.

However, Garry Bettman's biggest failure as Commissioner is in the arena he was hired to expand, improving the popularity of the NHL in America. True when Bettman took over there was no National TV contract for NHL coverage on broadcast TV, now they have playoff games on ABC after a 5-year contract with Fox. However, their TV Ratings have been more of a bust and boom, as the recent All-Star Game had fewer viewers then NBC's Arena Football coverage.

Part of the problem goes back to the poorly timed 1994/95 Lockout. Coming off an exciting playoff run involving the New York Rangers. The NHL had an opportunity to make some inroads, as their season was scheduled to start in October, as the World Series was cancelled, and hockey fans in the biggest market could not wait to see their team again. The 1994 playoff also helped the NHL land its first National TV deal in 20 years. However, it was all wasted as the NHL endured a nasty 4-month labor battle. As Commissioner, Gary Bettman, with a background in marketing he should have recognized the opportunity and stopped the labor action. However, instead he did nothing, and the NHL missed a genuine opportunity to make new fans.

Do nothing has been Gary Bettman's biggest problem. He has done nothing about Canada's exchange rate problem. He has done nothing about problems with ownership. He has done nothing to improve the NHL's growth in popularity in the US. He has sat back and watched, as the Pittsburgh Penguins have gotten nothing back for All-Stars they traded to Washington and the New York Rangers. He has even stood back and done nothing as ESPN has relegated the NHL to second-class citizens to its recently signed NBA contract. ESPN who has shown the NHL since 1992 has reduced the number of games they show on its two networks while failing to promote it since it started its deal with NBA in October a sport they promote every chance they get. TV promos are the key to better ratings and the fact that Bettman does not do anything to make ESPN promote his sport more is yet another big failure of Gary Bettman who always seems to be doing nothing.

Gary Bettman claims the NHL is not in trouble it is the best of times for his sport. However, people were having a good time on the Titanic too. Unless Bettman does something fast the NHL could sink, with its Collective Bargaining Agreement net year. However, given his track record maybe the best thing Gary Bettman, whose background is not even in hockey, could do is resign and let someone with an extensive hockey background take over who will do something about the NHL's problems take over.