COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN MEDIA AVAILABILITY
(Courtesy of the NHL and FastScripts):
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Hello, everybody. And welcome to the Stanley
Cup Final.
First of all, I'd like to congratulate both clubs, in particular
Henry and Susan Samueli, the owners of the Anaheim Ducks, and Mike Schulman
and Brian Burke and Randy Carlyle and of course the players and the fans of
the Ducks.
You know, interestingly enough, this is the third time in the last 15
years that we've been in Southern California for the Stanley Cup Final.
I also would like to congratulate the Ottawa Senators, Eugene Melnyk,
Roy Mlakar, John Muckler and Bryan Murray on their outstanding season.
And, of course, to their players and to their fans as well.
And for the first time in 80 years we're going back to play the Final
in Ottawa, which I believe was Lord Stanley Preston's home in Canada when
he donated the Stanley Cup.
I also would like to thank all of our fans on what was a terrific
season. I'd like to thank them for their great support.
This was another season of record attendance and record revenues. We
had a strong, solid season. The game has been entertaining and exciting.
And we continue to move in what I believe is a positive direction.
Is everything perfect? Is everything exactly where we would like it
to be? Of course not. And it never is for any sports league. It never is
for any business.
There will always be issues and challenges, and we are always trying
to improve and to do better. However, our issues and our challenges are
but a mere fraction of what they were just a few years ago.
So we are feeling good about things, and we are excited about the
future.
As I said two years in a row since coming back from the work
stoppage, record attendance and record revenues, TV in Canada remains
strong. We are a vital and important programming, as evidenced by our new
agreement with the CBC extending our relationship for Hockey Night in
Canada.
Television in the U.S., obviously it could be better, and we're
working on it. But the media world is changing. And in recognition of
that fact we are using new technology in a big way. In the last five
months we have signed 15 new agreements with digital partners, and some of
those agreements you're familiar with. YouTube, we were the first league,
and there have been 12 million streams of highlights since we entered into
that relationship.
Google, there's been 2 million downloads of games. We were the first
league with MySpace, the first league with Joost.
NHL.com, of all the major sports sites, in April had the largest
percentage increase in traffic of over 65 percent.
It's a long-winded way of saying the way that sports interact with
media, while traditional television, Nielsen ratings, will always be one
measure, it is but one measure of how well we're doing.
And we think, based on what's going on with media, there is a great
opportunity for us moving forward.
Before taking questions, I'd like to act as a little bit of master of
ceremonies in terms of things that you should know about for the next
couple of weeks.
One, we are thrilled that the two teams that are playing, they play
hockey the way the new rules envisioned. And we think the matchup is going
to be very exciting and we're looking forward to a terrific series.
Two, six of this year's top prospects in the draft that will be held
in Columbus at the end of the month will be here for you to meet with on
Wednesday. And so we hope you'll take an opportunity to meet with them.
Three, six members of the 1955 to '60 Montreal Canadiens dynasty
team, including "the Pocket Rocket" and Jean Beliveau will be available to
meet with you and us at a reception that we're having on Friday night in
Ottawa.
On Saturday we will be presenting three league awards: the Art Ross,
the Rocket Richard and the Williams Jennings trophies to Sidney Crosby,
Vinny Lecavalier and Niklas Backstrom and Manny Fernandez of Minnesota. So
that will be something else for us to all to do together.
We think this should be a fun couple of weeks. It's good to see all
- well, most of you (laughter), and I'm happy to take your questions.
Actually, Bill Daly is here for questions and I think Colie should be
somewhere. Anybody see Colie? He's here, too. Among the three of us,
hopefully we can answer any question that you pose.
Q. (Unmic'd question regarding Rick Tocchet's possible
reinstatement)?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: You're asking me to prognosticate. Rick
Tocchet pled guilty to a Grade 3 felony. He has yet to be sentenced. I
believe that will take place somewhere in the August teens.
We will finally have an opportunity to have Bob Cleary, who has been
conducting our investigation, meet with him. So I'm not really in a
position to say what's going to happen until there's a complete disposition
of his case and until our independent investigator has had an opportunity
to interview him, finish interviewing some other people, and then present
his report.
At that point I'll be in a position to make a determination in terms
of what his status should or should not be.
Q. What's going to happen with Nashville?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: What's going to happen with Nashville? We
have an application by the club for Craig Leipold to sell the Nashville
Predators to Jim Balsillie. That is a process that requires us to do some
more due diligence, even though we did some in Pittsburgh, we have more to
do.
It will require a three-quarter approval by the Board of Governors in
terms of whether or not Mr. Balsillie as an owner and this transaction
should be approved.
The Predators have a lease that goes, I think, for another 14 years,
give or take. There is a possibility that the lease could terminate in a
year if certain things do or don't happen. But as far as we're concerned
right now, Mr. Balsillie's request for approval and the transaction related
solely to him buying the Nashville Predators subject to whatever lease is
in effect, and if, in fact, at some point the lease is terminated and he
seeks to relocate the franchise, that is something that would have to be
considered under the league's constitution and bylaws at the time.
Q. Would you be concerned of the perception that it could be a
foregone conclusion or a self-fulfilling prophecy that the franchise would
be moved?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: That's why I answered the question the way I
did. I'm hoping to dispel the perception. If the attendance mark is
satisfied, even if it's not, if the city cures what would then be the
default, this team is not going anywhere.
There is a lease, and sports leagues aren't in the practice of
letting teams violate their leases. I believe Mr. Balsillie understands
that and it's conceivable that this team will be in Nashville for as long
as its lease, however long that may be.
Q. But there are significant problems in Nashville, I think you
would agree, given the attendance and the efforts that Craig Leipold made.
Mr. Balsillie has made it known in the past that he would like to have a
team in Canada. Your thoughts on, A, the problems in Nashville, whether
they can be corrected, and, B, the potential for that team to move to
Canada?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: That's a terrific question for two reasons.
One, the reason the clause that's in question, the one that says if
attendance is at a certain level and then there's no cure, Craig actually -
Leipold actually put in the lease, because he was concerned as to whether
or not this particular non-traditional market could support a team
long-term.
And we will find out the answer to the question, I suppose, over the
next year assuming he gives the appropriate notice which I believe he needs
to do by June 19th.
I met with Mr. Balsillie last week. Bill Daly and I both did, and I
specifically asked him whether or not he had specific plans or intentions
with respect to moving the franchise, and he told me he did not.
And so I think there's been entirely too much speculation in terms of
what comes next.
What's clear to me from meeting with Mr. Balsillie is that he's
passionate about the game, would like to own a franchise and certainly has
the resources to do it.
Beyond that, there have been no promises. There have been no
predictions. And I think if anybody believes that this franchise is
destined to a particular location, that's more a matter of speculation.
With respect to a franchise returning to Canada, that's something
that intrigues me. Because with the partnership we have with the players
and the revenue sharing, that's something, while we haven't studied it,
seems to be more likely than it was three, four, five years ago.
I believe there was actually an editorial in today or yesterday's
National Post suggesting if we do return to Canada, we should go back to
Winnipeg first because they have a new building and we owe it to them since
this is a market that has had a club.
I'm not opining on whether or not that is an opinion that I agree
with, but it is an interesting and intriguing thought.
Q. Gary, is this league getting any closer to considering a move to
the two-three-two playoff format, maybe having the All Star game count to
decide who gets it like baseball does?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Actually, the All Star game counting for home
ice has nothing to do with the two-three-two. That's not something that's
been considered. Two-three-two has been discussed a number of times. And
the clubs believe that for competitive reasons, even though it necessitates
more traveling, they like it the way it is.
And since I'm not playing the games, I'm happy to go wherever the
games are, and if it means a little more travel, if this is what the clubs
I think overwhelmingly support in terms of the way they want to maintain
the integrity of home-ice advantage.
Q. You said the possibility of returning to Canada intrigues you, do
you think it is more likely that that would happen with a franchise
relocation or through expansion?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: When I say it intrigues me, it's something I
haven't spent a whole lot of time thinking about or researching. As with
intrigue, it's sometimes a fanciful notion. But it's something that if the
right circumstances presented themselves and there was an interest in a
real and meaningful material way, it's something that we would have to
obviously look at seriously. But beyond that, we haven't gone to the next
step, whatever that might be.
Q. Here in Los Angeles there are two teams in the metropolitan area,
and New York has three. Toronto is arguably the largest hockey place in
the world maybe outside of Moscow. Do you ever imagine a second team could
go into Toronto?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: It's not something that I have given any
thought to. I'm not so sure. Well, I'm not advocating moving any clubs,
because I don't like to do that. And the world we live in now, I'm not
sure what our footprint would be if we were starting from scratch on a
clean slate. Having said that, we love all our franchises where they are.
We haven't given any thought to your question. I, frankly, think -
and I live in the New York, New Jersey metropolitan area, I think it's
tough for all the clubs to get media attention, particularly when they're
having tough years on the ice. There's some real downsides to multiple
teams in the market.
Q. Gary, declining press at this event. Very few newspapers
represented as opposed to a few years ago. Any theories on that and how
much does it concern you?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Well, actually our numbers this year are about
what they were last year. So there hasn't been a decline last year to this
year.
But the point you're making is a good one and a fair one. We covet
as much attention as we can get from every possible outlet and source. So
what I'm about to say shouldn't be construed as my attempt to minimize
that, because it's not.
The newspaper industry is in a very challenging period. Editors,
particularly sports editors, are looking to cut expenses every way they
can.
This was something when the AP sports editors were in to see me, as
they come around in April to see all the commissioners when they visit
through New York over a couple of days, the way that the newspapers do
business and cover all sports is changing dramatically because of the
economic constraints.
And the newspaper industry has its challenges. And that's why you're
seeing some of the decisions made. The good news from our standpoint, and
I use that in quotes, and I don't mean it's good news, the fact that it's
happening now with all the coverage through other forms of media that's
more instantaneous means that fans aren't relying as much on newspapers as
they did 20 or 30 years ago to get their news.
That's probably one of the reasons that the newspaper industry is
having the problems that it is. We are in changing and challenging times
with respect to coverage and how it's covered. I saw one editor say he
wasn't sending somebody because he didn't like the geographic matchup.
With all due respect, if you're making your decisions as to how you cover
your sports based on geography, I'm not sure that your readers are going to
be reading your sports pages that often.
I think what's most important is what's taking place, in our case, on
the ice, what happens on any playing surface in any sport. And I think
newspapers are adjusting to very difficult economic times.
Having said that, I'll go back to what I first said. I wish
everybody were here because watching our game in person, particularly the
Final, there's nothing like it in sports. And it's great to be a part of.
Q. The length of the season seems to be a bit of topic this time of
year. Do you foresee there being any appetite at all among the governors
to either start the season earlier at some point or to pare some games off
the schedule? From a personal standpoint, do you believe there's any
difference in presenting the Stanley Cup on June 11th or, let's say, May
20th or 21st?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Two things. Starting the season earlier
doesn't change its length. So that means we would have to start in
September. What the clubs tell us is they'd like to start later, because
when you have baseball playoffs, the middle of the football season, our
teams are telling us they'd like to start later in October and even
November.
To start in November we would have to end in July, and I do see a
difference in doing that. Late May, early June to me isn't that big a
deal.
We have had some discussions with the Players Association about
compressing October, because teams tend to give us fewer dates in October
and it picks up in November. Without making November through the end of
the regular season any more intense, we could compress October a little
bit, maybe pick up a week, maybe ten days, maybe if we're really lucky two
weeks.
But that hasn't been anything under the circumstances we've been able
to get the Players Association to sign off on. Our fans like going to our
games. That's why we played in 92 percent of capacity. That's why we
played at 99.5 percent of capacity during the playoffs. If we're going to
play an 82-game schedule, which is, again, something that fans have
gravitated to in a big way, you can only do it based on our travel, based
on the physicality of our game. You can only do it in a certain window.
And I don't see any basis to cut the playoffs short. It's two
months. There isn't much you can do about it. So I think we are where we
are.
If you look at some of the other sports, their seasons are getting
longer and longer. Did I read recently that baseball now could have the
deciding game of the World Series in November? I didn't know that they
were emulating us by becoming a cold-weather sport. That was a joke, okay,
don't get me in trouble with that (laughter).
Q. Gary, you referenced in your answer about Nashville, about
nebulous, though, it might be, a possible return to a Canadian city was
made possible by a change in the landscape post-lockout. Can you kind of
enunciate why that is and what really has changed to make it?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: The combination of a salary cap and revenue
sharing. Markets that couldn't afford to compete now can be more
competitive. Instead of having teams with payrolls of 20 million and teams
with payrolls at 80 million, we now have a $16 million range within which
everybody has to be.
We also have revenue sharing. Some teams can get double-digit
millions in revenue sharing in a given year. The combination of those
things - we don't believe that - when I say we, Bill Daly and I in
particular - that you have to spend to the cap to be competitive.
There were teams that tried to be competitive at 25 million or 30
million against 80 or 60 or 70 million, and so we don't think if you're
anywhere in that ($16-million) range how much you spend is really an issue.
So the combination of having a range that shouldn't make a
competitive difference coupled with revenue sharing, again, we haven't
studied it because it isn't before us.
At the present time we're not looking at expansion. At the present
time we're not looking at relocation. So from our standpoint, these are
more theoretical questions, as I said before, perhaps even intriguing
questions.
But they seem to be something, depending on the circumstances, we may
have to deal with. We are - as I said, we've been getting lots of
expressions of interest in expansion. And as I said, while we're not
dealing with expansion as a formal process right now. We're listening to
what people have to say.
Q. Speaking of expansion, and I know you won't like this one, but
what about Europe? There seems to be more and more grounds there for maybe
thinking about that in the next 10 years?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: From our standpoint, based on where we've been
and where we are, we needed to take care of ourselves in North America
first. We owed it to our fans here. We owed it to the game here. And
that has been our primary focus.
Obviously with a third of our players from outside of North America,
some of the best hockey players in the world, there is a tremendous
interest in our game on the other side of the Atlantic. I don't believe
it's a coincidence that a third of the visits to NHL.com actually come from
outside of North America.
We're looking at ways of satisfying that interest. As you all know,
we're going to open the regular season with two games between the Ducks and
the Kings in London.
I think over time you'll see us have a greater and greater presence,
maybe bring more teams over to start the regular season.
The formality of expanding over there, short-term I think it's hard
logistically in terms of travel, and I think it's hard logistically because
the arena infrastructure, while changing, they don't have the same level or
number of first-class major league arenas that we have here.
That's something that will change over time and it's something that
we'll continue to monitor closely.
Q. With regards to Nashville, I'm sure you're aware it caused quite
a stir in Canada, and the possibility of another Canadian team excites a
lot of people. In Nashville you have a team that has a beautiful arena, an
excellent hockey team, good management, now has a salary cap, now has
revenue sharing, can't get people interested. Haven't they told you
they're not interested in having an NHL team?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Actually, it's a good question. But there's
an answer to it which goes something like this: I believe as a percentage
of season ticket holders, there are more individuals as opposed to
corporate in Nashville than any of our other markets. The economy, the
number of head offices, particularly in health care and finance, for that
part of the country, has changed dramatically since the team has been
there.
And this team's suffering is due to a lack of corporate support.
It's still an important part of any franchise's well-being. And unless the
corporate community is going to step up, then this team may lose it. They
do have a good, strong fan base, particularly for a team in a
non-traditional market that's been there 10 years.
So I wouldn't suggest that every part of Nashville I wouldn't suggest
has failed the team. I think the corporate community hasn't stepped up,
certainly not the way it did in the first two years when the economics were
different.
Q. Scoring. Last year, first year after the lockout, everything was
up and things were looking pretty bright. Both now in the regular season
and playoffs you've seen a significant drop. You would agree it's
significant at least in scoring. Do you plan to do anything to address
that to at least get it back to where it was last year?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: The scoring in the regular season was off
about three-tenths of a goal a game and the scoring in the playoffs is off
about a goal a game. We needn't quibble whether it's significant. It is
what it is and I certainly wouldn't argue the point.
Yes, we're going to look at it with the Competition Committee. We're
going to look at it with the managers and ultimately with the Board. And
the first judgment that will have to be made is, is that a significant
issue and is it something we need to address?
Interestingly enough, even-strength goals, and I'm certain about this
for the regular season, and I believe I'm correct for the playoffs,
even-strength goals were actually up. There have been less penalties, not
because we're relaxing the standard, but because everybody's adjusting to
it and so the number of power-play goals, particularly in the regular
season, is where the fall-off was in scoring.
Having said that, that doesn't answer your question. It just puts it
into context. It's something we'll have to look at. We like the way the
game is being played. We think there are lots of scoring chances. We
think there's good flow. We think there's lots of lead changes, but the
question is, does the game, and particularly our fans, need more moments of
gratification that only the scoring of a goal can bring them? And that's
something that we've got to look at.
Q. Gary, NBC decided to quit a game between Buffalo and Ottawa
because it was going into overtime. Will you have to revise the overtime
thing or is the game going to stay the way it is, even though the regular
season and the playoffs are two different matters?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: I don't want to quibble with you on words.
It's not that they decided to quit the game. It's that we had an
understanding: NBC is obligated to carry all of our games to conclusion,
except the two games that are played on the days of the Kentucky Derby and
Preakness, because when we made our deal with NBC they had prior
contractual commitments.
And our alternative would have been to put all four of the games, two
last year and two this year, on Versus and not have them on NBC at all.
The judgment we made - and maybe it was the wrong one; we'll have to
look at it over the summer - was we were better off taking the chance with
the possibility that maybe none of the games would go into overtime. Three
of the four didn't. The last one over the last two years did. And we
wound up having to switch the game to Versus.
Obviously in an ideal world that doesn't happen. But we understood
going in that that was the risk of the decision we were making, and I made
the decision that I'd rather have the games - because it wouldn't have just
been the one game; we would have had to take all four games, two this year
and two last, and move them all to Versus. At this stage of the season, I
wanted to have as much of the games as possible in the broadest possible
distribution as possible.
I can't see him in the light, but if anybody has any additional
questions on it, I think Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Sports, may be
in the room. If he is, raise your hand. There he is in the back. Dick,
you can add anything if you'd like.
DICK EBERSOL: No you've said it all. In an ideal set of
circumstances, we wouldn't have the prior arrangement but we've been
involved with both the Derby and Preakness now for seven or eight years.
And as you and I discussed many times this year going into this
situation, we prayed for quadruple overtime on a Saturday night during the
Stanley Cup Final, but we hoped it wouldn't happen on the weekend of the
Derby or the Preakness, and we got caught.
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: What's also interesting is, and nobody seemed
to have picked up on it, or if they have, they're ignoring it, the next
night we went into overtime. The game ran long Sunday, blew out the local
news. What was also interesting about it was NBC not only stayed with the
game, but spent about 15 minutes and went back to the arena twice to do
interviews and did a complete wrap-up show. Other than those two days, it
hasn't been an issue and their coverage has been terrific.
Q. Gary, why weren't those games scheduled for night given NBC's
prior commitments in the afternoon?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Because we wanted to try to put the games on
NBC as opposed to putting those games on Versus. It would have reduced our
NBC presence. And that's a fair question to ask. That was the judgment we
made at the time. And three out of the four games that it was at issue
worked out okay.
You can second-guess it. I do myself. And it's something obviously
we're going to have to think about going forward.
Q. There have been much discussions here about television issues.
And you even alluded in your remarks about it's not perfect and we all hear
about that, too. As a grizzled member of the dinosaur print media, I can
presume to assume that in the next few days there are going to be stories
written about the sign of lack of interest because of the ratings and
everything else. Those Nielsen ratings are such in the United States that
it's a sign of lack of interest in hockey. Is there a point at which you
just want to step back and just say we are what we are and stop worrying or
stop harping on that?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: By the way, I think it's a good point. We are
what we are. And we think we're pretty darn good. And we like where we
are. And this is a business that will do close to $2.4 billion in
revenues. We have over 20 million fans six seasons in a row, each year
setting an attendance record, come to our regular season. We play to
virtually 100 percent of capacity in the playoffs. Our visits to NHL.com
are growing dramatically. Nielsen TV ratings is but one metric.
It doesn't define us. And, by the way, the research also says that
we probably have somewhere around 50 million fans. Some avid, some casual.
What it tells you is people who follow this game who are passionate
about the game don't watch it on TV in the United States as much as we'd
all like. But you know what, there are probably two or three other sports
that do it better than we do, and you know what, there are a bunch of niche
sports that don't even come close.
We don't have to apologize to anybody for what we are. We think we
can continue to grow across all media platforms. We believe that we will.
But I think it's a little unfair to define us based on traditional
television ratings.
We've had a difficult history on television, which included 20 years
of not being on national television. We have been trying to swim upstream
against the declining current for the last 15 years.
Listen, my first Stanley Cup Final in 1993, we were on cable, and it
was blacked out in the local markets. So we've come a long way in the last
14 years on television. For people who want to knock us on the basis of
that, go ahead. But we're not going to apologize for what we are.
We like what we are. And we think we're special. And this game and
the players associated with it are the best in all of sports and we'll find
our own level over time. But this isn't a 60-minute game. This game gets
played year after year, generation to generation. We've been around since
1917. We'll be around for hundreds of years going forward. I'm not
concerned. In fact, I'm optimistic about the future. But thanks for
asking.
Q. In the local and in the national media, leading up to your
showcase event, there have been a number of stories about how there's no
buzz in Southern California. There's no excitement. There are a lot of
people who couldn't name five members of the Anaheim Ducks. Does this
concern you? And are there things that the league office can do to ensure
that Southern California is a healthy hockey market and that for your
showcase event there are people who know that it's going on?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Well, it's a fair question. And let me try
and answer it as follows. First of all, when this building is full
tonight, it will be rocking and as loud as any building in the league.
Two, in the time that the Ducks have been in the league since 1993, I
believe participation in organized hockey is up something like 660 percent,
in terms of people playing.
The number of rinks is double, and I think there are four more rinks
being planned to be built in the next four years. This team has been here,
Anaheim, since 1993. It's still a market in its infancy, Southern
California, Orange County, as opposed to LA where obviously the Kings have
been longer. People gravitate to their sports over time. Sports are
passed on from generation to generation in a place defined by freeways and
urban sprawl.
I'm not exactly sure where you hold the parade or where the downtown
buzz is. That's a unique challenge in a market like Orange County. Having
said that, we love being here. We think the fans we have here are great.
And again we won't apologize. I know I'm repeating in some respect the
catch phrase I used in my other answer. We won't apologize for being here.
It's great to be here, and people who are focused on us and focused on this
event will see something very entertaining, and we'll have a good time.
Q. Gary, you mentioned 14 years. Seems like only yesterday at the
Breakers that this was all happening?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: That was 15 years. And commissioner in dog
years, that's about 85 years.
Q. Are you in a position where you're going to have to negotiate
soon an extension of your services and do you want to keep going
indefinitely? Have you thought of how long you want to continue this?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Generally I don't negotiate with the Board
because I love what I'm doing and they tell me the terms upon which I'll
continue to do it.
Somehow this became a cause celebre after the All Star game. I have
a contract that goes for many, many more years. I think it would take me
at least to my 60th birthday. For those who don't know, my 55th birthday
is next Saturday. You don't all have to sing Happy Birthday at once.
I love what I do. I find it both challenging and emotionally
rewarding. And some days a little too rewarding from that standpoint. If
I ever lose the passion or the owners ever lose their passion for me, then
I'll go do something else.
But this is my life professionally, and if you ask my family,
personally as well because it dominates everything I do and I wouldn't have
it any other way.
Q. Gary, just getting back to the Preakness thing again. Talking to
people in Buffalo, they said that really there wasn't a scheduling issue
for them, they could have play the game a little earlier. Could you
clarify why you guys didn't try to push that to 1:00? Was it a
consideration of West Coast viewers, or where that was at? Because that
seems like the most logical solution there, to just play a little earlier.
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: In hindsight there may be lots of things we
could do. You have to remember that we made the NBC deal before we made
the Versus deal. NBC deal was made before the work stoppage. The Versus
deal was made after the work stoppage. And so we were looking to get as
much exposure as we could, because we didn't know what our national cable
arrangements were going to be.
We're going to look at everything, starting earlier, switching the
East and West to see if there are ways we can do it. The problem is you
can't play on the West on Saturday and start early because we won't start a
game before noon. Our schedule, particularly in the playoffs - and if you
remember, we re-seed after every round. It's not impossible, but it's
difficult as we look at building availabilities and the like.
We're obviously going to have to see if we can do what we did better.
Having said that, we took a gamble and three out of the four days we
gambled on it it was fine and the fourth one didn't work out.
But, again, let's not make too big a deal out of this. Overtime was
on Versus. If we didn't do this, the entire game would have been on
Versus. With respect to people who got to see the game on NBC, they were
in a position, perhaps worse, because NBC has broader distribution than
Versus, more people got to see the game than might otherwise have been.
And that was the overriding consideration.
Q. Gary, do you have the exact number for the salary cap for next
season?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Not yet, but you can do a projection as
follows. The cap is linked to revenues. Revenues this year will grow
between 6.5 and 7 percent. So you can do your own math and expect the
growth at least in that range.
Q. I can't do math, so what would that be (laughter)?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Somewhere in the $48 to $49 million range.
And that assumes we don't put in a kicker and project additional revenue
growth next year as well. But that's the vicinity of where we think we'll
be.
Q. You talked about the positive of NBC the next day coming back
even after the overtime with the pregame show they did. Is there a concern
that when you went to Versus, part of it was how they would embrace the
sport and kind of centerpiece it on their network, and yet when there would
be overtime games in these playoffs, right away they're cutting away
without really a post-game show, going to repeats of bull riding and
whatnot.
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: For the most part, their coverage has been
long detailed and outstanding. When you go and look at the first two
rounds of the playoffs, there's no question in terms of our importance to
them and what they were doing, pre-game shows, intermissions about us,
post-game shows.
When have you ever seen on a national broadcast of our games the
coaches' press conferences? I mean Versus, night in and night out, does an
outstanding job of staying with us.
On any particular night they may have a reason they have to break
away and do something when there's a particularly long game. But I think
if you judge Versus on the full body of their work, they get extremely high
grades and their commitment to the NHL and covering our games.
Q. In your conversations with Mr. Balsillie and Mr. Leipold, have
they told you whether they will invoke the clause in the lease deal that
allows them to, you know what I'm saying?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Yes. It's not Mr. Balsillie's to invoke
because he doesn't own the franchise. Mr. Leipold has told me, and if he
hasn't made it public, I don't think it's appropriate for me to divulge it.
If he has made it public, you know the answer to the question.
Q. When you say you're intrigued by more teams in Canada, can you
elaborate? Would it be taking it out of context to say, therefore, you
would like to see more teams in Canada?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Intrigued is in the sense that I don't like
franchise relocation. I think my view on that and my record on that has
been clear to everybody in this room for as long as I've been doing this
job.
So, for example, when we had the chance to go back to Minnesota, we
did. Because it made sense. The right ownership, the right building
situation, the market was strong and vibrant.
We haven't studied Quebec City or Winnipeg or anywhere else in
Canada. But the notion that if it could work to put a franchise back in a
place where one was lost feels good, provided we don't wind up in a
situation where we've created a prescription for another failing franchise.
So intrigued is: it's obviously something that I've thought about in
terms of trying to make right something that at one point in our history
went wrong.
Now, again, Quebec City and Winnipeg we wound up leaving because
there was no new building, there was no prospect of a new building and
there wasn't anybody there who wanted to own the teams there at the time.
Q. You're saying Quebec City and Winnipeg, what about anywhere else?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: I was talking about the cities we left.
That's where the intriguing notion comes from.
Q. But not anywhere else?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: I haven't given thought to anywhere else.
Q. Gary, one of the things during the labor situation was I remember
you saying that with the new economic system, teams would be able to charge
less for ticket prices. I don't think we're seeing that. Getting a lot of
emails from people, from Detroit and other playoffs, people here in Anaheim
buying playoff tickets saying they couldn't afford it. The amounts of
money they were being asked to advance were crazy. We didn't see any
sell-outs in Detroit at any home games this spring. Where are the lower
ticket prices?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Actually that's a fair question, but a little
off the mark. Detroit is having its own economic problems. If you see
what's happening with the other teams in Detroit, they're either empty
seats or heavy discounting. If you go back and check our ticket prices
from four years ago and you look at our ticket prices now, on average,
we're actually a tad below where we were four years ago.
In that same period of time, the other sport ticket prices on average
have gone up between 15 and 25 percent. What I said around the time of the
work stoppage was the pressure on ticket prices would ameliorate somewhat.
There wouldn't be as much inflationary pressure. I think we've been true
to that considering the fact that our prices are about, if not a little bit
less than, they were four years ago.
Nothing in this world holds price to what it was three, four, five
years ago. Just look at gasoline prices. But with respect to our ticket
prices, relative, particularly to the other sports, we have not been on an
inflationary track.
Q. During the lockout there was a lot of talk about the cap and
would teams be drawn to the cap. I think you even made a prediction that
you thought that the teams would be drawn to the cap. Even though you
built in protection, is there still concern that teams are overspending,
particularly now when you have franchises suggesting that even though
there's an increase in revenue it's really with ticket increases in select
markets and doesn't represent national revenue?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: That's an interesting question for what some
of you may consider to be a bizarre reason when I tell you it. Teams tend
to gravitate towards the cap. It tends to act as a magnet. For the life
of me, I don't understand why it does, because you should be able to be
competitive anywhere in the range.
How much you're spending should be a function of what the makeup is
of your team: how many young players you have, how many old players, how
many superstars. It's the mix you put together that should determine in
the range you are. Teams tell me on a regular basis, they say we all go to
the cap because it's your fault, the media, because you write bad things
about teams who don't spend to the cap. My tongue's firmly in my cheek,
but the point I'm trying to make is there seems to be this pressure that
teams feel to go to the cap, and I think the pressure is more illusory than
not.
If you look at teams last year that had success, not all of them were
cap teams at the time; Carolina and Edmonton but two examples. But I think
as the cap goes up, we'll start to see it stretching a little bit in terms
of the number of teams that go there.
And so I don't think you'll see every team at the cap. I think
that's fine. And I think when you judge this, not in training camp but the
stretch run down the regular season and into the playoffs, the difference
of two, four, eight or even ten million dollars isn't going to define who
wins the Cup.
On that note I look forward to seeing you all over the next couple of
weeks. Enjoy the Final. It should be fun. Thanks for coming.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
Join the Discussion:
»