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Suggest A “Fire Bettman” Rally
by Mike Chen on 10/26/09 at 10:00 AM ET
Comments (7)
The NHL Fans’ Association (NHLFA) is a one-of-a-kind organization that tries to position itself as the voice of the NHL fan in terms of negotiations and direction of the league. With 30,000+ members, they’ve got a reasonably sized constituency, though one could argue that that’s a fraction of a percentage of the entire NHL fan base (some 21 million tickets were distributed last season and some 8 million watched Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final just in the US). One of the NHLFA’s goals for this season is to fire Gary Bettman. A lofty goal, considering that the only people that can fire Bettman are the 30 members of the Board of Governors, and they just gave him a contract extension not too long ago.
To try get their point across, the NHLFA is taking suggestions from its members for creative ways to start a Fire Bettman rally. While this will surely create some amusing fantasies probably worthy of a Will Ferrell movie, I’m guessing the NHLFA wants something that will realistically get noticed and carry some weight.
However, it’s times like this I try to remind folks that Bettman isn’t in charge of the NHL—the Board of Governors is. Bettman’s a first mate, assigned with certain operational and logistical duties, along with general counsel and negotiation, but he’s no evil emperor pulling the puppetmaster strings of all things hockey. For a refresher on what Bettman’s job description entails, check out this post from a few months back.
What could create change in the league’s culture? It’s change at the top—the ownership groups.
To see how drastic things could change, look at the Blackhawks since Bill Wirtz died. The team went from stone-age stubbornness to media-savvy and open-minded. It also removed one of the old-school albatrosses in BoG voting.
I think the NHLFA’s got their ammunition fired at the wrong target. The things that people hate about Bettman—his lawyer double-speak, his constant spinning of facts, etc.—are pretty much qualities that any business wants in its PR face (though I’m sure they’d prefer to have someone more eloquent). And while Bettman has his in-house tasks, one of the things he does is operate as the public mouthpiece of the league. Do you think the owners want him to say the obvious when things are bad? Of course not, because any blemish on the league potentially damages their team’s value, and they’re in this for the money.
I’ve said before that we probably don’t know Bettman’s true opinion on league issues. He carries out the will of the BoG, and he speaks to it publicly. Taking the flogging is part of his job. Firing him will only put another lawyer in that position—perhaps it’ll be someone who spins with a little more sincerity, but it’ll be spin nonetheless. He’s like a politician—even if you voted for a politician that you agree with, he or she is still a politician. They just operate on a different mindset than you or me because that’s their job, even though some may be more sincere than others.
So where should the NHLFA set its guns? Some owners (or ownership groups) are faceless entities; the public doesn’t know much about what direction they want to take the league. Others, like Jeremy Jacobs and Bill Wirtz before he passed, are notoriously old school and stubborn. Of course, some people like it and some people don’t. I don’t know enough about the individual owners to know which ones are progressive and which ones are conservative, but I’m guessing it goes across the spectrum. What I would suggest to the NHLFA, then, is to identify what each ownership group stands for in terms of how they view the league. Based on that, NHLFA members can identify the “villains” and try to create rallies to sell that team. Of course, it’s not as catchy or easy as “Fire Bettman” but ultimately it provides a more accurate representation of the problem (if you think there is one).
I imagine, though, that something along those lines won’t generate nearly as many amusing responses to the NHLFA’s call for “Fire Bettman” rally ideas.
Filed in: | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Gary+Bettman, NHLFA,
Comments
No complaints here, Dan.
I think sometimes people forget that in some ways, a lawyer is necessary for a commish job (or the NHLPA head) because there’s a TON of legalese that must be strictly followed, both for internal audits and external negotiations. They need someone who can not only navigate through that, but follow it strictly so that the organization doesn’t get in trouble.
So even if the league or the PA hired someone like Gretzky to be its “leader”, it’d be a figurehead position, at least for a few years until he fully understands what the hell is going on. And even then, he’d be surrounded by trained advisers who’d probably run the show more than he would.
Kinda like when Gretzky coached (minus the funny faces). :D
Posted by Mike Chen on 10/26/09 at 11:15 AM ET
Just to clarify for Dan, I meant no complaints about his suggestion/quote…not that I don’t have any complaints about the league or PA! I’d be a fool if I thought they were doing a perfect job!
Posted by Mike Chen on 10/26/09 at 11:18 AM ET
It’s just much more convenient to have one person on whom I can focus all my hate.
Posted by mike from austin on 10/26/09 at 11:26 AM ET
The idea that all Bettman does is carry out the will of the BoG’s is just silly. It supposes, for instance, that before making a ruling or decision he makes 30 phone calls, tallies the votes, and then decides based solely on that ‘election’.
Nonsense.
In reality, the major (and perhaps only) motivation for the BoG’s is money. Is the league making money? Are they making enough? Are they making more than they did last year?
As long as the answers to those questions are satisfactory, and as long as Bettman doesn’t go out of his way to piss off any exceptionally influential blocs among the BoG (by, for example, allowing a second team to poach the Maple Leafs market perhaps?), Bettman isn’t going to be canned because he went to shootouts, or because he chooses to not discipline stars, or because he favors or disfavors specific teams.
Posted by HockeyinHD on 10/26/09 at 11:29 AM ET
Honestly, I truly believe he has done nothing remotely positive during his term.
His expansionist Initiative has been proven a failure if you look beyond the inital money grab of expansion fees.
The NHL popularity now ranks below bull riding and cage fighting.
On ice officials are micro managed to produce games with numerous powerplays to increase goals which I guess is supposed to make the games “more exciting”?
Let’s review shall we? Glow pucks,reebok uniforms, nets around the glass, television timeouts, games on OLN, games on Versus, games not on ESPN, Generic Eastern & Western Conferences , Generic Central &Pacific;& Northeast divisions, the instigator penalty, conference wide instead of division wide playoff seedings, alternate or third style sweaters, road teams wearing white sweaters,teams not playing all other teams during the same season resulting in some original six teams only playing once every 4 years. And so on and so on and so on…............
Doing a heck of a job there gary.
As asleep at the wheel as he has been, getting the salary cap implemented pretty much solidified Lil’ garys spot in the HOF ...right next to that other “great” NHL commish…. Gil Stein.
Posted by Down River Dan on 10/26/09 at 12:25 PM ET
I agree with pretty much all of that, Dan… but that’s all beside the point to the BoG’s, apparently.
Attendance is up, ticket prices are up, the financially well-off teams can spend 20+ mil a year less than they did pre-cap and not come off as cheap to their fan bases, which means way more profits for them.
In fact, Bettman’s strategy to force the NHL into large US media markets over smaller, occasionally Canadian cities where the team would be more financially viable was something that I am almost certain was done with the goal of acquiring a new national TV deal in the US in mind.
And let’s not forget, shortly after becoming commisioner Bettman signed 755 million worth of TV contracts within his first 5 years in charge. A 155 mil deal with Fox and then another 600 mil deal with ABC/ESPN. A lot of the same guys who are owners now were owners then, and Bettman personally made each one of them 20-30+ mil a piece with those deals.
That’s why I think it’s the economics that have saved him from being called to account for the littany of horrendously stupid decisions and strategies he’s employed. As soon as those numbers turn, and start to do so for enough teams, Gary’s not going to have any goodwill from anywhere else to draw on.
Posted by HockeyinHD on 10/26/09 at 01:46 PM ET
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“First thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” quote: William Shakespeare’s play Henry IV
That pretty much sums it up for me, but I’m guessing NHL headquarters will be a lot less crowded.
Posted by Down River Dan on 10/26/09 at 10:59 AM ET